This garment has qualities I admire, linguistic question

[blackemerald1]

Liquor is distilled spirits. Beer and wine are not liquor. They are alcoholic beverages though.

Yes this is the explicit definition of the type of liquor.

But in actual usage the term 'liquor' is used to describe any alcoholic beverage in general terms.

As in, "The licensing inspector smelt liquor on his breath" - That could have been beer or top shelf liquor.

So in practice when not stating the specific type of alcoholic beverage 'liquor' can be used generally.

 

[Mach123]

Yes this is the explicit definition of the type of liquor.

But in actual usage the term 'liquor' is used to describe any alcoholic beverage in general terms.

As in, "The licensing inspector smelt liquor on his breath" - That could have been beer or top shelf liquor.

So in practice when not stating the specific type of alcoholic beverage 'liquor' can be used generally.

Right! Such a subtle difference in usage. I could also say "they were liquored up." They could've been drinking anything.

 

[blackemerald1]

The other word you may be thinking of is liqueur.

Yes.. correct too. Like those special liqueur's that I can never afford but the bottles are so exotic, the colours so brilliant and probably they are just delicious... lol. Certainly not your entry level liquor but could still be called liquor I think.

"Amongst all of the liquor the bartender had on his shelves, the liqueur's were the most expensive."

 

[Mach123]

In terms of the age thing you never say it. Meaning "you're old." After that it's entirely subjective. When I was 19 a thirty year old woman was "old," now she's too young. For me anyway. : ). That also is a matter of opinion.

 

[barefoot]

@blackemerald1 - yes, the liqueurs in bars do tend to be in fancy bottles and lovely colours!
I'm rather partial to an amaretto myself....deliciously sweet! :-)

 

[Mach123]

I have a lot of problems with usage still myself most notably as I've said in the past, to too and two, two being the easiest of course. It affects (I just had to look and be sure it was not effects) my writing because I'm afraid to use it incorrectly. (English) I have to change what I'd like to say often because I'm unsure. It's not that easy to look up usage questions either. Even on TV now the usage/pronunciation is unbelievably poor. One that I hear often is the pronunciation of dour which sounds like sewer, not like hour.

 

[Freida]

I think grog is a generic slang

In the states grog is something pirates drink! I think its supposed to have rum in it :)

We mainly divide alcoholic drinks into beer, wine and spirits.
The other word you may be thinking of is liqueur. It’s an alcoholic drink flavoured with something like fruit or herbs, like a banana liqueur or a coffee liqueur...things like cointreau, limoncello and Tia Maria. They are often added to other drinks eg spirits/cocktails. And you can also get liqueurs in chocolates!

yep -- this

I’ve never heard of adding red wine and vodka to coffee!

Not to coffee but there was a trend last year for red wine and hot chocolate that was pretty good!
We have a lot of "drinks" that have names rather than ingredients if that makes sense.
Example -- people will ask for a margarita. They may or may not know that it is made with tequila. They just know they like "margaritas"

 

[blackemerald1]

Regarding "grog".. Australian and New Zealander's use it a lot.

It's used as a generic term for anything alcohol including the act of drinking it (usually to excess :giggle:)

So I could say.. " Hey that's nice does it have any grog in it?"
"blackemerald's nipped up to grog shop"
"blackemerald's been hitting the grog hard"
"Have you got any grog?"

:)

 

[Mach123]

Regarding "grog".. Australian and New Zealander's use it a lot.

It's used as a generic term for anything alcohol including the act of drinking it (usually to excess :giggle:)

So I could say.. " Hey that's nice does it have any grog in it?"
"blackemerald's nipped up to grog shop"
"blackemerald's been hitting the grog hard"
"Have you got any grog?"

:)

A colloquialism. We have quite a few. We used to say "tonic" when I was a kid it meant soda. Outside greater Boston no one said it. It's fallen out of use now.

 

[barefoot]

Ah, yes...I think actually it was Australia I was thinking of, not the US...yes...grog shops! ?

 

[Never_falter2]

One that I hear often is the pronunciation of dour which sounds like sewer, not like hour.

How do you pronounce the ihn hour by the way? I would pronounce it a: like in power or shower. (Have to say that my written English is far better than my accent... goes hiding behind a bush ?)

 

[blackemerald1]

I would pronounce it a: like in power or shower.

Yes so would I.

I've not heard it pronounced sounding like 'sewer' that must be the accent coming into play.. ??