AboutCarol Pozefsky Expertise Etymology: The origins of English words and phrases.
Anchor/Reporter NBC and CBS Networks. News Director 3 Regional Radio Stations.
Expert: Carol Pozefsky Date: 7/1/2008 Subject: honky dory
Question where did this originate?
Answer Hello, I hope you're having a fine week,
I had a few theories about the origin of 'honky dory' but needed some corroboration. As so often happens with etymology, there were multiple explanations and frustratingly, we're always asked to choose the one we find the most plausible. I found the following in Morris' Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins:
From William and Mary Morris's Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins: The story goes that the principal street of Yokohama was Huncho-dori street. (OK, Danny, is that true today?) A sailor on shore leave would feel that everything was OK when he was on the main street.
Another story however (attributed by the Morrises to Charles Earle Funk) traces the origin back to the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam: taking the word hunk as derived from the Dutch word honk for goal. When you reached the goal, everything was hunky-dory. How the dory got into the expression was not clear.
We do know that Christy's Minstrels of the mid-nineteenth century popularized a bit of corn called "Josiphus Orange Blossom" that contained the lyric "red hot hunky-dory contraband." The song was a hit and hunky-dory came into the language.
That song arose during the Civil War. Since Japan was not opened to foreign ships until Commodore Perry's visit in 1854, it seems somewhat doubtful that the Yokohama theory holds water. More likely, hunky-dory was already a slang term when American sailors first had shore leave to Huncho-dori Street.
The best to you always, Carol P. Allexperts
--SDSTAFF Dex
