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Why are hot dogs called hot dogs?
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โ Why are hot dogs called hot dogs?โ
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While sausages have been eaten for thousands of years, the story of the hot dog likely begins in 1497 in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, where the frankfurter sausage was invented. In the early 19th century, German immigrants brought their love of the long, thin pork sausage to the United States, and the frankfurter served on a bun became a beloved street food.
The exact reason for the name change is unclear, but here are the two leading theories why hot dogs are called hot dogs:
Theory #1: Frankfurters were originally called dachshund sausages because of their resemblance to the dog breed.
Before hot dogs were known as hot dogs, they had another nickname: dachshund sausages. It's said that around the 1690s, a German butcher named Johann Georghehner started promoting "dachshund sausages" because of how they appeared similar to the dog. It's not a huge reach, with both sharing a long and skinny shape.
Fun fact: "Dachshund" translates to "badger dog" in German, owing to the dog's skill in hunting burrowing animals, like the badger.
When German immigrants came to America, they brought with them both dachshund sausages and actual dachshunds. Since Germans originally named the sausages after dachshunds, itโs plausible that "hot dog" emerged as a simpler alternative, especially for English speakers who struggle to spell and pronounce "dachshund" (me included).
Theory #2: German sausages were rumored to contain dog meat.
Since sausages make it inherently difficult to know exactly what kinds of meat are being used, a 19th-century rumor claimed that German sausages contained dog meat โ and it wasn't entirely unfounded.
According to some reports and historical analysis, the consumption of dog meat wasn't unheard of in Germany. A 1906 New York Times report discussed how the high price of meat was leading to the increased consumption of horse and dog meat in the German Empire.
Evidence suggests the name "hot dog" gained popularity as a dark-humored joke on American college campuses in the late 19th century. One of the earliest references is found in an 1895 issue of the Yale Record in which a lunch wagon called the "Kennel Club" is mentioned to sell hot sausages in buns that the students "contentedly munch[ed] on."
Despite outcry from some dachshund sausage stands, the "German sausages contain dog meat" joke persisted in American culture. There was even a silent comic film called the "Dog Factory" filmed in Thomas Edison's movie studio โ yes, that Thomas Edison โ which showed a fake machine that turned dogs into sausage links.
Hot dogs may owe their name to rumors that the sausages contained dog meat. And their original doggy dachshund nickname probably didn't help.
๐ง Bonus brain points
*Is a hot dog a sandwich?
Personally, I think a hot dog is a sandwich because it contains a filling held by a partially cut bun, similar to a hoagie sandwich. But the world is divided, so I thought it might be fun just to let you know how different organizations and people feel about this never-ending food argument:
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โSources for this week's newsletterโ
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๐ Wikipedia article of the week
โSalmon chaosโ
"In March 2021, a wave of Taiwanese people changed their legal names to include the Chinese word for salmon (้ฎญ้ญ, guฤซyรบ) to take advantage of a promotion by the Japanese conveyor belt sushi chain Sushiro. The chain offered free sushi to guests whose names included the word. This phenomenon was dubbed the "salmon chaos" by English-language media. The incident garnered significant criticism by public figures and the general population."
๐ Catch up on other curious questions
- โWhy does salt make food taste better?โโ
- โWhy do we say "brand" new?โโ
- โWhat does it mean to darn socks?โโ
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