Definition
a) difficult relationships
b) drinks served over ice cubes
Examples
1) After months of arguments, their marriage is now on the rocks.
2) I'll have a whiskey on the rocks, please.
Etymology
a) a ship or boat running aground on rocks in a body of water
b) ice cubes resembling rocks in a glass
Synonyms rocky, shaky, in difficulty, ice cubes
- englishdaily626.com [edited]
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It is at once frustrating and delightful when I discover new meanings of known
terms. They are mostly short words, e.g., brass, bundle, essay, salt, etc.
I learned the second meaning of "on the rocks" first from the movie "Scent of A
Woman" where Colonel Slade kept ordering "Jack Daniels on the rocks." I tried.
It tasted like hogswill.
A quick search showed that there's much more to the first meaning as the term
applies when any enterprise is in trouble. Difficulty and relationship are
synonyms, I've always thought, and to imagine otherwise would soon end up on the
rocks. Recently tourism, and maybe more, between two east Asian countries is on
the rocks.
