The Dark Humor That Might Be Behind Hot Dogs' Unique Name

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The U.S. hot dog market may be on the rise, but the origin of the term "hot dog" has always been a little murky. So why in the world is a hot dog called a hot dog? According to Bruce Kraig, author of "Hot Dog: A Global History and Man Bites Dog: Hot Dog Culture in America," the answer is two-fold. "Hot" was most likely coined due to sausages in the late 1800s generally being called "red hots." The "dog" part, however, may point to a running joke from the same time period.

The joke revolved around public confusion as to what hot dog meat is actually made of. Cartoons were published showing dogs being put into sausage-making machines, Kraig wrote, since people made jokes about butcher shops opening up and pets disappearing. There was even a song written about it at the time ("Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"). This, wrote Kraig, may have led somebody to start calling them hot dogs.

This joke isn't the only possible origin story of the hot dog, however. Another reason it got its name might've had something to do with its length. It may have been an easier way of saying "dachshund dog," which along with sausages, German immigrants brought to the U.S. in the late 1800s. That's right — another joke-based hot dog origin story. Everyone thought they looked like wiener dogs. That said, there's a chance it's a combination of these theories as to why a hot dog is called a hot dog.

Some people believe the hot dog goes back even further — all the way back to Roman times, according to Now This Impact. A cook roasted a starved pig over a fire for the Roman emperor. When the cooked pig was cut open, its empty intestines fell out, and the cook got the idea to fill them with meat. That said, there are two additional places that claim they are, in fact, the hot dog's birthplace.

Frankfurt, Germany, is the first, and claims ownership of the hot dog due to the invention of the frankfurter back in the late 1400s. Vienna, Austria, is the challenger in the opposite corner of this fight, since the wienerwurst was invented there. Perhaps, technically it's neither — but that gets into even murkier territory of what constitutes an actual hot dog. Is it just the frank — or is a hot dog a hot dog because it's typically served inside a bun? Because the bun didn't enter the situation until sausages (and dachshund dogs) came to the U.S. Regardless of who is responsible (for the name or the meat itself), hot dogs are a staple of U.S. culture. And one thing is for certain: Americans are great at creating different styles of hot dogs.