Hunky dory

Origin of: Hunky dory

Hunky dory

An American expression meaning splendid, dates from the mid-19th century but the origin is obscure. Many different theories abound, from honchi-dori a red-light district in Tokyo, to an Irish or Dutch expression. None of them is proven beyond doubt. Hunkey, however, was a popular American word for fit and healthy when it appeared as hunkey-dorey in a song by Christy’s Minstrels in 1862, but quite how dorey or dory came to be added, no one knows.