Difference between bocal and pot

Bonjour Frank,

A jar is typically associated with a foodstuff, such as a condiment or bottled fruit / confiture; for example.

A bocal is a container with a very short neck and wide opening. https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/bocal

A pot not dissimilar to a jar but perhaps not necessarily made of glass. 

The lesson text suggests the need to contain the honey from the bees; therefore, some form of jar would be appropriate, but a bocal would be quite inappropriate for the shape reason given above.

Bonne journée

Jim

Frank, 

pot and bocal are sometimes interchangeable, but not always. This is a question of definition and usage.

You are much more likely to hear and encounter ‘ pot de qqc ‘ than ‘ bocal de qqc ‘. If talking specifically about the recipient/container, ‘ bocal ‘ will often be fine for a glass jar, but when the focus is on both the jar and its contents, ‘ pot ‘ is preferred, and I think, a safer bet for non-native speakers.

In the context,  I interpret the comment as being about labelling  ‘ jars of honey ‘ for friends, and colloquial usage is very much to prefer ‘ pot ‘ rather than ‘ bocal ‘, even though the contents description may not be restated. 

It is 3 years ago, but the link below is to a previous response by Céline to a similar question on a different exercise, ( which I think was posted by you ) : 

https://french.kwiziq.com/questions/view/pot-vs-bocal