Last night I was chatting with my brother who told me about a relatively new series of books for kids called 39 Clues. He said it reminded him of the Magic Tree House series. As soon as I got off the phone, I went and told my daughter, who loved the Magic Tree House series and read them all this year. Because she loved the series so much, for her last birthday I wrote her a book based on the characters in the story. My wife came up with the brilliant idea of having it professionally printed. I used Blurb.com and it turned out way better than I could have imagined. You can read it here.
I was reading about the 39 Clues series today and came across this sentence in the description on Amazon.com:
Likable orphans Amy and Dan Cahill have moxie (plus Dan can memorize numbers instantly) and frailties (Amy hates crowds).They have moxie? I don't recall ever hearing that term.
Dictionary.com says that moxie (pronounced mok-see) is a slang term meaning courage, vigor or nerve. The word originated and was popularized by Moxie, a non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage. The word was used as far back as 1876 as the name of a patent medicine advertised to "build up your nerve."
I also learned that Moxie was one of the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It continues to be regionally popular today and is the main ingredient in the New Englander cocktail. Moxie has a unique flavor that is not as sweet as most modern soft drinks and is described by some as "bitter."
Now that I think about it, there was an older gentleman named Moxie who lived up the street from us when I was a kid. I wonder if it was a nickname based on this slang term. I'll have to ask my dad.
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