moxie and Moxie

As a word, "moxie" means something like "energy, determination, spunk, courage, nerve, spirit, or guts". This term has been around since the 1930s and has continued in use, to some extent, into the early 21st century. "That girl has got moxie!"

I thought to look for an origin when I came across on Netflix the film MOXiE!, a 2021 American young adult comedy-drama film directed by Amy Poehler. 

But Moxie with a capital "M" is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was originally marketed as "nerve food" which would "strengthen the nervous system" and was "very healthful" and a "drink for athletes" that "strengthens and invigorates" - hence its slang usage. 

It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food" and was produced in Lowell, Massachusetts. Thompson claimed that it contained an extract from a rare, unnamed South American plant, which is now known to be gentian root. Thompson claimed that he named the beverage after Lieutenant Moxie, a purported friend of his, who he claimed had discovered the plant and used it as a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases (a panacea). 

from the 1922 ad "The Moxie Boy compels attention..."
Public Domain, Link

Etymologies say it likely derived from an Abenaki word that means "dark water" and that is found in lake and river names in Maine, where Thompson was born and raised. 

The sweet soda is similar to root beer, with a bitter aftertaste and it is flavored with gentian root extract, an extremely bitter substance commonly used in herbal medicine.

Moxie was designated the official soft drink of Maine in 2005 and continues to be regionally popular today, particularly in New England states, and is even available on Amazon. Moxie was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company in 2018.