Question

bikeman

28 June

Japanese

English (US)

Question about English (US)

I'm curious about this phrase "whisky on the rocks".
- Why do you use "on"? Why don't you use "with" instead?
- Why do you use "the"? BTW, why "Disney on ice" doesn't use "the"?

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Answers

anzpur

28 June

English (US)
Indonesian

@bikeman I believe you should consider those as a whole term, and don’t dissect it on word by word. Consider it like people’s name.

If you want to know about those two term better, I believe you need to learn from the perspective of history or etymology instead of grammar.

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publicwan

28 June

English (US)

@bikeman it's an idiomatic expression. It only sounds right to us because we've been hearing it our whole lives. It doesn't really make sense, when you think about it. Cold rocks used to be used to cool whiskey instead of ice, and it probably started like "pour it on the rocks".

"on ice" is an entertainment term because it sounds nicer and is shorter. If I think of an ice hockey coach telling someone to practice, I think of "Go get on the ice!"

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Highly-rated answerer

gozu

28 June

English (US)
Spanish (Mexico)

“on the rocks” is a term used when ordering an alcoholic drink with ice cubes.
“I’ll have vodka on the rocks, please.”

“on ice” is a fancy term to mean “ice skating show”

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bikeman

28 June

Japanese

@anzpur @publicwan @gozu
Thanks. Now I feel that "the rocks" is a figurative phrase as if whiskey is poured on an rocky iceberg although I don't know why "the" is used. Anyway, I see that's an idiom.
I also understand the difference between "on ice" and "on the ice". It reminds me of "think different" (an Apple slogan) and "think differently".

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I'm curious about this phrase "whisky on the rocks".
- Why do you use "on"? Why don't you use "with" instead?
- Why do you use "the"? BTW, why "Disney on ice" doesn't use "the"?

I'm curious about this phrase "whisky on the rocks".- Why do you use "on"? Why don't you use "with" instead?- Why do you use "the"? BTW, why "Disney on ice" doesn't use "the"? See a translation

@bikeman I believe you should consider those as a whole term, and don’t dissect it on word by word. Consider it like people’s name. If you want to know about those two term better, I believe you need to learn from the perspective of history or etymology instead of grammar.

“on the rocks” is a term used when ordering an alcoholic drink with ice cubes. “I’ll have vodka on the rocks, please.”“on ice” is a fancy term to mean “ice skating show”

I'm curious about this phrase "whisky on the rocks".
- Why do you use "on"? Why don't you use "with" instead?
- Why do you use "the"? BTW, why "Disney on ice" doesn't use "the"?

See a translation

@bikeman I believe you should consider those as a whole term, and don’t dissect it on word by word. Consider it like people’s name.

If you want to know about those two term better, I believe you need to learn from the perspective of history or etymology instead of grammar.

“on the rocks” is a term used when ordering an alcoholic drink with ice cubes.
“I’ll have vodka on the rocks, please.”

“on ice” is a fancy term to mean “ice skating show”