# Honkey Tonk?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honkey-tonk/50098>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 15, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honkey-tonk/50098 "2001-01-15T06:15:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![posatyvo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5ac83/32.png) [@posatyvo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/posatyvo)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honkey-tonk/50098/1 "2001-01-15T06:15:29Z")

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Anybody know what ‘honkey tonk’ exactly is and where the term originated from?

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honkey-tonk/50098/2 "2001-01-15T06:55:02Z")

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From [the Word Detective](http://www.word-detective.com/012000.html#honkytonk):

> [@](#):
>
> …the origin of “honky tonk” is actually rather simple. It is almost certainly “echoic” in origin, meaning that “honky tonk” was coined to imitate the actual sound of a raucous saloon, …