lost my bottle

[newpotato]

Where does this come from as in lost my nerve/braveness etc...?

[fredpuli47]

It's an extension of rhyming slang.' Bottle and glass : arse. Someone who is in great fear, panicking, defecates, they 'sh1t themselves'. So someone who has lost their nerve is said to have lost their 'bottle'.

[jno]

and the word has developed further to become a verb: 'He bottled it.'

[TCL-MUMPING]

I've also heard older Cockneys say that it is a rhyme for "class" as in "style," "standing" or "reputation".
The word "Aris" or "Arris" is a rhyme for "arse" as in
Aris = Aristotle = bottle = bottle & glass = arse.