Honky tonk

A Honky tonk was originally a type of bar common throughout the southern United States, also called honkatonks, honkey-tonks, tonks or tunks. The term has also been attached to various styles of 20th-century American music.

Related Topics:
Bar - United States - Music

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The Oxford English Dictionary states that the origin of the word honky tonk is unknown. According to one theory of the origin of the phrase, "Tonks" were originally specifically African American institutions; similar establishments that catered to Whites acquired the name Honky Tonk, from the slang honky, referring to a white person. As there are multiple examples of oral history and writings by African Americans born in the 19th century refering to African American establishments as "honkey tonks" or "honk-a-tonks", some historic linguists dispute this suggested derivation.

Related Topics:
Oxford English Dictionary - African American - Honky

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