“熱狗”這個名稱十分古怪，它是由英語hot dog直譯而來，但是你知道hot dog一詞是怎么來的嗎？
據傳它來源于一張漫畫上的訛寫。1901年時，細長流線型的香腸在美國仍是一種新奇的食物，有的人叫它“達克斯獵狗腸”。達克斯獵狗是一種長體短腿棕毛狗，由于香腸的形狀頗似這個品種的狗而得名。當時有人制作達克斯獵狗面包推銷到紐約的棒球賽場中，成了風行一時的食品。在運動場內，隨處可見小販們在看臺上叫賣：“快來買熱的達克斯獵狗腸！”
有一次《紐約新聞報》的漫畫家塔德·多爾根在看臺上看見那種狗型的香腸，聽到小販們的叫賣聲后靈感頓生，即興畫了一幅漫畫：一個小圓面包里夾一節香腸，上邊抹了一些芥末。多爾根回到辦公室，把漫畫潤飾了一下，但寫“快來買熱的達克斯獵狗腸”時不知為何突然想不起來如何拼寫dachshund，只好寫個狗字，結果漫畫中小販的喊聲就被寫成了“快來買熱狗”。
有趣的是， 這一訛寫居然很受歡迎，不僅立刻站住了腳，而且還把其它叫法都送進了歷史博物館。可是人們再也沒能找到那幅訛寫為“熱狗”的漫畫，因此這個故事的真偽也就無從證實了。
The origin of hot dogs actually dates back to over five hundred years in the past. It is believed that hotdogs were made in Germany first and it was definitely not named hotdog back then! The sausage was actually named by a butcher in Frankfurt, Germany as "dachshund sausage", after his pet dachshund. Perhaps the shape of the dachshund, which is a small dog with a long and slender body, caused the butcher to see the resemblance between his sausages and his dog. Thus the name "dachshund sausage" came to existence. How the name changed from dachshund sausage to hotdog is another, highly controversial story.
Douglas B. Smith mentioned in his book that the credit of the name should go to the cartoonist T.A. Dorgan of the "New York Journal". According to the story that Smith wrote in his book "Ever Wonder Why", T.A. Dorgan was enjoying a baseball match back in 1901, when he heard vendors yelling to sell their "hot dachshund sausages". The situation drew the attention of Dorgan and being a cartoonist by profession, he made a cartoon sketch of the whole situation but being unsure about the actual spelling of the term "dachshund", he gave it the name of "hotdog". This is the most popular theory about the origin of the name hotdog.
It is to be noted that the above theory regarding the origin of the hotdog is not proven to be the absolute. Also, the various details may vary widely with each website or book that you would come across. For example, the year is found to be 1906 in place of 1901 in some cases, while some claim that it was not a baseball match but a polo game. Others claim that it was neither a baseball match, nor was it a polo game; rather it was a six-day bicycle race. Which of these facts are true or if all of them are false, is something that is hard to tell accurately now, but what it does suggest is that the story is doubtful. There are other theories also, which stem from the fact that the term hotdog was in use even before TAD or Dorgan used it to depict his cartoon.
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（來源：whycenter.com 編輯：崔旭燕）
