Cheeseburger-1923

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 7/9/06, Sam Clements <SClements at neo.rr.com> wrote:
>
> Well, kinda.
>
> _The Kingston Jam[a]ica Freeman_  24 Feb. 1923
>
> >>The game fast throughout, with first one in the lead and then the
> other.  "Che[e]se" Burger, former star forward on the varsity, held the
> whistle, and allowed a fast contest.<<
>
> "Cheese" Burger was the referee.  The fact that a person with a last
> name of "Burger" could have the nickname "Cheese" would probably
> indicate that the term was well known by that point.  I can't think of
> anything other than a hamburger with cheese on it as an explanation.

I agree with Ron that this is most likely just a coincidence. By the
way, I believe the earliest cite we have for bare "burger" is from
1926 [1] and the earliest for "cheeseburger" is from 1928 [2].


[1] From the Penn State Collegian (found by me):
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0504A&L=ADS-L&P=R14619
http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/Repository/SCG/1926/07/22/013-SCG-1926-07-22-001-SINGLE.PDF#OLV0_Entity_0001_0003

[2] From a menu for the Los Angeles diner O'Dell's (found by Barry):
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0111B&L=ADS-L&P=R1149
http://dbase1.lapl.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=http://dbase1.lapl.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdbase1.lapl.org&TN=menus&SN=AUTO19410&SE=1021&RN=17&MR=20&RF=web+tab+report+maya&DF=web+report+maya&RL=0&DL=0&NP=3&ID=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0

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