Poor Boys

[Dennis R. Preston]

I am pronouncing "gyro" as [yiro]; to get [jiro] (or [hiro] if you prefer)
from it doesn't seem like much of a leap. What's the phonetic process which
is denied here?

dInIs

>I doubt very much if "hero" can be derived from "gyro." We don't have that
>kind of phonetic process in English.
>Muffuletta is as described--chopped green olives, pimentos, etc.
>I know very little about the hero you describe, or really about any hero.  I
>always assumed it was just a variant term for the submarine.  Maybe I'm wrong
>and it's a different sandwich.
>
>Laurence Horn wrote:
>
>> James Smith writes:
>> >I've assumed (I know, never safe) that "hero" was
>> >derivative of Greek "gyro".
>> >
>> I wonder.  They're phonetically similar, but ethnically and culinarily
>> distinct.  Especially the latter; if the gyros sandwiches I've had in Greek
>> joints around the country since the mid-70's (large pita-like bread stuffed
>> with shaved lamb or beef from a rotating spit--whence the name--garnished
>> with tomatoes, cucumber, and a tasty cucumber-yogurt-type sauce, with hot
>> sauce optional) are indicative, there's very little relation to the hero
>> sandwiches I grew up on in both New York City and Maine in the 50's
>> (Italian bread seasoned with olive oil and stuffed with various Italian
>> cold cuts--genoa salami being the true essential, but joined by its
>> cousins--and cheese (usually provolone), as well as diced peppers, onions,
>> and crushed red pepper.  Besides being good for lunch, there's not much in
>> common between the two.  I'd never come across the "gyro" in New York in
>> the 50's or 60's, and we were always told the hero was so-called because
>> you had to be one to eat it all.  Of course, that COULD be a folk
>> etymology, but if so I have no idea what the true one is.
>>
>> larry


Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736