Is a hero a gyro?

Question

What do you think is the origin of hero, meaning sandwich?

Random House just says "(Origin: 1950?55, Americanism)"

It's a long sandwich on a roll, similar to a submarine sandwich, a grinder, or a hoagie, depending on where you live.

But I wonder if the name doesn't come from gyro, which is pronounced, the dictionary says "jiro", but which I have heard pronounced even closer to hiro, which is one step from hero.
Of course the meat for a gyro should be cooked on a spit, that rotates. Hence gyros, or gyro if one thinks the s on the end was only there because gyros was a plural. But how long before a gyro was the sandwich, and people didn't quibble about whether the meat was cooked on a spit or not?
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Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What do you think is the origin of hero, meaning sandwich? Random House just says "(Origin: 1950-55, Americanism)" It's a ... the dictionary says "jiro", but which I have heard pronounced even closer to hiro, which is one step from hero.[/nq]
No.
A gyro in no way resembles a submarine sandwich and it was coined before Greeks took over the pizza/sub business.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What do you think is the origin of hero, meaning ... even closer to hiro, which is one step from hero.[/nq]
[nq:1]No. A gyro in no way resembles a submarine sandwich and it was coined before Greeks took over the pizza/sub business.[/nq]
sandwich made from roasted lamb, late 20c., originally the meat itself, as roasted on a rotating spit, from Modern Gk. gyros "a circle," mistaken in Eng. for a plural and shorn of its -s.

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[nq:1]No. A gyro in no way resembles a submarine sandwich and it was coined before Greeks took over the pizza/sub business.[/nq]
You must be young. Greeks in America were stereotypical corner sandwich restaurant (and candy store) owners for many decades before either pizza or subs had become standard American fare.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]No. A gyro in no way resembles a submarine sandwich and it was coined before Greeks took over the pizza/sub business.[/nq]
[nq:1]You must be young. Greeks in America were stereotypical corner sandwich restaurant (and candy store) owners for many decades before either pizza or subs had become standard American fare.[/nq]
Yes. In addition, even if it were true that gyros were named before Greeks took over the sub business, that wouldn't argue against my idea.
A submarine and a gyros do resemble each other in that each is a kind of sandwich. If even one Greek wanted to make a gyro but couldn't get pita bread easily, if even one Greek bought a sandwich shop which already served its sandwiches on long rolls, and he wanted to continue doing so** because that's what the old customers wanted, it wouldn't be at all surprising if he called his new sandwiches gyros, especially since gyro refers to the spit on which the leg of lamb rotates and not on the kind of bread used. It also wouldn't be surprising if the customers started using the same term, or if he of the customers called all his sandwiches gyros, pronounce jiros, and that that morphed in to hiros, then heros or heroes.
Since the dictionaries I have looked at don't give any explanation for the word hero, so far mine seems to be the most likely. But of course some more facts would help to decide.
**In Baltimore there is an Indian restaurant/ice cream parlor. Indians bought an ice cream parlor to make an Indian restaurant. People kept coming in and asking for ice cream, so now they sell hot fudge sundaes, etc. as well as Indian meals. Just having long rolls instead of or in addition to pita is a much smaller accomodation.

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for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]. In addition, even if it were true that gyros were named before Greeks took over the sub business, that wouldn't argue against my idea. [/nq]
Besides which, the Modern Greek pronunciation of "gyro" starts with a voiced palatal fricative that makes the word sound very much like "hero".

But it could be a coincidence. After all, there are still plenty of people gullible enough to think that the French word "bistro" has something to do with Russian.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]. In addition, even if it were true that gyros ... the sub business, that wouldn't argue against my idea. [/nq]
[nq:1]Besides which, the Modern Greek pronunciation of "gyro" starts with a voiced palatal fricative that makes the word sound very ... are still plenty of people gullible enough to think that the French word "bistro" has something to do with Russian.[/nq]
I've heard "gyro" pronounced "GHEE-ro", "JEE-ro", "HEE-ro", "GHIGH-ro", and "JIGH-ro". The first seems to be preferred by Greeks in America, while the last makes sense to Americans who are familiar with the word "gyroscope". In modern Greek, I suspect, the gamma was originally pronounced like a hard G, but now is closer to an H.

Marshall Price of Miami
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Is a hero a gyro?

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