Etymology
The word "gimlet" used in this sense is first attested in 1928. The most obvious derivation is from the tool for drilling small holes, whose name is also used figuratively to describe something as sharp or piercing. Thus, the cocktail may have been named for its "penetrating" effects on the drinker. Another theory is that the drink was named after British Royal Navy Surgeon General Sir Thomas D. Gimlette, KCB (served 1879 to 1913), who allegedly introduced this drink as a means of inducing his messmates to take lime juice as an anti-scurvy medication. (Limes and other citrus fruit have been used by the Royal Navy for the treatment of scurvy since the mid-18th century.) The abbreviation gmlt (not Gmlet) stands for "give my love to," commonly used in the days of the telegraph.
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