adj. and adv. (originally American: now general).—A superlative: very; quite; really. Whence REAL FINE, GLAD, GOOD, &c. = very fine, glad, good, &c., indeed; REAL JAM = an acme: see JAM; REAL GRIT = ‘sound to the core’: see GRIT; THE REAL (or THE REAL THING) = the genuine article.
1848. W. E. BURTON, Waggeries and Vagaries, 15. I recking that he [the chaplain] was the RAAL GRIT for a parson—always doin’ as he’d be done by, and practisin’ a darned sight more than he preached.
1841. THACKERAY, Men and Pictures. Persons who make believe that they are handing you round tokay—giving you THE REAL imperial stuff.
1872. C. D. WARNER, Blacklog Studies, 4. A cynic might suggest as the motto of modern life this simple legend—‘Just as good as THE REAL.’
1879. JUSTIN MCCARTHY, Donna Quixote, xvii. But I do like her. I took to her from the first…. REAL JAM, I call her.
1885. Punch, 3 Jan., 4, 2. Without REAL JAM—cash and kisses—this world is a bitterish pill.
