We are about to leave for a week in Texas, where I look forward to eating many things which are not good for me. One of those is hush puppies. Where do you suppose this name for globs of deep-fried cornbread arose and how and why?

Bonus question: Why is it that anything tastes good once it has been deep-fried? Cardboard, shoe leather, twigs, tennis balls?

Because they look like the shoes?
Enjoy your visit.
I found this, http://www.foodreference.com/html/fhushpuppies.htm
Do you think it's right? Tell us when you get back what the real scoop is.

edit: Don't humans crave the taste of sugar, salt and fat as a survival mechanism, (a very redundant one for some well fed sectors of the population)?

edit #2: and this lead from our esteemed Dr. Bill: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hus1.htm

edit #3:'sorry about the 1st link. The 2nd says the same and more anyhow.

I couldn't get the first link to open, but the second one was worth reading. The only explanation I've ever heard was that hush puppies were so called because the cornbread balls would keep the dogs quiet while the cooking went on in the kitchen. Hush puppies take on variations, one of which includes onions and green chile peppers.