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prettygoodwordsockeye (SAWK-ai) - n., a small Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that spawns in rivers of the northern Pacific.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
For "northern" read, as far as North America is concerned, "north of the Columbia River." Much sought after by commercial fisheries. The one above is in spawning colors -- the rest of their lives, they are the color the head is. The name, which in English dates to 1867, is from a Salishan language of British Columbia, probably Halkomelem, spoken on southern Vancouver Island and the lower Frasier River, sθəqəy̓ (pronounced something like suk-kegh), which was altered by folk etymology. [Sidebar: Halkomelem is also the source of sasquatch.]
And because I can't count and actually collected 6 words for the 5-day week, a bonus word that turns out to be an edge case:
muckamuck or muckety-muck, often high muckamuck - n., an important and often arrogant person.
Originally, and this is a dated PNW regionalism, both "food" and "to eat food," and high muckamuck was "to eat at the high/front table," which then transferred to those who eat there. This is from Chinook Jargon, a pidgin trade language / creole of the Pacific Northwest (originating in the Lower Columbia River valley) that borrowed heavily from indigenous languages of the region, including the Chinook language itself spoken along the Lower Columbia River. However, comma, no native source for muckamuck has been identified, and it appears to have been a coinage in Chinook Jargon (not the only word coined in it, thus it being considered almost a creole and not just a pidgin).
And that wraps up a week of assorted words from Native American / First Nations languages. I've one more theme-group along these lines, so I'll get that one out of the way next week.
---L.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
For "northern" read, as far as North America is concerned, "north of the Columbia River." Much sought after by commercial fisheries. The one above is in spawning colors -- the rest of their lives, they are the color the head is. The name, which in English dates to 1867, is from a Salishan language of British Columbia, probably Halkomelem, spoken on southern Vancouver Island and the lower Frasier River, sθəqəy̓ (pronounced something like suk-kegh), which was altered by folk etymology. [Sidebar: Halkomelem is also the source of sasquatch.]
And because I can't count and actually collected 6 words for the 5-day week, a bonus word that turns out to be an edge case:
muckamuck or muckety-muck, often high muckamuck - n., an important and often arrogant person.
Originally, and this is a dated PNW regionalism, both "food" and "to eat food," and high muckamuck was "to eat at the high/front table," which then transferred to those who eat there. This is from Chinook Jargon, a pidgin trade language / creole of the Pacific Northwest (originating in the Lower Columbia River valley) that borrowed heavily from indigenous languages of the region, including the Chinook language itself spoken along the Lower Columbia River. However, comma, no native source for muckamuck has been identified, and it appears to have been a coinage in Chinook Jargon (not the only word coined in it, thus it being considered almost a creole and not just a pidgin).
And that wraps up a week of assorted words from Native American / First Nations languages. I've one more theme-group along these lines, so I'll get that one out of the way next week.
---L.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-05 03:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-09-05 05:28 pm (UTC)This week's words were especially good. Thank you so much for doing this series!
no subject
Date: 2025-09-05 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-09-05 05:34 pm (UTC)Fun with fish
Date: 2025-09-05 08:38 pm (UTC)* Don't eat any fish that has turned red. By that time they are dying and have started to rot away around the edges. Sockeye stop eating when they begin their migration upriver and die shortly after spawning.
Re: Fun with fish
Date: 2025-09-08 02:52 pm (UTC)Re: Fun with fish continued
Date: 2025-09-08 05:54 pm (UTC)Silvers on the other hand do continue to eat, and will come to a lure, especially in water clear enough for them to see. Since the majority of Alaskan rivers have whitish glacial melt from their headwaters; finding clear water usually means finding a creek that feeds the river, places where the fish "pull over" to rest and clear their gills of sediment.
Who knew that fishing would be this complicated!