# Origin of "slip a mickey"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-slip-a-mickey/5667>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 29, 1999, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-slip-a-mickey/5667 "1999-12-29T20:25:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-slip-a-mickey/5667/1 "1999-12-29T20:25:00Z")

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Okay, so if you slip someone a mickey, you have drugged them without their consent.  
What’s the origin of this phrase?  
What is a mickey? Street drugs in general, or a specific drug?  
Are mickeys ever introduced to the body through means other than slipping? Another way to state this question is, is “mickey” only used as an epithet for “drug” in cases of secret dosing, or can someone take one knowingly? Maybe if they take it knowingly it becomes “dope” or something.

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- Boris B, Hellacious Ornithologist

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**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-slip-a-mickey/5667/2 "1999-12-29T20:33:00Z")

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[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_092.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_092.html)

Ta da.

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If I wanted smoke blown up my ass, I’d be at home with a pack of cigarettes and a short length of hose.

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**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-slip-a-mickey/5667/3 "1999-12-29T21:33:00Z")

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There is also a reference at:  
[http://www.greenapple.com/~words1/back-h.html#mickey](http://www.greenapple.com/~words1/back-h.html#mickey)

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“Drink your coffee! Remember, there are people sleeping in China.”

Dennis Matheson — [dennis@mountaindiver.com](mailto:dennis@mountaindiver.com)  
Hike, Dive, Ski, Climb — [www.mountaindiver.com](http://www.mountaindiver.com)

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**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-slip-a-mickey/5667/4 "1999-12-30T04:52:00Z")

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chloral hydrate

My dad’s drug store (pharmacy) has a bottle or two of chloral hydrate and it smelled nasty when you walked close to it! Later on I found out that the Nasty Smell was the smell of whiskey or something close to it.

I was told that some hospitalized patients would drink it right down as if it were whiskey and not even flinch.

Yikes!

It was supposed to be that smell that made it easy to slip a few drops into someone’s drink and knock them out.