Kenya wrote:
Another word that I really hate is hamburger. This word has always made no sense to me as burgers are NOT made out of ham and even the concept of a burger without cheese is really confusing as far as I'm concerned. Unless you're lactose intolerant, I can't wrap my head around the idea of anyone wanting a burger without cheese. It's like having a hot dog with no condiments or cookies without milk.
First off... I HATE melted cheese, and ALWAYS order burgers WITHOUT f*****g cheese. Though gourmet burgers with blue cheese are okay.
Second, and more importantly: Hamburgers are called that for the same reason that "Vienna Sausages" are called "Vienna sausages" and that Frankfurters and called Frankfurters, and Wieners are called Wieners. The name is a reference to geography and not to the type of meat.
During the second half of the Nineteenth Century the US was inundated by a huge wave of immigrants from the German speaking parts of Europe. And these German speakers brought their culinary and sausage making talents with them, and changed American eats in the process. The American hot dog is descended from sausages made in the style of Frankfurt Germany (ie "frankfurters"), and those made in the style Vienna Austria (the German word for Vienna is Wien- hense "Wieners"). And in the north up in Hamburg they would just slap a patty of ground beef onto a skillet (though it was prolly Americans who later thought of putting the result between buns).
So though they are made of beef they are called "hamburgers" (after the city of Hamburg Deutschland).