Beer c(o/oo)(s/z)(y/ie)

June 24, 2009 11:31 PM

Beer cozy? Beer coozy? Which one is it, and why?

I feel like I've seen this discussion before, or maybe heard it on a podcast (I think I may have heard it on Stop Podcasting Yourself, but their blog turns up nothing). Forgive me if this is a double.

You know those foam beer/pop can insulators? What are they called? "Beer cozy" makes sense, since it acts the way a tea cozy would, keeping the beverage at the intended temperature. But I've also seen them called "beer coozies". What is the etymology of "beer coozie"? Which one is correct? What do you call it? Help me settle an argument.

Useful information:
"beer cozy" has 450,000 Google hits ("beer cosy" has 1,190,000).
"beer coozy" has 71,000.

Factual information (with references) preferred; anecdotes and guesses are welcome but possibly not as useful.

posted by rossination to grab bag (43 comments total)

To the Wikipedia!
posted by hal_c_on at 11:37 PM on June 24

Neither... they're called "stubby holders".
posted by pompomtom at 11:48 PM on June 24 [5 favorites]

In my area, it's "cozy." Maybe it's a regional thing, perhaps in the same vein as pop/soda/cola/etc.

Could the podcast you were thinking of be "Jordan, Jesse, Go!" (by in part, as I'm obliged to say, "MetaFilter's own" Jesse Thorn)? I'm re-listening the podcast from the beginning and they mention beer "koozies" (as they spell/say it) quite often.
posted by cvp at 12:30 AM on June 25

I'm with pompomtom: Stubby Holders. I have a mini-collection of them.
posted by evil_esto at 1:15 AM on June 25

Thirding "Stubby Holder". Funnily enough, at least in Sydney, even the neoprene holders designed to hold 750ml longnecks are also referred to as "stubby holders".
please note the wrist strap in the second image. God I love my country
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 1:20 AM on June 25

It's a regional thing, therefore it's all correct.

Where I grew up, in the Midwest, it was "cozy". I have a friend who lives in Charleston, SC and it's "coozie" there. I'm not sure if they spell it with a "c' or a "k" though.
posted by cooker girl at 2:01 AM on June 25

In Southeast Asia I've heard them called condoms.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 2:09 AM on June 25

Data point - in Louisiana I've always heard them referred to as "Koozies".
posted by tryniti at 4:38 AM on June 25

According to the USPTO, "Koozie" is a trademarked name for insulaated beverage holders and was first used commercially in 1979. I remember older, styrofoam versions, but since high school (ca. 1979) have always called them Koozies.
posted by TedW at 4:52 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]

Stubby holder. Matter of fact, I've got one now.
posted by tim_in_oz at 5:00 AM on June 25

Cozy when I'm in New England and Koozie when I'm in Georgia. Koozie is a disgusting sounding word to my ears.
posted by Constant Reader at 5:36 AM on June 25

Those are known as hoolie-doochers in my neck of the woods.
posted by hilaritas at 5:40 AM on June 25

In the midwest in the 80s I heard them called titties.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 5:54 AM on June 25

In Georgia and South Carolina, they're "koozies."
posted by heather-b at 5:59 AM on June 25

koozie in north california.

oddly enough, it's not a word that comes up in print that often, so I'm not sure how I would spell it.

the only koozie at our house is an e-40 40 koozie. that's how oakland do.
posted by fishfucker at 6:21 AM on June 25

It was definitely decided* on Jesse Thorn's MaximumFun.org forums that "coozy" is lame and idiotic, and "cozy" is correct. Coozy is just a mispronunciation of cozy, which is a real word, as in "tea cozy" (as you mentioned.)

Why would the correct pronunciation of the word change just because of the item it is cozying? That would be like saying when you use your blanket on the couch, you suddenly pronounce it "blonket." Common sense tells you this wrong and indefensible.

I rest my case, Your Honor.




*by me
posted by The Deej at 6:23 AM on June 25

I've always known them as a beer "coolie". Around my house, I've always kept on hand a set of coolies that are for bottles ... they consist of a neoprene bottle wrap inside of a foam can holder. That combo gives it more stability. At a party, a girl once asked me why I did this and I successfully convinced her that it actually makes the beer colder based on the "synergies created when combining the thermodynamic properties of both types of holders". Entertained myself that did :-)
posted by Dave. at 6:55 AM on June 25

"koozie in north california. "

That's a damn lie. I was born and raised in northern California (with occasional stints on the Oregon coast) and I have never, ever, ever, ever heard the terms "koozie" or "coozie" used to refer to this device in my life until today. Ever. At all.
posted by majick at 7:21 AM on June 25

Someone beat me to it, but I was simply going to say Koozie. I'm here in the south east, but the beer culture I grew up around was a bunch of amateur road racers from all over the country, so who knows.

Oh, and a Cozy is something entirely different - it goes OVER the top of something to hide it (like a toaster cozy, or tea cozy, or tire cozy).
posted by strixus at 7:25 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]

In North & South Carolina they're coozies and that works for us. However, my friend who grew up in Roanoke, VA practically lost her beer the first time she heard that, because in Roanoke, a coozie is something quite different indeed - it's an affectionate term for lady bits.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:29 AM on June 25

That's a damn lie. I was born and raised in northern California (with occasional stints on the Oregon coast) and I have never, ever, ever, ever heard the terms "koozie" or "coozie" used to refer to this device in my life until today. Ever. At all.

Well, I am also from northern California and that's what we call it. Koozy.

[expectant stare]
posted by kittyprecious at 7:35 AM on June 25

Why would the correct pronunciation of the word change just because of the item it is cozying?

Because in certain places, the last thing that someone drinking a beer wants to do is call the thing that holds their beer the same name as something knitted by an old lady to cover up a teapot. Like calling dolls "action figures" just because boys are playing with them.

In Texas, I've old ever heard them called coozies.
posted by 23skidoo at 7:35 AM on June 25

Um, the first time I have even seen the term "beer coozy" was in your question.

It's a tea cozy, so it's obviously "beer cozy" (leave it to The South to dumb-it-down like that). "Coozy" is not a word and therefore makes no sense.
posted by Zambrano at 7:50 AM on June 25

It's coozy, because of the company that makes Koozies, and because it keeps your beer COOL, not cozy.
posted by bink at 8:02 AM on June 25

Oh, and a Cozy is something entirely different - it goes OVER the top of something to hide it

Yes, that is the salient feature and primary purpose of a cosy: to hide something from view.

?!

It is obviously a beer cosy. However, since it is never hot enough in the UK to require one I'm happy to defer to the American habit of changing "s" to "z". You can't just change "c" to "k" or randomly add another "o" though.
posted by ninebelow at 8:07 AM on June 25

They were called "huggies" in southern Illinois when I was a kid.
posted by pmann at 8:09 AM on June 25

I've more commonly heard them referred to as coozies, particularly by companies that give them away as promotional items. "Cooze" is slang for "vagina," however, so I'm not partial to saying it myself. (Next time I'm feeling particularly crass, though, I'm totally going to say "beer vagina.")

I like saying "beer huggy" myself, first having read the term in a Sweet Potato Queens book. I may have heard "beer holder" or "can holder" or "beer/can cooler" too.

(Grew up in NC, albeit in a household that consumed little beer and owned zero beer vaginas.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:27 AM on June 25

beer koozie has over a million hits.
Beer coozie does, too.

I live in Texas, my elder family members are from AL and TN, my parents and aunts and uncles grew up all over the US, including CA, MD, OH, MA, etc., and we all call them koozies/coozies. All of my friends do, too. Most of them are from Texas, but some of them are not.
posted by ishotjr at 8:53 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]

It can't be a cozy. Not so much because of the "hiding from view" thing referenced above, but because surely the last thing you want to do is keep your beer cozy. I mean, I don't want it to get lonely, but I also don't want it to get warm.

(btw, in Arizona in the 80's I learned "koozie"; in Australia I too learned "stubby holder")
posted by kestrel251 at 8:59 AM on June 25

Philadelphia = beer cozy
posted by orme at 9:06 AM on June 25

Also, I may just have to add another to my collection.
posted by orme at 9:13 AM on June 25

In MN, in my experience:

Can cooler.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone call one of these things a "cozy" or a "coozie/y", "beer" or no.

"Coozie/y" I've only heard as slang for lady parts.
posted by chazlarson at 9:32 AM on June 25

It was "cooly cup" when I was a child in Southwest Missouri.
posted by damionbroadaway at 9:47 AM on June 25

Wicked! Now that you know what is normal, you can never use it again! Call it a koozie, call it a coolie, and definitely call it a stubby holder. Be strange and different!

For my part, I'll call it a beer cosy and get odd stares from everyone. The good kind of odd stares.
posted by twirlypen at 10:00 AM on June 25

Never heard "Coozy" before. A beer cozy is like a tea cozy or a penis cozy.
posted by ElmerFishpaw at 10:10 AM on June 25

I was born and raised in northern California and I have never, ever, ever, ever heard the term "north California" in my life until today. Ever. At all.

But I've heard "koozies" plenty of times.
posted by sageleaf at 10:24 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]

"koozie in north california. "

That's a damn lie. I was born and raised in northern California (with occasional stints on the Oregon coast) and I have never, ever, ever, ever heard the terms "koozie" or "coozie" used to refer to this device in my life until today. Ever. At all.

I'm with majick. "Koozie" doesn't even make sense.

Then again, drinking beer so slow that it needs an insulator doesn't make sense to me either.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:35 PM on June 25

Grew up in Michigan, and never heard anything but Coozie (whatever your preference for spelling is).

To answer your question "Why" is it called this? Because that is the correct way. That is why.
posted by indiebass at 1:03 PM on June 25

I'm not sure why people think "it doesn't make sense" is a valid argument against a common usage. (Especially since it might make perfect sense, since it was a brand name at some point, and brand names are known for slightly altering generic names for things.)

I always heard it said "coozie" but saw it spelled "cosy" or "cozy".
posted by Casuistry at 1:06 PM on June 25

North Carolina = Coozy
posted by sneakyalien at 1:36 PM on June 25

Awesome. Thanks for all the input. Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing it on JJGo! -- I guess I had assumed that any discussion of beer ephemera would be squelched by Jesse in favor of throwing out old timey baseball names.
posted by rossination at 2:23 PM on June 25

"koozie in north california. "

That's a damn lie. I was born and raised in northern California (with occasional stints on the Oregon coast) and I have never, ever, ever, ever heard the terms "koozie" or "coozie" used to refer to this device in my life until today. Ever. At all.

WHAT?

seriously, what part of Nor CA are you from? It's been koozie EVERYWHERE, bro. HELLA been koozie everywhere. No lie.

maybe it's just too loud for you.
posted by fishfucker at 4:38 PM on July 24

also I should note that I'm not only born and raised, but have NEVER even lived outside the state, like the OR turncoat above. That's why I'm so worldly. On the serious though, it sounds like it's an age thing. You don't use a koozie if you're older than .. say, 20. I'd fully expect that there were some old fart days where it was still called a cozy. BUT NO LONGER
posted by fishfucker at 4:41 PM on July 24