OED just says 'N. Amer. colloq.'. The earliest citation is 1918. But a later citation from a publication by the American Dialect Society derives it from an Irish word, 'anacol' (also spelt anacal, anacul), an 'act of protecting; deliverance; mercy, quarter, safety'.
Daniel Cassidy, in How the Irish Invented Slang (see Counterpunch Books), also derives it from 'anacal', which he glosses as 'mercy, quarter; fig. surrender'.
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Date: 2012-12-01 09:35 pm (UTC)Daniel Cassidy, in How the Irish Invented Slang (see Counterpunch Books), also derives it from 'anacal', which he glosses as 'mercy, quarter; fig. surrender'.