Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. Aus.) whisky.

1910		Sun. Times (Perth) 17 July 2nd sect. 12/8: Sought he then the ‘gay-and-frisky’ that alleviates all woes.
1919		W.H. Downing Digger Dialects 25: gay (n.) — Whisky.
1919		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 39: Gay an’ frisky that’s a whiskey.
1924		(con. WWI) A.G. Pretty Gloss. of Sl. [...] in the A.I.F. 1921–1924 (rev. t/s) n.p.: gay and frisky. Whisky.
1924		Mail (Adelaide) 16 Feb. 1/4: What am I drinking? Gay and frisky, thanks.
1932		‘P.P.’ Rhy. Sl.
1943		in A. Laughesen Diggerspeak 41: The signal officer may say to the mess secretary: ‘What sort of gay-and-frisky do you call this, Arthur? I’ve tasted better stuff in a billabong full of dead wallaroos’ .
1944		Maurer & Baker ‘“Aus.” Rhyming Argot’ in AS XIX:3.
1963		C. Mann ‘Stiff Luck for the Colonel’ in Three Stories 48: What d’y’ fancy, Colonel? Give her a name. Still like the old gay and frisk? Make it two whiskies, miss.
1967		Aus. Women’s Wkly 18 Oct. 2/3: It was there I heard about a gay-and-ten, which is cockney rhyming slang for whisky-and-water. ‘Gay’ is for ‘gay and frisky’ (whisky) and ‘ten’ for ‘ten furlongs’, which is a ‘mile and a quarter’ (water).
1971		J. Jones Rhy. Cockney Sl.
1981		P. Wright Cockney Dialect and Sl. 103: gay an’ frisky [...] whisky.
2002		K. Lucas ‘All my life I’ve wanted to be a Barrow Boy’ in Obfuscation News Apr. Issue 20 🌐 No my old Cock Sparrow, but Rob gave me this lovely roll of Purple cloth and it seemed a shame not to use it and save you some Bees and Honey. Look you can have it for an Aristotle of Gay and Frisky. Not only that I will throw in an Uncle Bert as well.
2013		S.M. Kaminsky Lieberman’s Folly [ebook] Double gin and whiskey, a Gay and Frisky, as Aunt Aileen’s husband Jack used to call his favorite drink.