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The noun horse doovers—and variants such as haw-doovers—are humorous and colloquial alterations of hors d’oeuvres, the plural form of the noun hors d’oeuvre, a borrowing from French hors d’œuvre, which designates an extra dish served as a relish to whet the appetite between the courses of a meal or, more generally, at its commencement.
—Three notes:
a) There are slight variations in the pronunciation of the noun hors d’oeuvre—for example, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (December 2024), the British-English pronunciation is /ɔː ˈdəːv(rə)/.
b) The plural of hors d’oeuvre, which remains unchanged in French, usually has ‑s in English.
c) In the French noun œuvre, œ is a single character.
The following, from the Olean Times-Herald (Olean, New York, USA) of Wednesday 28th April 1937 [page 18, column 1], humorously evoked the difficulty of pronouncing the noun hors d’oeuvre(s):
MAVERICKS?
George Rector, the famous restaurateur and author of numerous works on cuisine, has entered the controversy concerning those frequently delicious pre-meal snacks that are termed by our French friends “hors d’oeuvre.”
The pronunciation of these words alway [sic] has been a trial to the average American, who never was very well up on his French—didn’t have a speaking acquaintance, as it were.
Recently, Congressman Maury Maverick of Texas unburdened his mind on the matter. Nothing engendered more exasperation within the modern American host, he said, than to have to ask a group of guests if they would partake of some—and what the host called ’em was enough to send the aforesaid guests into convulsions and his wife into a fit.
“The time has come for relief,” said Congressman Maverick; and he suggested that “hors d’oeuvre” henceforth be called “dingle-doos.”
“Dingle-doos,” says Mr. Rector, “is a grand name, but it doesn’t slip off the tongue as easily as the ‘hors d’oeuvre’ ought to slip down.” Besides people might forget the name, and call the delicacies boon-doggies; which would be a pity.
So why not call those bits of this and that, that are intended to increase the appetite but frequently have the effect of preventing one doing full justice to the more substantial viands to come—why not call them “mavericks,” in honor of the gentleman from Texas? asks Mr. Rector.
Sounds O. K. to us. But we have an idea that the mere American male will persist in sticking to the original term, if only to display his knowledge of the French language.
“Oars Dover” it will probably remain, for many a long day!
Or it may be “Haw Doover.”
And you may even hear “Hors d’Oeuvre!”
In the above-quoted text from the Olean Times-Herald (Olean, New York, USA) of Wednesday 28th April 1937, haw doover and oars dover are alterations of the singular form of the noun hors d’oeuvre. The plural oars dovers occurred in the following from the column Just Off The Cuff, by Dick O’Neill, published in the Illinois State Register (Springfield, Illinois, USA) of Wednesday 7th October 1964 [page 4, column 6]:
Parlez vous Francais?—If you do, this is the perfect time to drop downtown and practice your phrases of “Oars dovers,” “Missuewers,” and any other fractured French you have acquired in your travels, through menus, cook books, old copies of Paris Nights, or other means (the latter reference to the veterans of the Rue de la Paix.) The French Festival, or Festival de France, if you wish, will be in full swing Thursday.
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the noun horse doovers and variants that I have found:
1-: From The Great Paris Fêtes. By Mr. Clutterbuck of Cripplegate, published in The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist (London, England) of September 1851 [chapter 3, page 18]:
Now for the sweets: first I had a Roossian Charlotte, put me in mind of Charlotte at Joe’s, only this was a good deal colder than her—then followed maccarony timbles—green flagelets, quite a new kind of thing—vanille cream—cabinet pudding—and a parcel of haw-doovers, such as lobsters’ claws, gooseliver pie, prawns, anchovies, and pickled “tongs,” which last ate very like sturgeon.
2 & 3-: From two texts by the U.S. humorist Edgar Wilson ‘Bill’ Nye (1850-1896):
2-: From Nye-Antic Paragraphs, published in the Rock Island Daily Argus (Rock Island, Illinois, USA) of Thursday 6th February 1890 [page 4, column 2]:
“Retire [sic] Pennypacker,” Toledo, Ohio, asks what the cost of a ball would be if properly given to one’s friends in New York.
[…]
[…] A dinner in New York may […] be arranged much cheaper than $10 a plate, by having several bright conversationalists at each end of the table and skipping the horse doovers, arriving at once at the removes of say a broiled pig’s foot on toast, a bottle of Ann Hizer Sec and ice cream. A bright conversationalist or a good humorist who is willing to give a fair equivalent for his food can save you at such a meal hundreds of dollars.
3-: From Bill Nye’s Navy Notes, published in The Kingston Daily News (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) of Friday 6th March 1891 [page 3, column 5]:
At the time of this writing the United States steamship Minnesota lies at the foot of Fiftieth street, North river. […]
It was my good fortune not long ago, in company of Commodore Roeder […], to visit the Minnesota […].
[…]
[…] Came the clean and glistening decks of the Minnesota, and the trim and well fed officers who welcomed us. We went down to the wardroom, where I removed my beautifully dimpled high hat, and we sat down to breakfast. […]
[…]
At first we had broiled fresh mackerel—at least I think it was. Yes, broiled mackerel raised on the place. Then lamb chops, with nice browned potatoes cut in triangular hunks, also hot rolls. We did not have any horse doovers. Sometimes they have huitres, but not always.
4-: From the column Stage Whispers, published in The Umpire (Manchester, Lancashire, England) of Sunday 22nd March 1891 [page 7, column 5]—here, it is the singular form hor doover that occurs:
Negotiations between Mr. Pitt Hardacre, to be hereinafter called the lessee, and the Rev. J. G. Howarth, to be hereinafter described as the owner, have resulted in arrangements being made for the re-opening the Queen’s, Manchester, next Saturday. The first performance will consist of the National Anthem by way of a hor doover, as the French have it, “All that Glitters,” and “Robert Macaire.”
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