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Glite Dictionary
🥃 A whisky drink 🗡️ A folk outlaw
Rob Roy

Rob Roy

3 7.5
A cocktail made with Scotch whisky, sweet vermouth, and bitters
  • noun
  • /ˈrɑb rɔɪ/
translation icon : Rob Roy
  • For a refreshing drink, try a Rob Roy mixed with sweet vermouth and bitters.

Examples

  • It's white wine for her, imported beer for Troy, and a Rob Roy for Adam.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Calvin is using a cocktail shaker to very carefully make Rob Roys for the crowd at the bar.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I ordered a Rob Roy at the bar to enjoy with my dinner.

  • At the party, she served a Rob Roy alongside other classic cocktails.

Surface Forms

Rob Roy singular
Rob Roys plural

Morphology

Rob + Roy

This is a proper name for a specific cocktail (named after the historical/fictional figure Rob Roy) rather than a compositional phrase. Knowing the constituent words 'Rob' and 'Roy' (personal names) gives no clue to the drink's ingredients or meaning, so the sense is lexicalized and unpredictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The cocktail Rob Roy was named after the Scottish folk hero Rob Roy because it uses 'Scotch whisky' instead of the American whisky used in a Manhattan. One popular story says a New York bar mixed it for a show about 'Rob Roy', so the drink's name connects it to Scotland and the hero.