A friend of mine
Plays in a cover band that enjoys modest local success. They had a gig in a pub in Burnie (small town in the NW of Tassie). Before their set began, my mate went up to the bar to order drinks, and asked for a gin and tonic.

Bartender: Sorry, I don't know how to make one of those.

My friend: Well, how about... scotch and dry?

Turns out she did know how to make that one, and so amongst the band, scotch and dry is now known as a "Burnie gin and tonic".
(oball needs Satan more than he needs me, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 13:18, 3 replies)

Even if she doesn't know how to make a gin and tonic, you'd expect her to take a guess.
Scotch and dry I would struggle with, though. I wouldn't know what dry was. I shall google it.

Yahoo Answers can't decide. They nominate vermouth, ginger ale and "no ice". More reliable sources suggest ginger ale or similar. One high google result suggests Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive. I prefer to think she gave you that.
(sabre-tooth monkey, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 13:38, closed)

Most barkeeps seem to not know what a Scotch and Dry is,
as I invariably find myself having to explain when I order one. Upshot being, that I rarely order them any more.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 15:06, closed)

The dry is indeed dry ginger ale
Maybe it's an Australian thing.

Part of what I find so funny about the story is that "scotch and dry" is more ambiguous-sounding than "gin and tonic", yet she knew how to make the former and not the latter.
(oball needs Satan more than he needs me, Thu 10 Mar 2011, 2:06, closed)

Here..
... I would ask for scotch and ginger (or ginger ale) rather than "dry".
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Thu 10 Mar 2011, 11:33, closed)

How to make a gin and tonic?!
Surely it's just gin... tonic... ice and a slice... What on earth.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 13:44, closed)

Actually what you do is this:
pour gin into a glass, add a slice of lemon and put the glass next to a large bottle of tonic. Then angle it so that a shaft of sunlight from a nearby window shines through the tonic and into the gin. That way you get just the right amount of tonic.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 15:38, closed)

my dad's martinis were like that.. "pour gin, remove lid from bottle of vermouth, replace lid ". Done
(a girl called harry, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 16:42, closed)

Ah Burnie ...
proud home of the Annual Say No to Sodomy Rally.

I wish I were joking.
(Que?, Thu 10 Mar 2011, 2:16, closed)

That is the best name for a rally I have ever heard.
... although "Say No to Annual Sodomy" might be better.
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Thu 10 Mar 2011, 11:34, closed)