real McCoy

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Corruption of Scots the real MacKay, this latter attested in 1856 as “A drappie o’ the real MacKay” (A drop of the real MacKay).[1][2][3]

How “MacKay” became “McCoy” is unclear; first attested in the form “McCoy” in the US in 1908:

I took a good-size snort out of that big bottle [of furniture polish] in the middle....Have you none of the clear McCoy handy around the house?[4]

The term is the subject of many folk etymologies, discussed at the Wikipedia entry.

Noun

the real McCoy

  1. (idiomatic) The genuine thing, neither a substitute nor an imitation.

Synonyms

References

  1. ↑ Scottish National Dictionary
  2. ↑ 2007 OED
  3. ↑ Susie Dent of the Oxford University Press, on February 8, 2008 broadcast of Countdown.
  4. ↑ The Mavens’ Word of the Day: real McCoy cites Dictionary of Americanisms, which gives the citation for this quote as Davenport, Butte Beneath X-Ray.
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