…like the boid said…
Why does no one ever order a “wet” martini?
[WAG]
because like wine, the opposite of a dry martini is a sweet martini.
[/wag]
OK. I’ve never heard of anyone ordering a sweet martini either. My local makes dry martini’s by wiping the martini glass with a Vermouth soaked cloth, then filling the glass with gin. Why not just drink straight gin? Since I’m a tried and true beer drinker, I don’t understand the idea…does the vermouth make that much of a difference?
Exactly. There was a pretty good thread related to this several months ago. I made this exact point. Check it out here for several diverse opinions.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=46932
The answer was in an American Heritage article a few months ago.
When the martini as we know it was concocted, it went by a variety of names. There already was a combination called a martini, and eventually the newer version was called a “dry martini” to differentiate. Eventually, the older martini went out of fashion, leaving the origin high and dry.
"Why don’t we get you out of that dry bikini, and into a wet martini?"
Nope, just doesn’t ring quite true, not at all the same, but net results would appear equal in the end.
Regardless, nine out of ten boulevardiers still prefer:
"Let’s get you out of that wet bikini and into a dry martini, without further ado!"