A hot dog riddle has been cited in print since at least 1969:
Q: What’s the opposite of a hot dog?
A: A cool cat.
A different form has been cited since at least 1980:
Q: What is the opposite of a cool cat?
A: A hot dog.
“What’s the opposite of a hot dog?”/“A chili dog” is a related riddle.
Wikipedia: Hot dog
A hot dog (less commonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can also refer to the sausage itself.
Newspapers.com
10 February 1969, Tucson (AZ) Daily Citizen, “Fun Time—The Riddle Box,” pg. 25, col. 5:
What’s the opposite of a hot dog?
A cool cat.
Newspapers.com
5 December 1972, Gastonia (NC) Gazette, “Mini Jokes,” The Mini Page sec., pg. 3, col. 1:
What’s the opposite of a hot dog?
Ans. A cool cat.
Newspapers.com
18 September 1974, Austin (TX) American-Statesman, “Tell Me Why,” pg. 43, cols. 5-6:
What is the opposite of a hot dog?
A cool cat.
Newspapers.com
8 January 1980, St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch, “Jokes by You,” pg. 5D, col. 6:
Q: What is the opposite of a cool cat?
A: A hot dog.
Belinda Vitale
Google Books
Rover’s Riddles:
A joke and riddle book
By Jean Rudegeair
Yellow Springs, OH: Antioch Pub. Co.
1983
Pg. ?:
What is the opposite of a hot dog?
A cool cat.
Twitter
gーdraggin’
@lh3e
O.o? Hahaha RT @MoLteaser: what’s the opposite of a ‘cool cat’? - A ‘hot dog’ - get it? get it? HAHAHAHAHA
8:53 AM · Apr 6, 2010·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Sami.
@NYCGOTCAKE
whats the opposite of cool cat??—-Hot dog lol.
2:10 PM · May 29, 2010·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
John
@jordan_sanberg
Opposite of dog=cat
Opposite of cool=hot
Hot dog=cool cat
Boom mind blown.
12:55 PM · Jan 14, 2013·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
HelloKaylie
@hellokaylie
davy-babes: COOL CAT IS MEANT TO BE THE OPPOSITE OF HOT DOG http://tmblr.co/ZnvIwwcQqAh5
10:45 PM · Jan 22, 2013·Tumblr
Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/antippson April 17, 2015
A hot dog is the opposite of a cool cat.
Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/Supposedpuppy123 March 9, 2016
The term “cool cat” is the opposite of “hot dog”
Twitter
Keegan Dunn
@dwarfkeeg
The opposite of a hot dog is a cool cat. This is all.
9:55 PM · Dec 12, 2020·Twitter for Android
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“Laughter is the best medicine…except for treating diarrhea” (4/15)
•“Laughter is the best medicine. Unless you have diarrhea” (4/15)
•“If you know someone who is effortlessly happy in the morning, that is a demon. You’re friends with a demon” (4/15)
•“You know you’re a bad driver when Siri says: ‘In 400 feet, stop and let me out’” (4/15)
•“You know your driving is really terrible when your GPS says ‘After 300 feet, stop and let me out!’’ (4/15)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.