Hot Dog! Who Knew?

I know the name of this blog is English Makes No Sense, but for today we are going to focus on that uniquely American word, hot dog. The hot dog is as American as apple pie and baseball. In the English language, hot dog can be a noun, a verb, adjective and an exclamation! That is one powerful word. Or is it two?

The hot dog of course, has its origins from the German immigrants who came to America. They brought their sausages, frankfurter, and weiners. They also brought dachshunds, their dogs. Apparently, as the story goes, people made fun of the Germans and their dogs. The dogs resembled the shape of the sausages and well, one thing led to another, throw in some college students from Yale and voila, the term hot dog came to be.

I see the shape, but can’t picture it on a bun.

Now that looks tasty!

Yale students called the hot sausages, hot dogs, and the rest is history. How the word hot dog became a noun is totally understandable. A hot dog is that delicious tasty meat, covered in mustard and ketchup, lovingly cradled in a bun. See, the noun. It can also be a term given to someone who takes risks or shows off. It is used to describe a daredevil.

The act of showing off or taking risks is the definition of hot dog the verb. For example, “Michael Jordan hot dogged his way to the hoop.” You can see him flying through the air right now, can’t you?

Hot dog the exclamation, is used when one is excited and or pleased. “Hot dog, our team won!” Now, I don’t think hot dog is used in that way as often as it was in years gone by. Apparently, “Hot dog!”were the first words heard out of Mickey Mouse in his animated “talkie” debut. That makes sense. Using “Hot dog!” to show excitement almost seems like using a taxi to get somewhere. You know, you know it is available as an option, but you choose a ride share instead. You know hot dog is available but most people swing towards, “Hot damn!”

To wrap it all up, the words hot dog are truly American. So, maybe today should be Americanisms Make No Sense. You can eat a hot dog, you can be a hot dog, you can hot dog it, and you can let the world know your excitement by saying, “Hot Dog!”

And you thought a hot dog was just a tasty treat!

For more on hot dogs, check out this video link: