gin and it
- noun
:
gin y vermut
- She prefers a gin and it over a classic martini because of the sweeter vermouth.
Examples
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During the 1920s, a gin and it was a popular choice for an evening drink.
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Would you like a gin and it with your dinner?
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After work, he ordered a gin and it at the bar.
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I ordered a gin and it at the bar.
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After work, he ordered a gin and it at the bar.
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During the 1920s, a gin and it was a popular choice for an evening drink.
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She prefers a gin and it over a classic martini because of the sweeter vermouth.
How Alcoholic
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although 'gin' and 'and' signal a mixed drink, the element 'it' is a pronoun/nonce element that does not transparently denote 'sweet vermouth' to a learner; historically it abbreviates Italian vermouth but this is lexicalized and unpredictable. The phrase is a fixed cocktail name/idiom used in bartending, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal words would not be able to infer the specific ingredient.
Etymology
The name gin and it probably comes from bartenders who called 'Italian' vermouth simply it, so the drink was literally gin plus it. That's why today gin and it means a gin cocktail mixed with sweet vermouth.