Dachshund dog posing in her hotdog suit (Daniel Umana - Adobe Stock)

Weiner, brat, sausage, kielbasa, frankfurter, link, banger, weenie, mystery meat, pigs, bologna, cold cuts, tube steak, salami, pepperoni, red hot or hot dog. These are some of the many names for different types of wurst.

What about wiener dog?

Is there a wurst connection to the adorable sausage dog? Well, the pups are called Dackel (or Teckel) in Germany, though English speakers use an older German word: Dachshund. Both translate to “badger dog,” not sausage.

But we may not be far off in calling these little pups wienies. “Dachshund sausages” were being sold in America by the mid-1800s after both the wurst and the dogs (and maybe even the joking recognition of them as doppelgängers) were brought by German immigrants, and the moniker “hot dog” quickly sprang up where they were sold at university campuses.