ウォッカ

водка (vodka) is the Russian source form behind ウォッカ. Merriam-Webster explains vodka from Russian voda, water, and Britannica calls the name a diminutive of voda. The drink itself is associated with Russia and Poland, with grain and later potatoes named in many histories. Kotobank's Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten cites 中村春雨 欧米印象記, 1910, for ウオッカ in Japanese. In Japanese, the word entered as a liquor name, not as a general word for water. Early twentieth-century accounts of Europe and Russia and later bar culture used spellings such as ウオツカ, ウオッカ, ウォツカ, and ウォッカ. Related loanwords include ズブロウカ for a flavored Polish vodka, スミノフ for a brand, and ウォッカトニック for a cocktail. Today ウォッカ means the clear distilled spirit used straight or in cocktails, usually around 40 percent alcohol in shops. English vodka is broader in food writing, including vodka sauce, but Japanese usually points to the drink itself. The Japanese spelling with small ッ marks the clipped stop before ka, while Russian водка has a d sound before k. Example: バーでウォッカトニックを頼む.