Halve Hahn

Central Franconian edit

Noun edit

(chiefly Kölsch) a cheese sandwich, cut in half

German edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Kölsch halve Hahn (literally “half a cock/rooster”). The origin is possibly an order like Kölsch Kann ich ne Halve hann? (“Can I get half [a sandwich]?”), the last two words of which were then re-interpreted (either by foreigners or jokingly) as halve Hahn.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ˌhalvəˈhaːn/

Noun edit

Halve Hahn m

(regional, in the Rhineland) a cheese sandwich, cut in half

Usage notes edit

The expression is rare in actual usage. Even in thick Ripuarian dialect one generally uses the plain and simple word Kiesbrütche ("cheese sandwich"). However, Halve Hahn is occasionally used as a shibboleth among Rhineland people and can be found on the menus of traditional Colognian pubs (as a humorous knowledge test for foreigners).
The term is either uninflected, e.g. (accusative) den Halve Hahn, or the first part behaves like a normal German adjective, thus den Halven Hahn, and so on.