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skookum
[< Chinook Jargon < Chahalis skukm]
DCHP-2 (Dec 2016)
1adj. — rural, slang, Yukon, rare in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories
good, great, strong, big or brave.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — Skookum is a lexical transfer from Chinook Jargon, a contact language that was used on the Canadian west coast and the US Pacific Northwest Coast as a trade language. The language, used as a lingua franca, fell into disuse beginning in the early 20th century. DARE (s.v. "skookum" adj.) lists its earliest quotations from 1847 (Oregon glossary) and from a magazine in 1894. We label it, due to the American antedating, "Culturally Significant" because of the important role that Chinook played on the 19th-century west coast.
Chart 1 does not replicate this western Canadian and US Pacific Northwest prevalence, as travel sites in South Africa (.za) and New Zealand often refer to place names and restaurants in Canada/US. Chart 2, however, shows that the term is most vibrant in the Yukon Territory today, followed by British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. In the former, only people with extensive rural connections continue to use the term (see Gregg 1995).
Skookum is one of several terms that transferred into English that is largely, but not exclusively, used by an older demographic (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference on the use of Chinook Jargon for some background). Evidence from the sociolinguistic Survey of Vancouver English, outlined in Gregg (1995: 186), shows that the term is more prevalent among men than women.
Chart 1 does not replicate this western Canadian and US Pacific Northwest prevalence, as travel sites in South Africa (.za) and New Zealand often refer to place names and restaurants in Canada/US. Chart 2, however, shows that the term is most vibrant in the Yukon Territory today, followed by British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. In the former, only people with extensive rural connections continue to use the term (see Gregg 1995).
Skookum is one of several terms that transferred into English that is largely, but not exclusively, used by an older demographic (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference on the use of Chinook Jargon for some background). Evidence from the sociolinguistic Survey of Vancouver English, outlined in Gregg (1995: 186), shows that the term is more prevalent among men than women.
Quotations
18--
Skoo-kum. Strong; strength; a ghost; an evil spirit or demon. Skookum tumtum, brave; Skookum chuck, a rapid.
1861
CAMERON's Board and Lodging House, SCOTT"S WHARF, NEW WESTMINSTER.
[...] Parties can have their beds free by furnishing their own blankets. The house is pleasantly situated, being opposite the theatre, and on the wharf where all the steamers start. Here in fact the boys will find everything skookum.
[...] Parties can have their beds free by furnishing their own blankets. The house is pleasantly situated, being opposite the theatre, and on the wharf where all the steamers start. Here in fact the boys will find everything skookum.
1867
Ans.—Yes; they did, between the Cowlitz and the Skookum Chuck, as they tried a variety of trails before they finally decided upon the trail or road they used and bridged it.
1890
Comparison is expressed by a periphrasis. "I am stronger than thou," would be wake mika skookum kahkwa nika, lit., "thou not as strong as I."
1899
"Now," said the latter, "if you feel equal to the walk, we'll go down to Skookum Gulch and you shall have your turn of panning out."
1927
All three are quick reliable players although greatly outweighed by the Maori hooks. Rika in particular with his 210 pounds of bone and muscle is about the most skookum athlete that has bruised about at Brockton Point for some time.
1928
With roars and warwhoops the red savages, (No, my dear, they were NOT science men) charged. Preston, startled from his sleep, stared around in bewilderment like a student who bet on the Grads in the Relay. Then in a thunderous voice, seasoned by five years of McKechnie Cup games, he yelled.---"Kltsilano, capilano, siwash squaw; Klahowya tlllicum skookum wah; Hlyu mamook mucka mucka zip, etc."
1932
I was at the printer's when the title mentioned was chosen by the editor, after other members of the staff had made such suggestions as the following: "Information, Please," "Great Expectations," "Going or Coming?" "Magna Res," "Une Conference Importante," "Getting Together," "Skookum Pow-wow," "Where Do We Get Off?" "What's the Score?" That will give you an idea of the thought and attention given to the production of this newspaper, whose appearance twice a week you accept as a matter of course.
1953
When first I hit the camp, the "Push" he says to me/ "We've got some skookum donkeys and a tough spar-tree,/ It's good level yarding out there in the brush. . . ."
1955
"I don't know why I gotta work hard all year and feed that skookum ugly face for nothing."
1965
The girls provided us with a skookum bacon and egg breakfast complete with toast and coffee.
1975
In other business, AMS co-ordinator Ron Dumont said 190 students submitted proposals for renaming the After Five lounge in SUB, but the four names recommended to council by the SUB management committee were rejected.
Rejected names were: Skookum Room, Sub Bacchus, Spit and Pendulum. The management committee had earlier rejected all other submissions.
1983
Linguistics Colloquium. The Survey of Vancouver English: A Squamish, the Saltchuck, Oolichan, Skookum, Saskie - Who Still Knows these Local Words? Dr. Robert J. Gregg, professor emeritus, Linguistics. UBC. Room D121, Buchanan Building. 3:30 p.m.
1989
Many of the words and phrases come from the province's forest history and the Chinook trade - "skookum," "nosebag," "joey shack," "barber chair" . . . they are words, as St. Pierre says, that, like the men who used them, "can do good work by day and dance and sing all night."
2007
"You might want something more skookum," the sales clerk at Coast Mountain Sports on Main St. said as I hunted for just the right pair of mitts for dogsledding.
2013
We have so many great items in the bags and some pretty skookum grand prizes also. Hidden in the bags will be two gift certificates for Android Smart Phones valued at $400 each, donated by Jim McLellan , regional director of sales for Tom Harris Cellular-TV-Internet, located at 2447 Highway 97 North.
2015
I also have two table saw sleds for my table saw. One is a small sled that I use often the other is a large sled that can take up to 16 inch wide stock. I used to have a small Delta Basic Table Saw that was embarrassingly small. I couldn't cut anything over 6 inches wide. Now with such a skookum saw, I finally have the table size to cut what I want.
2adv. — used as an intensifier, obsolete
very, strongly.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — The use as an intensifier is (or rather was) comparatively rare when compared with the adjectival uses in meaning 1. This function might be "Origin", yet is, by any rate, culturally significant as a result of the relevance of Chinook in early British Columbia and the Yukon.
Quotations
1891
For instance he believed that a bear would hold out its paw towards a man at a distance and feel whether he was skookum brave.
References
- Gregg (1995)
- Canadian Encyclopedia • "Chinook Wawa"
- DARE
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 20 Apr. 2016
