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prettygoodwordskookum (SKOO-kuhm) - adj., (NW US, W Canada) big, strong, durable, brave, excellent, impressive. n., (chiefly among Northwest Coast Aboriginal people) an woodland spirit or monster; a type of souvenir doll based on the monster.
The monster (similar to the sasquatch) is the original meaning, as skwəkwə́m in Lower Chehalis, a Salish language of the Washington state coast. From there it passed into Chinook Jargon as meaning strong/powerful, arriving into English around 1830 as a descriptor with positive connotations. There's also a cat breed named after the skookum.
---L.
The monster (similar to the sasquatch) is the original meaning, as skwəkwə́m in Lower Chehalis, a Salish language of the Washington state coast. From there it passed into Chinook Jargon as meaning strong/powerful, arriving into English around 1830 as a descriptor with positive connotations. There's also a cat breed named after the skookum.
---L.
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Date: 2015-03-21 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-23 02:51 pm (UTC)---L.
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Date: 2015-03-23 06:46 pm (UTC)I don't know what you mean: Snookums @ Dictionary.com
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Date: 2015-03-24 03:24 pm (UTC)---L.
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Date: 2015-03-25 03:41 am (UTC)