The real Mackay(1871)

[Michael Quinion]

Sam Clements wrote:

> At the conclusion of the poem, the starred term was explained thusly:
>
>       <<An expression used in some parts of Scotland, equivalent to saying,
> "it's not the real thing.">>
>
> This would appear to predate the RHDAS cite for the meaning of "the
> genuine article; the real thing."  They have RL Stevenson's 1883 cite
> as first.

A useful datum concerning transmission of the saying to the USA. The
evidence suggests that the expression was indeed Scots. The earliest
example is from 1856, recorded in the Scottish National Dictionary:
'A drappie [drop] o' the real MacKay'. The same work says that in
1870 the saying was adopted by Messrs G Mackay and Co, whisky
distillers of Edinburgh as their advertising slogan. It's presumably
the same expression that Stevenson and other writers of the period
used (in that spelling), which later changed to "the real McCoy" in
the USA and was later re-introduced into the UK in that spelling.

--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: <TheEditor at worldwidewords.org>
Web: <http://www.worldwidewords.org/>