Talk:real McCoy

Etymology

Header added post hoc

It is supposed to come from the 1880's where it was applied to whiskey which was exported to the USA and Canada, where the phrase was kept alive. In the 1890's it applied to the boxer Kid McCoy (the real McCoy). In the Britain it was corrupted to the real McKay.

Reference

2005 Brewers Dictionayr of phrase & fable. 17th ed.

Unsigned comment of 08:26, 2006 June 25 by Andrew massyn

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is a slightly mangled version of the true etymology. The original advertising slogan was "A drappie o' the real McKay" dating from before 1856. This Scottish whisky (NB not Irish whiskey) may well have been imported to America along with the slogan, but "McKay" was the original whiskey distiller, and it was corrupted to "real McCoy" in the USA (probably from the boxer - was he from San Francisco? - the San Francisco Post was using the expression in 1916). There are other dubious explanations floating around, but the OED has re-researched this recently and is confident enough to broadcast the etymology on British TV (Suzi Dent on Channel 4's "Countdown"). Dbfirs 16:54, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Reference

2007 Oxford English Dictionary and Feb. 8th broadcast of "Countdown". (Suzi Dent is a lexicographer at the OED).

Thanks!

This phrase is subject to many folk etymologies; I’ve included the reputable sources (Scottish National Dictionary, OED, Susie Dent) and refs.

Nils von Barth (nbarth) (talk) 15:02, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Newer findings on origins

Please check the page for the real McCoy on English Wikipedia to see that this entry is now quite inaccurate.
⋙–Berean–Hunter—► ((⊕)) 01:07, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

 Done I've updated the entry with my newer findings.
⋙–Berean–Hunter—► ((⊕)) 15:36, 5 February 2011 (UTC)