1537: Sandwiches Feb 27, 2019

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There are lots of different names for sandwiches, including in the United States 'hoagies', 'submarines', 'po'boys', 'heros' and 'grinders'. All of those have distinct origins, relating to shape, ingredients, and in more than one case, pejoratives for Italians. In the United Kingdom however, it is generally more common to nickname something by abbreviation, which shows itself to be true here with 'butty' (from 'buttered sandwich) and 'sarnie'. In the latter case, there is noticeably the insertion of [r], however, this probably—at least at first—had less to do with the pronunciation, and just represented a lengthened vowel, as is often the case in non-rhotic dialects [1], such as British English.
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[1] https://stonewordfacts.blogspot.com/2018/10/1412-rhoticitys-relationship-with.html

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