Something that’s The Real McCoy is the genuine article – not and copy or a fake. One story for the phrase goes back to the USA of the 1890s. Welterweight boxer Kid McCoy dominated his sport during the late 19th century. He was known throughout the USA and had many imitators who would earn money, challenging locals, in boxing booths and fairgrounds all across America. It got to the point where few people believed the imitators – or even Kid McCoy himself. During the 1920s, a long time after McCoy had retired, the small boxer was having a quiet drink in a bar when a big drunk picked an argument with him. McCoy's friends warned the great lumbering drunk off by insisting he was provoking a champion boxer but the man would have none of it, challenging McCoy to prove who he was. Finally, the ageing boxer reluctantly floored the man with a single punch, before returning to his whisky. According to myth, when the man regained consciousness his first words were “Godammit, he is the real McCoy.” Though it's a fantastic story it isn't the origin of the phrase.

Elijah McCoy was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1844. He was the son of former slaves who had fled north from Kentucky and trained as a mechanical engineer in Scotland before travelling to America. He settled in Detroit and, in 1872, designed his first of 57 patented inventions to revolutionise industry in America – an automatic lubricator for steam engines. Other inventions included the ironing board and the lawn sprinkler. The inventor became famous and his popular inventions were copied all over the world – though many buyers would insist on buying “the real McCoy”.