"hunky-dory" < Sc. "unco dour" ?

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>Reading another thread's discussion of "hunky", I was inspired to check
>out newspaperarchive's early cites for "hunky-dory" and found this:
>
>        Evening Gazette (Port Jervis,  N.Y.), August 4, 1870
>        The slang expression of "hunky dory" is Scotch, and is a
>        synonym of the Latin "non compos."  He is "unco dour in
>        the uptak," is the full expression.
>
>Has anyone run across this purported etymology before?  I've heard the
>Japanese "Honcho dori" theory, but this Scots derivation is a new one.  I
>take it the Scots expression would be glossed as "very stubborn on the
>uptake", though "non compos" obviously suggests a graver mental condition.
>  This would seem to be precisely the opposite of the sense of "hunky-dory"
>as it emerged in the 1860s ('satisfactory, in good condition').

I've never seen this etymology before.

"Unco dour in the uptak" would seem to be similar to (still current?) "slow
on the uptake", =  "mentally deficient" or "of low intelligence" ...
although I suppose it could be used to refer to a temporary condition
(e.g., somnolence or drunkenness). Roughly equivalent to "non compos
mentis" in a casual (not legal) meaning, I think.

SND sense 7 for "dour": "Slow, sluggish, reluctant, used in various
contexts, e.g. of a pupil to learn ...": example (1828): <<Unless unco
doure indeed to learn.>>

SND sense 3 for "uptak": "The capacity for understanding, power of
comprehension, intelligence ... Freq. in phrs. gleg, quick, dull, simple,
slow, etc. in, at, of the uptak.": example (1816): <<Everybody's no sae
gleg at the uptake as ye are yoursell.>>

The sense of this "unco dour" (probably pronounced like "Unca Dewar" or
so?) does not seem to have any overlap with the sense of "hunky-dory".

I think maybe the newspaper item is poking fun at those hip cats who
respond to "How are you?" with the ultramodern "Hunky-dory" ... or
something like that ... i.e., implying that "hunky-dory" is a stupid
expression.

-- Doug Wilson