Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

The word cocktail has an unsettled history. Thought most word watchers agree it appeared in print in America in the early years of the 19th century, no one has been able to substantiate its origin. Theories proliferate concerning the origin of the term.

Perhaps it comes from the French word for egg-cup, coqutier. There is evidence of a New Orleans apothecary who sold tonics and bitters out of egg-cups (the kind used to hold soft-boiled eggs) in the 1700s. The drink may eventually have acquired its name from its original container, coquetier.

Or the word may be a variant of the British term cock-ale, which was a mixture of chicken broth and ale. Another possibility comes from earlier British English, wherein the word cocktailings designated an admixture of the tailings of several liquor kegs.

A further speculation involves a fruit and rum drink concocted by a New England tavern owner during the Revolutionary War. According to this legend, French officers called this beverage le coq's tail because it purportedly was decorated with colorful rooster feathers. An interesting swizzle stick indeed!

Though the theories of the origin of cocktail are numerous, one thing here remains consistent: every dictionary states "origin unknown" beside the entry of this word.

Radio Script > Cocktail