Origin of the Term "Hot Dog"-- Why 300 pages?

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

Original message from Matthew Gordon, Nov. 29, 2004, 6:52 p.m.:
> How did this topic result in a 300-page book?
> I intend this as an honest question, not a snide remark. I can't imagine having that much to say about any lexical item.
>
***************
             This is a partial answer to the question just above:
        Conents, Preface: -- 7 pp.
        Chapter 1 (pp. 1-4): Previous literature
        Chapter 2 (pp.  5-66) presents information from the college scene, 1895ff.
        Chapter 3 (pp.67-134) presents non-college material illustrating the 19c. popular belief that dog meat might turn up in sausages.
        Chapter 4 (pp.135-150) gives information on the spread of "hot dog" from college slang.
        Chapter 5 (pp.151-222) presents various additional information, e.g..,
           a more detailed look at the previous literature, various items about Coney Island in which "hot dog" is conspicuous by its absence (the term was officially avoided there), etc. etc., ----- pp. 182-200: "hot dog" (= show-off and related matters),
        References (often with quoted material): pp. 223-283.
        Index: pp. 284-293.

             Also: the late Peter Tamony (independent scholar, San Francisco) worked on "hot dog" for at least 35 years, albeit not full time. I published my first working paper on the term in 1978 and have been very interested in the term ever since. David Shulman headed me in the right direction, viz. college slang, and Barry Popik entered the scene in 1991 big-time with his extraordinary unearthing of material.

             Allen Walker Read spent decades researching "okay." I wrote two monographs on the term "shyster." (total: ca. 240 pages). And now there's the study of "hot dog." In all three cases we see that even a humble slang term can receive a thorough study. Or as the eminent linguist Eric Hamp once wrote me a few decades ago (he did so in criticism of some less than well-researched work I had recently done): "I am constantly amazed at what can emerge from the *detailed* study of a subject."  Yes, so am I.

             Btw, I am solely responsible for the editorial decisions in such matters as the length of the book and its arrangement of material. Barry Popik is included as co-author because some 3/4 of the book's material was unearthed by him. David Shulman is included because he headed me (and then Barry) in the right direction. I had previously been stubbornly holding to Edo McCullough's  view that Coney Island must have been the starting point of the term.

            Matthew, thanks for asking.

        Best. -- Gerald Cohen