OT: For Out of Towners Hofmann's Going Big Time

[Champ]

Coney:

Cooney:

 

[Toga]

I've bought them at WalMart in Halfmoon for several years.

Alright, now I'm jonesing really bad. Need to take a sidetrip to Exit 8A ASAP.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Alright, now I'm jonesing really bad. Need to take a sidetrip to Exit 8A ASAP.

Keep moving along. Nothing to see here

 

[All4SU]

Same here. Everyone called them Cooney's until around the 90s... then for whatever reason, people started changing the way it's pronounced to the way it is spelled.

Well, I've been eating them for a lot longer than since the '90s, and I've never once called one a "Cooney." Most people have always knows how to pronounce it. But there has always been a segment that just can't get it straight.

 

[jcuse44]

I just hope to God that people every start calling them "CO - NEES" and not "COO-NEES" like some folks do for some inexplicable reason. It's a Coney -- Like Coney Island.

Absolutely incorrect sir. Ask the originators...its pronounced Cooney... Coney island has NOTHiNG to do withthis Syracuse original. Coney island is for nathans...which are terrible by the way. Nothing beats a cooney off the flattop

 

[All4SU]

Absolutely incorrect sir. Ask the originators...its pronounced Cooney... Coney island has NOTHiNG to do withthis Syracuse original. Coney island is for nathans...which are terrible by the way. Nothing beats a cooney off the flattop

It's still a Coney. If it was a Cooney, they would spell it that way.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

It's still a Coney. If it was a Cooney, they would spell it that way.

Am I the only one who calls them white hots. Maybe cause I lived in both Rochester and Syracuse. This reminds me of the Seer-A-Cuse vs Sara-Cuse thread from one or two off-seasons ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hot

 

[Toga]

Am I the only one who calls them white hots. Maybe cause I lived in both Rochester and Syracuse. This reminds me of the Seer-A-Cuse vs Sara-Cuse thread from one or two off-seasons ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hot[/quote]

The white hot originated in the 1920s[citation needed] in Rochester's German community as a "white and porky" - not unlike myself.

 

[OrangeChris]

Same here. Everyone called them Cooney's until around the 90s... then for whatever reason, people started changing the way it's pronounced to the way it is spelled.

I've pronounced it "coney" since long before the 90's, as does everyone in my family, and we go back several generations in Syracuse. I've never really cared enough to get worked up in a debate about it though. Even though the overwhelming majority of the people I know pronounce it "coney," I still know enough that say "cooney" to believe it's an acceptable alternate pronunciation.

I have noticed that the further out you get from downtown Syracuse, the more likely a person is to pronounce it "cooney" though. Absolutely no one I know that was born and raised in the city calls it that, a couple in the nearest suburbs do, and quite a few of my buddies that live waaaay out in the country call it "cooney." That's really not a large enough sample to draw any concrete conclusions though.

Officially, Heid's has said that the correct pronunciation is "coney," but to the best of my knowledge Hofmann's has never weighed in on this. Hofmann's has said that "coney" is an acceptable substitute for "snappy" when written, but they've never said if you could pronounce the word with an extra "O." It's really Hofmann's call though (not Heid's), and I can't help but think they would have spelled it "cooney" if they want it pronounced that way.

The snappy griller did not originate on Coney Island though. However, that delightful part of Brooklyn is often cited as the birthplace of hot dogs in America. As such, I've always believed the name "coney" to be a respectful nod to its hot dog ancestor, and not an acknowledgment that its actual unique recipe originated there. In other words, saying it's called a coney "because of Coney Island" would be correct, but saying it's called a coney "because it's from Coney Island" would be wrong (because it's not).

That's just always been my suspicion though, and certainly not historical fact. It would just strike me as too much of a coincidence for a white hot dog to have the moniker "coney" and not have that be some form of nod to the similarly named (disputed) birthplace of the American hot dog.

 

[tipphill]

Yeah, Ted's rules. I'll take Sahlen's over Hoffman's any day.

Also,
COONEY.

i'll take boars head over hoffmans, but i like hoffmans as a second choice. i pronounce cooney always was and always will be.

 

[xc84]

i'll take boars head over hoffmans, but i like hoffmans as a second choice. i pronounce cooney always was and always will be.

You must be one of those hicks from way out who pronounce it incorrectly.

 

[xc84]

I've pronounced it "coney" since long before the 90's, as does everyone in my family, and we go back several generations in Syracuse. I've never really cared enough to get worked up in a debate about it though. Even though the overwhelming majority of the people I know pronounce it "coney," I still know enough that say "cooney" to believe it's an acceptable alternate pronunciation.

I have noticed that the further out you get from downtown Syracuse, the more likely a person is to pronounce it "cooney" though. Absolutely no one I know that was born and raised in the city calls it that, a couple in the nearest suburbs do, and quite a few of my buddies that live waaaay out in the country call it "cooney." That's really not a large enough sample to draw any concrete conclusions though.

Officially, Heid's has said that the correct pronunciation is "coney," but to the best of my knowledge Hofmann's has never weighed in on this. Hofmann's has said that "coney" is an acceptable substitute for "snappy" when written, but they've never said if you could pronounce the word with an extra "O." It's really Hofmann's call though (not Heid's), and I can't help but think they would have spelled it "cooney" if they want it pronounced that way.

The snappy griller did not originate on Coney Island though. However, that delightful part of Brooklyn is often cited as the birthplace of hot dogs in America. As such, I've always believed the name "coney" to be a respectful nod to its hot dog ancestor, and not an acknowledgment that its actual unique recipe originated there. In other words, saying it's called a coney "because of Coney Island" would be correct, but saying it's called a coney "because it's from Coney Island" would be wrong (because it's not).

That's just always been my suspicion though, and certainly not historical fact. It would just strike me as too much of a coincidence for a white hot dog to have the moniker "coney" and not have that be some form of nod to the similarly named (disputed) birthplace of the American hot dog.

My experience is the opposite of yours. Relatives, friends, etc... called it "cooney". The closer to the city you are, "cooney"...the further away you go , it's "coney". The reason is likely because "cooney" is a verbal thing...so the people who mostly read it, would pronounce it the way it is spelled.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I've been eating Heid's hot dogs and coneys since the 1960s. Used to be a regular part of game day when I was a kid to stop at Heid's with my Dad after Bill Orange beat the victim of the day up on the Hill. It's been more than 30 years since I've lived in the Syracuse area but I still will make a point of getting off the Thruway if I'm driving through the area at midday to have lunch at Heid's.

So when I was a kid the coneys were called "cooneys" by most of the kids and adults in my part of town. It was commonly understood where I lived that this was a racial epithet. For that reason, once I gained a little maturity I stopped calling them "cooneys." My experience may well NOT be the same that others here encountered. The last thing I am doing is calling anyone here a racist. But I'd be lying if I denied that at least in some parts of Onondaga County in the 1960s the term "cooney" had a racist connotation.

 

[All4SU]

So when I was a kid the coneys were called "cooneys" by most of the kids and adults in my part of town. It was commonly understood where I lived that this was a racial epithet. For that reason, once I gained a little maturity I stopped calling them "cooneys." My experience may well NOT be the same that others here encountered. The last thing I am doing is calling anyone here a racist. But I'd be lying if I denied that at least in some parts of Onondaga County in the 1960s the term "cooney" had a racist connotation.

I hate to appear dense here, but I don't get it.

 

[xc84]

I hate to appear dense here, but I don't get it.

I'm with you.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I hate to appear dense here, but I don't get it.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coons

 

[All4SU]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coons

Okay, but what does that have to do with a hotdog?

 

[xc84]

Okay, but what does that have to do with a hotdog?

or pronouncing the word "coney" as "cooney" being the name of a white hot dog?

 

[TexanMark]

It's still a Coney. If it was a Cooney, they would spell it that way.

Agreed...I always looked at dudes saying "Cooney" as weirdos. Maybe a tad harsh.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I'm with you.

You two guys must be young. And I mean that in a good way. I'm sure my two daughters wouldn't get it as well. Times were different when I was a kid. I remember traveling through Delaware when I was 13 by bus and stopping at the Dover bus station. The drinking fountains were still labelled "Whites" and "Coloreds". Most white people, including educated ones, threw the "n" word around in public with hardly a second thought. "Cooney" was actually a semi-polite term in the minds of some people.

 

[OttoMets]

I have noticed that the further out you get from downtown Syracuse, the more likely a person is to pronounce it "cooney" though. Absolutely no one I know that was born and raised in the city calls it that, a couple in the nearest suburbs do, and quite a few of my buddies that live waaaay out in the country call it "cooney." That's really not a large enough sample to draw any concrete conclusions though.

I agree with this characterization. And it's definitely to be pronounced as spelled.

 

[xc84]

You two guys must be young. And I mean that in a good way. I'm sure my two daughters wouldn't get it as well. Times were different when I was a kid. I remember traveling through Delaware when I was 13 by bus and stopping at the Dover bus station. The drinking fountains were still labelled "Whites" and "Coloreds". Most white people, including educated ones, threw the "n" word around in public with hardly a second thought. "Cooney" was actually a semi-polite term in the minds of some people.

I never heard the word "cooney" used in any other way that for the WHITE hot dog. I am in my late 40s. The word cited from the dictionary is a different word and frankly (no pun intended), it would make no sense to use that word to subtly slur a WHITE hot dog.

 

[OttoMets]

i'll take boars head over hoffmans, but i like hoffmans as a second choice. i pronounce cooney always was and always will be.

Boars Head makes probably the best supermarket frank out there (though they're a little difficult to find).

 

[xc84]

One more thing. I recall discussing this with someone who worked at Heid's. To that person, it was "cooney" and he said it was "cooney" to everyone who worked at Heids...and nearly fainted when he heard a recent comment in a video from a Heid's manager saying it's pronounced "coney" as it is spelled.

 

[OrangeChris]

One more thing. I recall discussing this with someone who worked at Heid's. To that person, it was "cooney" and he said it was "cooney" to everyone who worked at Heids...and nearly fainted when he heard a recent comment in a video from a Heid's manager saying it's pronounced "coney" as it is spelled.

Does that person still work there? because I've talked to about a dozen different people there over the years and they've all told me it's pronounced "coney" They even told the "Man v. Food" crew that!