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prettygoodwordskookum (SKOO-kuhm) - (NW U.S., SW Can.) adj., strong, powerful, monstrous; excellent, first-rate. n., an evil woodland spirit or monster.
This is from Chinook Jargon, a pidgin trade language originating in the Columbia River basin but used throughout the Pacific Northwest and southwestern Canada -- this particular word taken from Lower Chehalis (a Salish language of the Washington coast) skwəkwə́m, ghost/spirit/monster, making the noun the original meaning, but the adjective is more common. First attested in English around 1830.
---L.
This is from Chinook Jargon, a pidgin trade language originating in the Columbia River basin but used throughout the Pacific Northwest and southwestern Canada -- this particular word taken from Lower Chehalis (a Salish language of the Washington coast) skwəkwə́m, ghost/spirit/monster, making the noun the original meaning, but the adjective is more common. First attested in English around 1830.
---L.
