The Real McCoy

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Disappointingly, this expression does not derive from a Star Trek episode in which they cloned the starship's doctor. In fact it is a bastardisation, surviving from anonymous, over-apostrophised Glaswegian poem The De'il's Hallowe' en, which calls out "A drappie o' the real MacKay". McKay, we suppose was some kind of whiskey.

So "the real McCoy" wasn't a McCoy at all. Come in Alannis Morissette - that is ironic.

See also

• Wikipedia on the topic