Spontan scheint mir das Verhältnis der engl. Begriffe weitgehend dem der dt. Stein u. Fels zu entsprechen (wie auch Deiner groben "Handhabung").

Da kenne ich keine Faustregel. Es gibt Wendungen, wo man die Begriffe nicht austauschen kann:
"rolling stones",
"on the rocks",
"stone age" etc.,
aber sonst?

"stone" ist auch ein anderes Wort für "gem" (Edelstein)oder die Bezeichnung für den Stein in einem Obst.

s.a.:http://stores.ebay.co.uk/stone-and-rock

stone [ stōn ]
noun (plural stones)
Definition:
1. hard nonmetallic material: the hard solid nonmetallic substance that rocks are made of. Use: building material.
2. rock fragment: a small piece of rock of any shape
3. shaped rock fragment: a piece of rock that has been shaped for a particular purpose, e.g. a gravestone ( often used in combination )
4. small hard mass: a small hard mass, e.g. a hailstone ( usually used in combination )
5.
Same as gemstone (...)
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictio...

rock [ rok ]
noun (plural rocks)
Definition:
1. hard mineral aggregate: any consolidated material consisting of more than one mineral and, sometimes, organic material, e.g. granite or limestone
2. projecting mass of rock: a large mass of mineral material, especially an isolated or projecting one ( often used in place names ) Ayers Rock
3. boulder: a large stone or boulder (...)
5. gem: a large gemstone, especially a diamond ( informal ) (...)
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/rock.html

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stone
• noun
1 hard, solid non-metallic mineral matter of which rock is made.
2 a small piece of stone found on the ground.
3 a piece of stone shaped for a purpose, especially to commemorate something or to mark out a boundary.
4 a gem. (...)
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/stone?view=uk
rock
• noun
1 the hard mineral material of the earth’s crust, exposed on the surface or underlying the soil.
2 a mass of rock projecting out of the ground or water.
3 a boulder.
4 Geology any natural material with a distinctive composition of minerals. (...)
6 informal a diamond or other precious stone.
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/rock_1?v...

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stone (ROCK)
noun plural stones
1 [C or U] the hard solid substance found in the ground which is often used for building, or a piece of this:
a stone wall/floor
a flight of stone steps
a primitive stone axe
They cut enormous blocks of stone out of the hillside.
Some demonstrators were arrested for throwing stones at the police.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?ke...
rock (STONE)
noun
1 [C or U] the dry solid part of the Earth's surface, or any large piece of this which sticks up out of the ground or the sea:
Mountains and cliffs are formed from rock.
The boat struck a rock outside the bay and sank.
2 [C] US a large piece of rock or stone:
The demonstrators were hurling rocks at the police.
3 [C] US SLANG FOR a valuable stone used in jewellery, especially a diamond:
Have you seen the size of the rock he gave her for their anniversary?
rocks  
plural noun
a line of large stones sticking up from the sea:
The storm forced the ship onto the rocks.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?ke...

http://dictionary.infoplease.com/stone
http://dictionary.infoplease.com/rock

http://www.bartleby.com/61/51/S0775100.html
http://www.bartleby.com/61/47/R0274700.html

for what it's worth

Ah, vor allem die Definitionen helfen schon ein gutes Stück weiter. Glaube, jetzt hab ich eher eine Vorstellung davon, wie was zu gebrauchen ist.

Vielen Dank.

I believe there is also a BE/AE difference.

I don't think an Englishman would throw rocks (unless he was very strong) but I think an American might.

In Kanada wurde mir der Unterschied so erklärt, dass ein "rock" kleine Steine bezeichnet, und ein "stone" eher größere (Felsen).

Funny people those Canadians, I (BE) would have said exactly the opposite - stones are smaller than rocks (that's what Mike was getting at!)

AMD: Beware of 'rock bottom! . . . ;-)

Dictionary: rock+bottom . . .

Stones: a rock group. ;-)

You might get stoned at a rock concert...but would you get rocked at a Stones concert?