definiton of "on the rocks"

[Mergen]

English Idioms and Expressions, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #40 "American Slang Words (14)", question 10

Can I have a scotch on the rocks please?

(a) in a tall glass
(b) with soda
(c) with ice

English Idioms and Expressions, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #40 "American Slang Words (14)", answer 10

Can I have a scotch with ice please?

Correct answer: (c) with ice
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definiton of on the rocks?

Mergen

[Alan]

Hi,

This simply means that the whisky has blocks of ice in it. The ice blocks are compared to rocks (large stones).

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Indirect Speech

[Yankee]

.
That's an interesting difference. I'd understand "ice block" to be a very large chunk of ice -- a piece of ice much too large to fit in a glass. Something like this, for example:



In American English, I'd expect the square pieces of ice that might be found in a glass/drink to be called "ice cubes". Here is a picture of Jack Daniels on the rocks (i.e. with ice cubes):


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