There are lots of names for mixed-breed dogs, such as Texas brown dog, TBD, Heinz 57, duke’s mixture, poi dog, and potcakes. Danes have a couple of creative names for them that involve traffic: A mutt may be called a gadekryds, or “street intersection,” or a rundkørsel, which is a “roundabout.” In Denmark, a mutt may also be a hul i hæk or “a hole in the hedge,” a name suggesting where that pup was conceived. A listener in Olympia, Washington, refers to a mixed-breed dog as a canardly—because you “can hardly” tell what kind of dog it is. A similarly punning name for a non-purebred dog is bitsa, because the dog has “bits of this and bits of that.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Mixed-Breed Dog Names: “Gadekryds,” “Rundkørsel,” “Canardly,” and “Bitsa””
Listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
Not long ago, we had a conversation with Sid in Dallas, Texas.
He’s the guy who works at an animal shelter where the staff refers to their many large tan mixed breed dogs as either Texas brown dogs or TBDs.
You remember that one, Grant?
I do.
Yeah.
These beautiful muts where you don’t care very much.
They’re not purebreds’ they’re just so lovable.
And we had a lot of responses to this including, you know, old standards like Hines fifty seven and the ones that’s just a little rarer like Duke’s Mixture, which we’ve talked about in other capacities on the show.
And of course, the one from Hawaii, which caught me by surprise’ it reminded me of a musical group that I liked.
A musical group?
Yeah.
Poy Dog, p o I, is what they call the mixed breed mutt in Hawaii.
And in the nineteen eighties, there was a a big college act called poi dog pondering that did all the touring, and we were all in love with.
Oh, no kidding.
Yeah.
Lovely music.
And they call’ poi dogs because, traditionally, they were fed with a mash of poi, which is that mashed fermented taro root that’s Mhmm.
You know, cheaper to feed your dog than than meat.
And it is funny how many of the names of these mixed breed dogs as, you know, for example, in The Caribbean, potcakes has to do with what you feed them, and it is often the the scraps or remains or whatever’s left behind when the human meal is cooked or eaten.
Exactly.
And there are also versions of names that have to do with traffic.
Oh.
In in Denmark, there are a couple of creative names for muts.
They can be called a Gedeclus, which is a street intersection, which sort of makes sense.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
All these heritage lines coming together.
Exactly.
Or even more so, which is a roundabout.
Know?
I’m just picturing all these these things.
Way is the genetics gonna go?
We have no idea.
Or you can get a little more naughty and talk about a holy heck, which is a hole in the hedge.
Oh, so the idea as with…
When the dogs were having relations, so to speak, they didn’t know necessarily who they were having relations with because they were hidden by the hedge.
Right.
Right.
They were on the other side.
And speaking of traffic, one of our listeners said they called their dogs ladies and gentlemen of the curb.
Oh, yeah.
We had a few of those that we…
I think we might have talked about last time in in the carabine in South America where they…
Different forms of street dog, but only made a little more elaborate to make them sound like these auspicious and very elite breeds.
Yes.
Yes.
But if none of those quite fit Mhmm.
Kate in Olympia Washington sent us one more, which I really liked, which is canardly.
Because you canardly tell what kind of dog that is.
Yeah.
It reminds me of the bits of dogs, the bits of this and the bits of that.
Well, we’re still taking those wonderful names that you call your mutt dogs that you love so much.
Send your photos of the dog and what you call them to us by email, words@waywordradio.org.
