PhrasesHub

Mickey Finn

    Definitions

      • to drug someone
        to describe a situation where someone is given a drink that has been secretly spiked with a drug, usually to incapacitate them

    Examples of Mickey Finn

    • The bartender slipped a Mickey Finn into my drink last night, and I woke up with no memory of the evening.

      The idiom "Mickey Finn" refers to a drug, usually a sedative, that is secretly added to a drink or food without the person's knowledge or consent. This can render the person unconscious or disoriented.

    • The police are looking into allegations that a nightclub was using Mickey Finns to drug their patrons and commit fraud.

      In this instance, "Mickey Finn" refers to a potential crime, where drugs are surreptitiously added to drinks to take advantage of unsuspecting individuals.

    • The restaurant owner was accused of slipping Mickey Finns into his competitors' drinks to sabotage their businesses.

      Here, "Mickey Finn" is used figuratively to describe a deliberate and underhanded action meant to harm someone else's enterprise.

    • The conspiracy theorists claimed that the government was using Mickey Finns to control the population and manipulate their behavior.

      In this case, "Mickey Finn" is being employed as a hyperbolic metaphor to describe a notion that the authorities are brainwashing the populace through nefarious means.

    • After a wild night out at the club, John woke up with a splitting headache and couldn't remember how he got home. His friends revealed that they laced his drink with a Mickey Finn, a mysterious drug that knocked him out cold.

      The idiom "Mickey Finn" refers to a drug, usually added to a drink, that renders a person unconscious or disoriented without their knowledge or consent. This term originated in the early 1900s and is now used generally to describe any substance that is surreptitiously added to a drink to deceive or incapacitate a person.


    Conclusion

    The idiom "Mickey Finn" is commonly used to warn against the dangers of accepting drinks from strangers or being cautious about the beverages served in unfamiliar settings. It can also be used to caution others about the possibility of being drugged without their knowledge.

    Origin of "Mickey Finn"

    The origin of the idiom "Mickey Finn" can be traced back to the early 20th century in the United States. It is believed to have originated from a notorious bartender named Mickey Finn, who was known for secretly adding drugs to his customers' drinks in order to rob them. The idiom gained popularity as a cautionary warning to be wary of accepting drinks from untrustworthy individuals or in shady establishments.

    One famous case involving the use of a "Mickey Finn" was the 1903 murder trial of a man named Harry K. Thaw, who allegedly drugged and raped a woman named Evelyn Nesbit. The widespread coverage of this case in the media contributed to the popularization of the idiom. Over time, "Mickey Finn" became synonymous with the act of drugging someone's drink, and the idiom is still widely used today to warn against the dangers of being drugged without consent.