The newspaper Daily National Republican in Washington, D.C. reported in its March 24, 1864 edition, “The latest fashion in Washington of asking a party what they will take to drink is ‘Please nominate your poison, gentlemen.'” The story made its rounds to newspapers across the country and by 1867 writers attributed the term to people in Indiana.

The phrase seems to have been used mostly to describe the action of ordering the drink. Even in 1914 as the mayor of New Bavaria, Ohio proposed a law requiring all drinkers to apply for drinking licenses, the phrase was popular. The phrase comes in many forms – pick, choose, or name – and of course nominate your poison.