Everything is Hunky Dory, means all is well; things are good. Generally agreed to have been first used in the USA in the mid to late 1800s, but beyond that there’s little agreement on the origins. The word Hunkey means fit and healthy; the word Hank in Dutch means house or base. Both of these are possible explanations for the first half of the phrase. As for Dory there are hardly any indications of the origin at all.

Apart that is, from the following one. The phrase Hunky Dory, it is believed by some, may have come back with sailors who’d spent time on R&R in Japan. Specifically Yokohama in Japan. Back in the 1800s the Honcho Dori or “main street” in Yokohama was renowned for its drinking establishments and brothels (Yokohama prostitutes photographed above). The sailors may have combined the word Hunky with the street name to come up with the new phrase alluding to the good times they had encountered in Japan.