Honky tonk

Posted on March 24, 2008 | Comments Off on Honky tonk

Boy, talk about a confused and strained derivation for a phrase: Honky tonk sure has one. Does it come from the sound of honking geese misleading a bunch of entertainment-seeking cowboys, Ernest A. Tonk’s upright grand pianos, or a slur for whites taken from bohunk or hunky? As for the latter, I am willing to concede Juke joint, or Juke, to Southern black culture, but not Honky tonk, or Tonk, which seems to have originated among whites in Texas and Oklahoma. Once upon a time, neither a juke or a tonk was considered very reputable, but in recent decades both have become so romanticized as to be reliably commercial.

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0 responses to “Honky tonk”

  1. Scott's avatar Scott | March 24, 2008 at 7:51 am |

    Man, the academics and the geeks can take all the fun out of anything.
    I’m more interested in how you got to be looking for honky tonk information. You got one the best ever in your backyard there with the Broken Spoke. Poodie’s, too. Both have the TFG Copenhagen Seal of Approval.

  2. Scott's avatar Scott | March 24, 2008 at 7:51 am |

    Man, the academics and the geeks can take all the fun out of anything.
    I’m more interested in how you got to be looking for honky tonk information. You got one the best ever in your backyard there with the Broken Spoke. Poodie’s, too. Both have the TFG Copenhagen Seal of Approval.

  3. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | March 24, 2008 at 9:08 am |

    Hi Scott, nice to have you back. I got into this thinking over a post I did earlier about the Geezinslaws at the Broken Spoke. Not the best band to represent the place, but one of their regulars. The Spoke is unique, concrete dance floor and all. The only time I ever did dance there, my legs hurt the next day from the pounding on that unforgiving surface. Part I like best are the table “corrals,” as I think of them, surrounding the dance floor. The low ceiling also is claustrophobic for me, but, all in all, you’re right, it’s a classic tonk.

  4. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | March 24, 2008 at 9:08 am |

    Hi Scott, nice to have you back. I got into this thinking over a post I did earlier about the Geezinslaws at the Broken Spoke. Not the best band to represent the place, but one of their regulars. The Spoke is unique, concrete dance floor and all. The only time I ever did dance there, my legs hurt the next day from the pounding on that unforgiving surface. Part I like best are the table “corrals,” as I think of them, surrounding the dance floor. The low ceiling also is claustrophobic for me, but, all in all, you’re right, it’s a classic tonk.