We’re watching Christmas In Connecticut (1945), and S.Z. Sakall’s character says, ‘Hunky Dunky.’ Or is it ‘Honky donkey’? On one hand, there’s a ‘Little Rascals’ short called Honky Donkey (1934). ‘Honky’ rhymes with ‘donkey’, so it makes sense. OTOH, ‘hunky dory’ starts with ‘hunky’; so ‘hunky dunky’ makes sense.
So which is it?
I don’t think it matters. The guy isn’t proficient in English, the real phrase is “hunky dory”, and the point was that he was trying to do colloquial English but didn’t remember the phrase.
I always heard it as “hunky dory.” Never heard it any other way.
That was the joke:
I can’t even tell if he’s saying ‘hunky dunky’ or ‘hunky dory’. Which was more prevalent in 1945?
A gag worth recycling…
And there was a song called “Hunky Dunky Dory” in the 1941 film, Ridin’ on a Rainbow
So it seems variations of hunky dory and hunky dunky is quite common at the time.
The second part has no meaning, its just a rhyme with hunky .
Similar to “Okay dokey” its just a rhyme of the first word for emphasis, to make the sentence longer and finalised.
Does the first part have a standalone meaning? It seems the phrase comes as a whole, unlike okey dokey. Or is there a relevant meaning of “hunky” I’m unfamiliar with?
Yes. The question is whether the ‘not good at American slang’ phrase is ‘honky donkey’, or ‘hunky dunky’. As noted in the OP, I’ve heard both; with the former being used as the title of a 1934 ‘Little Rascals’ short.
From here:
This American-coined adjective has been around since the 1860s, from the now-obsolete hunkey , “all right,” which stems from the New York slang hunk , “in a safe position,” and the Dutch root honk or “home.” The origin of dory is unknown.
The bizarre thing is that “hunky” is a derogatory slur for a Hungarian, and SZ Sakall was Hungarian. What must have been going through his mind when he said that? Irony, I bet.
The Master Speaks
Thanks, that was the question I was going to ask.
Wow, humans are amazing. We have at least one slur for every nationality everywhere in the world. 
That was a staff report from Dex.
1969? I thought The Straight Dope has only been fighting ignorance since 1973.
Re: The question that was sent in. The phrase could not have originated from the street or nightspot in Japan because it predates U.S. Occupational Forces.
It was 31 Dec 1969, which is the day before the UNIX epoch started. So I suspect there are all 1s (negative 1) in the date field. Or some similar mess up.
I never thought to look that word up. There’s an old Abbott & Costello TV episode where Lou Costello says (I’m paraphrasing) “I knew a hunky in Paterson, New Jersey”. and I always wondered what he meant. Ignorance fought indeed.
This site says honky-donky.
“Stanwyck and co-star Dennis Morgan have a great deal of chemistry, making their scenes a delight, and they get wonderful support from Sydney Greenstreet as Elizabeth’s publisher and SZ Sakall as Uncle Felix (his constant use of the term “honky-donky” always cracks me up).”
Another source says:
“Honky donky” is a misunderstanding of the phrase “hunky dunky,” a colloquial expression meaning “fine” or “okay,” famously used by actor S.Z.Sakall in the 1945 film Christmas in Connecticut to describe happy domestic bliss. He would often say, “Everything’s honky donkey!” as a way to convey a feeling of joyful satisfaction with the contrived Christmas celebration.
It doesn’t sound like a misunderstanding to me. It sounds like an adaptation. ‘Hunky dory’ means ‘fine’. I suspect that some wit wanted to use ‘donkey’, and made ‘hunky’ into ‘honky’ for the rhyme.
Do you mean the witty screenwriter or the character was witty? I’m not familiar with the film so I have no opinion, I was just letting you know what I found.
Do you have a link so we can hear for ourselves?
No, just some random guy, just to be funny. Like the way my wife calls begonias ‘patagonias’, or the way I say ‘Floridarrrr’. Everyone agrees that the original phrase is ‘hunky dory’. Someone, sometime, somewhere, intentionally decided to use ‘donkey’ or ‘dunky’, most likely to be funny. If the phrase is ‘honky donkey’, then ‘hunky’ is altered to rhyme with ‘donkey’. If it’s ‘hunky dunky’, then ‘donkey’ is altered to rhyme with ‘hunky’.
There was a The Little Rascals film called ‘Honky Donkey’, which was released in 1934. Christmas In Connecticut was released in 1945. So ‘honky donkey’ seems to be earlier. By that thinking, I’ve answered my own OP. Since S.Z. Sakall’s first language was not English, and since he spoke with a heavy accent, I’m now wondering if ‘hunky dunky’ was written for him to make fun of the foreigner.