Etymology

sockdolager

sock·dol·a·ger
S1O1C3K5D2O1L1A1G2E1R1

Today it means: A hard hit, a knockout or finishing blow, or conclusive argument. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

Unknown, 1827 US, presumably fanciful variant of sock (“to hit”); compare contemporary fanciful American coinages. Various speculative etymologies have been suggested, such as corruption of doxology, due to this occurring at the end of church worship, hence “finality”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.