Miscellaneous — By Tommy Purser

A few things I learned while looking for something else:

There are 15 Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles crisscrossing the United States each year. They take people on rides, hang out at grocery stores handing out Wiener Whistles and coupons, chat with people, take photos, attend events, do media interviews and otherwise promote the company.

The word “wiener” is rooted in the German Wienerwurst, which roughly translates to “Vienna sausage.”

Wieners (or frankfurters) traveled to the United States with German immigrants who began selling them to earn a living.

While I was growing up, I always called wieners “hot dogs” and still do today as do most of us in the South. But in Rhode Island, they are referred to as “hot wieners.”

Dachsunds are often called “wiener-dogs” and, similarly, hot dogs themselves are sometimes called “dachshund sandwiches.”

H.L. Mencken described a dachshund as “a half-dog high and a dog-and-a-half long.”

A member of the hound family, dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers and are sometimes reckless, willing and ready to take on the badgers.

Badgers are in the family of otters, polecats, weasals, ferrets and skunks, to name a few.

The European badger is one of the largest and the American badger a little smaller and lighter. Stink badgers are smaller still and ferret badgers are the smallest.

And, of course, the mascot of the University of Wisconsin sports teams is the badger ….. but I’m not sure which badger.