The real McCoy (informal US)
noun phrase

- something or someone that is real or genuine

- something or someone that is neither an imitation or a substitute

Merriam-Webster Dictionary


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ORIGIN

There is general agreement this phrase comes from the name of the American boxer Norman Selby, known as Kid McCoy, who was welterweight champion from 1898-1900.

This is how the story goes:

One night a drunk man in a bar loudly insisted to the boxer Kid McCoy that he was not in fact the famous boxer. McCoy, by way of proof, knocked the man to the ground.

"It's the real McCoy," the man then remarked, struggling to his feet - and thereby giving birth to a common expression in the English language.

Kid McCoy - born Norman Selby - (1872-1940) American boxer and welterweight world champion (1898)

Other theories include:

*    Elijah McCoy, who invented a machine to lubricate the moving parts of a railway locomotive.

*    A brand of fine whisky from 1856 onwards and which was promoted as 'the real MacKay' from 1870.

*    The real Macao, pure heroin imported from the Far East.


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SYNONYMS

genuine thing, genuine article, real goods, the real thing, the very thing, the gospel, no imitation, no joke


Practice OWAD in a conversation today, say something like:

"If you buy antiques on eBay, be especially careful that you are getting THE REAL McCOY"