The term hot dog was first documented in an 1884 issue of the Evansville, Indiana Daily Courier. The term “hot” simply referred to the temperature, while “dog” had been used to mean “sausage” for many years before that, likely stemming from a belief that some sausages were made from dog meat. The nickname gained popularity among young people of that era and was featured in various college newspapers. It gained further traction through cartoonist Tad Dorgan’s comic strip in the New York Sun (Dorgan was also responsible for popularizing phrases like “for crying out loud” and “the cat’s pajamas,” among others), becoming widespread by the 1930s. The exclamation “hot dog!” to express enthusiasm emerged in 1906 and became well-known through its frequent use by Mickey Mouse.
