Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 736377)

That I knew. I'm not getting the connection to flowers though.

Originally Posted by kayleigh. (Post 736383)

ma bad :(

theee flower :)

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 736380)

Wait... what? I think we're operating on completely different information here. To my knowledge "whiskey" and "whisky" are just two different spellings of the same word referring to the same type of alcohol. The word that specifies it being from Scotland is "scotch".

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 736385)

Ah, I know that one too. I'm just not used to hearing it from anyone under the age of 80 or so. :laughing:

Originally Posted by toretorden (Post 736389)

There's a naming culture where these liquors are called whisky (plural "whiskies") in Scotland, Canada, India and Japan and whiskey (plural "whiskeys") in Ireland and America. There are some exceptions to the rule, though. People are more or less serious about this. If you joined a forum for scottish whiskys and use the word "whiskey" to describe them, you would get corrected.

Originally Posted by kayleigh. (Post 736390)

hahaha! i know i am mature, but cmon :| its common here teaching that word to children.. as oppossed to vagina :laughing: would be strange a child calling it that.

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 736391)

If I were talking about Scottish whisky I would say "scotch". If I were talking about the type of liquor in general I would spell it "whiskey" since that's the way the word is spelled in my country of origin but I wouldn't object to a person from Scotland or Japan referring to American or Irish whiskey as "whisky" since that's the way they spell it where they come from.

Originally Posted by toretorden (Post 736398)

Interestingly, scotch is a word I've only heard in american movies and television shows although I guess maybe it's used in other english-speaking parts of the world. We don't use the word in Norway and there's no norwegian equivalent, so we're stuck with whisky and whiskey.

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 736400)

Well that kind of reinforces my point, the terms and spellings may vary from place to place but whiskey, whisky, scotch and bourbon are all referring to the same general type of alcohol which is distinct from other type of liquor like rum or vodka.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

With few exceptions, the spelling is Scottish, Canadian, and Japanese whisky (plural: whiskies), but Irish and American whiskey (whiskeys).

Originally Posted by toretorden (Post 736401)

Yes and no, the different uses of the word do imply where the liquor is from. Even if the products were identical, I would write an irish whiskey or - if it was scottish - a scottish whisky.



I'm quite sure someone from Scotland or Ireland who cares about this would also make sure he or she was consistent with spelling it "right", either as whiskey or whisky depending on where the product is from. In other words, the slightly separate spellings do serve a function.