Moxie | Lexicon

Moxie means courage, pluck, perseverance, or guts. It comes from Moxie, the drink, first produced in 1884 as a patent medicine, claiming to cure “brain and nervous exhaustion, paralysis, loss of manhood, softening of the brain and mental imbecility.” When the government cracked down on such claims, Moxie makers put fizz in their “medicine” and created America’s first mass-market soft drink. The Moxie company built Moxiemobiles and buildings shaped like bottles of Moxie to promote the product. Soon, trainloads of the stuff was rolling out of Lowell and Roxbury, Massachusetts. The bitter taste is a point of pride with Moxie fans. It says, in other words, that you must have moxie to drink Moxie. Learn more about New England’s love affair with Moxie.