real MacKay

Scots

Etymology

Attested in 1856 as “A drappie o’ the real MacKay” (A drop of the real MacKay).^[1]^[2]^[3] Used as advertising slogan of G. MacKay & Co., Ltd., a whisky distiller.

Later attested 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson:^[4]

For society, there isna sae muckle, but there’s myself—the auld Johnson, ye ken—he’s the real Mackay…

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌreɪl məˈkaɪ/, /ˌriəl məˈkaɪ/

Noun

the real MacKay

(idiomatic) The real McCoy, the genuine article, not an imitation.

Descendants

the real McCoy

References

^ Scottish National Dictionary
^ 2007 OED
^ Susie Dent of the Oxford University Press, on February 8, 2008 broadcast of Countdown.
^ R.L.S.: Stevenson’s Letters to Charles Baxter, 1956, ed. De Lancey Ferguson and Marshall Waingrow, p. 125

[1] Scottish National Dictionary

[2] 2007 OED

[3] Susie Dent of the Oxford University Press, on February 8, 2008 broadcast of Countdown.

[4] R.L.S.: Stevenson’s Letters to Charles Baxter, 1956, ed. De Lancey Ferguson and Marshall Waingrow, p. 125

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