Old Tom（n.）
1807, "gin; the personification of gin." In older use could mean any gin, but later came to designate an old-fashioned type of sweet gin that was the precursor to London Dry.
The reason for the name is unclear. The 1807 use is from a comical song about "Old Tom" the son of "Peg Juniper" and how, when he died, he was put into a cask which was tapped for gin.
In a barrel so round then a cock was put in,
And some have since call'd the contents of it gin;
But this we know the liquid therefrom
Is that cure for the cholic, the juice of Old Tom!
["Old Tom," Ashburner's New Vocal and Poetic Respository, 1807.]
Whether this song was the creation of the term or whether it is referencing a term that was already in use cannot be ascertained. A satirical book published a year later also contains a personified Old Tom, in a punning tale about "raising his spirits."
An oft-repeated explanation is that the gin was so named because it was formerly served from cat-shaped dispensers, in which case the tom is as in tomcat. There is little evidence of this being common practice but it does genuinely appear in an 18c. biography.
[I] purchased in Moorfields the Sign of a Cat, and had it nailed to a Street Window; I then caused a Leaden Pipe, the small End out about an Inch, to be placed under the Paw of the Cat; the End that was within had a Funnel to it.
When my House was ready for Business, I enquired what Distiller in London was most famous for good Gin, and was assured by several, that it was Mr. L---dale in Holbourn: [...] When the Liquor was properly disposed, I got a Person to inform a few of the Mob, that Gin would be sold by the Cat at my Window next Day, provided they put the Money in its Mouth, from whence there was a Hole that conveyed it to me. At Night I took Possession of my Den, and got up early next Morning to be ready for Custom; it was near three Hours before any body called, which made me almost despair of the Project; at last I heard the Chink of Money, and a comfortable Voice say, “Puss, give me two Pennyworth of Gin.” I instantly put my Mouth to the Tube and bid them receive it from the Pipe under her Paw, and then measured and poured it into the Funnel, from whence they soon received it. […] People used to resort to me in such Numbers that my Neighbours could scarcely get in or out of their Houses. [Dudley Bradstreet, The Life and Uncommon Adventures of Capt. Dudley Bradstreet, 1755.]
Another theory is that it was named for a particular London gin merchant, Thomas Chamberlain, who circa 1800 kept a special stash of gin for his favorite customers, hence "Old Tom's gin" was gin of especially fine quality. This etymology is given by 1860s.
该词起源时间：1807年