# "Hankering" = rhyming slang?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hankering-rhyming-slang/91488>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 4, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hankering-rhyming-slang/91488 "2001-11-04T23:50:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hankering-rhyming-slang/91488/1 "2001-11-04T23:50:17Z")

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Does the verb “to hanker” (as in, to hanker after something or have a hankering for something) come from the rhyming slang “Hank Marvin = Starvin’”?

I’ve not been able to find anywhere to confirm this.  
Cheers,  
– Quirm

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**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hankering-rhyming-slang/91488/2 "2001-11-04T23:55:27Z")

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Well, the [_American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language_](http://www.bartleby.com/61) says the origin of the word [hanker](http://www.bartleby.com/61/99/H0049900.html) is “Perhaps from Dutch dialectal _hankeren_”, which in turn comes from the Indo-European root [**konk-**](http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE237.html), with the basic meaning “to hang” but which somehow picked up a secondary meaning “to long for” (“I’m just ‘hanging around’ wishing I had such-and-such”? I dunno.)