HAMBURGER

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Dr. Goodword
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HAMBURGER

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:38 pm

• hamburger •

Pronunciation: hæm-bêr-gêr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. Ground beef. 2. A round patty of ground beef, usually though not necessarily served between two slices of bread or in a bun with condiments (mustard, ketchup, pickles or relish, tomatoes, and lettuce are among the favorites).

Notes: Today's Good Word long ago fell victim to 'folk etymology', a misanalysis of a borrowed word that makes it more recognizable. Even though it originates as the German derivation meaning something from the city of Hamburg (Hamburg-er), English speakers immediately perceived the word ham in it and began replacing that word with so many others that burger finally became a word on its own.

In Play: I only wish I had a nickel for every hamburger that will be cooked and consumed in the US this Fourth of July. It is by far the favorite food for celebrating US Independence Day, despite its origin (see Word History).

Word History: In the 13th and 14th centuries Turkic tribes known as Tatars roamed across the plains of what today is Russia. They were known for chopping meat (probably because it was tough), mixing it with spices (to hide any spoilage), and eating it raw. This idea gravitated to the German town of Hamburg, which became famous for its beefsteak Tatar, ground beef served with onions and spices without benefit of the flame. When this 'Hamburg steak' reached the US, it was generally served cooked. The term Hamburger steak first appeared in the January 5, 1889 edition of the Walla Walla (Washington) Union. The steak was soon dropped, but it wasn't until the 1930s that the word cheeseburger appeared and by 1939 hamburger had been shortened to burger. At that point, a flood of compounds with this new word began to appear: fishburger, turkeyburger, baconburger, and so on and on and on. (Today's word is courtesy of Dr. Goodword, himself a Lewisburger celebrating our nation's birth in his hometown, Lewisburg, PA, USA.)
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Slava
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Postby Slava » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:47 am

Two points, not necessarily related to this word:

Thank you, Dr. G., for not using that extraneous r;

and,

I must say, I do love the sound of Walla Walla, Washington. It's fun.
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:58 am

or
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.
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Postby wurdpurrson » Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:47 pm

Cucamonga is a good one, too. . .

Happy burger day, Doc, and thanks for all the lovely words!

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Postby wurdpurrson » Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:47 pm

Cucamonga California is even better!

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Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:12 pm

Titicaca.
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:13 pm

And of course there is always Timbuktu.
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Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:02 pm

Waxahachie
pl

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Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:09 pm

Timbuktu is in a lot of hurt right now. Muslim radicals do not believe in Muslim saints but the locals do. There are many tombs of Muslim saints in Timbuktu becasue it has been a center of Muslim learning for centuries. The radicals are destroying the tombs.

I suggest Kalamazoo be added to the list of interesting place names. If you are as old as dirt, as I am, you will remember that someones "gotta gal in Kalamazoo".
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:35 pm

Yes, I've been following the situation in Mali
as well. Timbuktu is in dire straits.
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Postby Perry Lassiter » Thu Jul 05, 2012 9:51 am

Kalamazoo reminded me of a crossroads and restaurant below Shreveport called Kickapoo. In my youth I found a business card for the cafe that had on its reverse a huge drawing of a long nose. Straddling it above and below were the words, "O Lord, help me to keep my.....out of other people's business." Carried it for years in my wallet.
pl

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Postby Philip Hudson » Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:21 am

In my youth, I thought the Kickapoo Amerinds were a fictional tribe invented by Al Capp, the creator of Li'l Abner. In that comic strip, two very ugly Amerinds made Kickapoo joy juice and were perpetually drunk. Although I admired Al Capp, I thought he was going a little far to stereotype Amerinds as he did.

In my professional life I worked with a Kickapoo named Isaac Newton. He was a quality assurance (QA) engineer and, if you don't know engineers, those guys are the ones that make the most demand and contribute the least to a multimillion dollar program. (Is my prejudice showing?) Isaac Newton’s chief delight was to be so unreasonable that QA engineers of our vendors frequently cried or crept miserably out of the room during meetings. If someone wants to reprimand me for being so negative about a profession, feel free. I may have got an atypical sampling.

Some Kickapoos live under the International Bridge at Eagle Pass, Texas. They, along with their fellow Kickapoos in Mexico, make up one of the most "pristine" Amerind cultures extant. Oklahoma Kickapoos have succumbed to the authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, own casinos and are pretty "civilized". Except for Isaac Newton.
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:53 am

Having an Indian (she preferred the term) grandmother,
I was offended with Capp's Kickapoo joy juice as well.
We have a number of 'reservations' and communities
here, and South Dakota has many more. Ours are
the Ponca, Omaha, Winnebago, Santee, Sauk & Fox.
South Dakota is the home of many communities
of Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, etc.
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Postby Philip Hudson » Thu Jul 05, 2012 2:09 pm

Texas has only one Amerind "reservation". The Alabama-Coushatta (A-C) tribal lands are in Polk County, Texas, North of Houston. I have visited there and got to know many of the people. The tribal lands are full of activity in the Summer when tourist trade is best. Many teenage A-C boys and girls spend the summer there, participate in a daily tribal pagent, and work for the tribe and the tourist trade. in winter the land is almost entirely populated by retirees. Most of the A-Cs live in Houston or in the area of the tribal lands but not on the tribal lands.

The average A-C speaks excellent English ( with a Texas twang) and is employed in the same kind of work as other Texans. Many of them speak Alabama also. Some few of them who went to the A-C school in the past surprisingly have Cajun accents. It seems that the school was staffed with Cajun teachers.

One must live with a family history that shows non-Amerind ancestors taking over A-C lands as soon as they departed from Alabama and Mississippi. History is what happened. We must move on from here.

The average A-C depends on the tribal lands for cultural and family identity. Otherwise they are integrated into the general population. I am very pleased with the success of the A-C people.
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Postby wurdpurrson » Thu Jul 05, 2012 6:37 pm

My Dad's people were either Osage or Creek - trying to dig out a non-written history after the fact ain't easy. His mother's family was driven across the notorious Trail of Tears (known to some Natives as the Trail of Those Who Cried) and he was born in Oklahoma Indian Territory. My knowledge of that heritage is scant - I know more of Intermountain West tribal cultures, after living there for quite some time.

My mother was Scot and Brit. It all settled in as a very interesting combination in my siblings and me.


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