Honky tonk

This American expression usually refers these days to a ragtime style of music, usually played on a piano, hence honky-tonk piano and this meaning dates from the early 20th century. Before this, during the 1890s, a honky tonk was a place of low, seedy entertainment. Despite many bogus attempts at origin, including Ernest A. Tonk, a company that manufactured pianos in New York at that time, the origin remains unknown.