hot dog
10
7.6
- noun
- /hɑt dɔg/
- Archaic
:
temerario
- She always dreamed of becoming a hot dog, performing thrilling tricks to dazzle the audience.
That kid ain't no hot dog, hot diggity dog.
- That kid ain't no hot dog, hot diggity dog.
Examples
-
For another, her use of "hot dog" clearly was meant to suggest that he is flashy and not over the hill.
Blog text (21) -
Gordo thinks he's one of those hot-dog pilots you hear about.
-
Ironically, I know that Cathy feels she actually gave Oscar a pretty good review, and, in fact, felt that the term 'hot dog' was meant to convey showman and wasn't meant derisively.
Blog text (21) -
The crowd cheered as the hot dog completed an incredible backflip on the skateboard.
-
At the extreme sports competition, the hot dog amazed everyone with his jaw-dropping stunts.
Synonyms
34
3.6
A person who does dangerous actions in films or shows to entertain people
26
6.1
A person who likes doing dangerous stunts
1
8.1
A person who does dangerous tricks, often in sports, to show off
How Risky
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'a person who performs dangerous or showy stunts' cannot be derived from the literal meanings of 'hot' (having elevated temperature or attractive) and 'dog' (an animal or informal term for a person). This is a slang idiom with a metaphorical, language-specific sense, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not reliably infer this meaning.
Etymology
Hot dog used for a show-off comes from early performers and athletes who did dangerous, exciting tricks to please a crowd; people began calling those showy people 'hot dogs'. So 'hot dog' now means 'a person who performs dangerous or showy stunts to attract attention'.