By: Kathryn Whitbourne | Updated: Apr 23, 2021 " " The origins of the word "cocktail" is "quite as dark as the origin of the thing itself," wrote H.L. Mencken. WIN-Initiative/Getty Images Probably not long after the invention of liquor, people may have started messing around and adding things to their favorite spirit. We know that by the 1600s, people were fond of alcoholic punches. But the cocktail as we know it is a more recent invention. Here are some other facts that should leave you stirred, but not shaken. Advertisement 1. Yes, the Word 'Cocktail' Sounds a Little Dirty — With Good Reason The origins of the word "cocktail" are pretty murky — with several competing theories . But spirits historian David Wondrich (nice job, huh?) says the first mention of the word "cocktail" was in a British newspaper in 1798. "Cock-tail" (as the word was styled) was used as a slang term for a ginger drink. Apparently at the time, before a horse sale, a dealer would sometimes put a ginger suppository up the animal's butt, which would cause it to lift its tail, "a raised or cocked-up tail being a sign of a spirited horse," writes Wondrich. Alrighty then.