Wordsmith.org
Posted By: Prof@NHTI scosche - 01/06/13 10:07 PM
Here's a word I heard today, and wondered if anyone has heard it used before...
Have you seen it in context for a small amount?
Posted By: maverick Re: scosche - 01/06/13 10:18 PM
hi Prof, welcome.

Sorry, I had not personally encountered this at all. But I see Urban Dictionary gives two janus meanings:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=scosche

1. scosche 102 up, 14 down
A small amount, a tiny bit
Move a scosche

A scosche of food

A scosche of work left

2. scosche 7 up, 102 down
a large amout of bull crap
that was quite a scosche of beer

would you like a breakfast scosche?

I'd like a scosche of doughnuts


fwiw, the crowdsource response gives your usage the popular nod. Can you give a context of how you have heard it?
Posted By: tsuwm Re: scosche - 01/06/13 10:36 PM
I was surprised to find so little dictionary help for this, to me, a common enough word; then it dawned on me that the usual spelling it skosh: you'll see why from the etymology..

skosh
Etymology: < Japanese sukoshi a little, somewhat.
U.S. slang [prob. from the Korean War era - mf]

A little, a small amount; freq. used advb. in the expression a skosh, slightly, somewhat.

[1955 Amer. Speech 30 44 Along with.. everyday greetings, Bamboo English employs sukoshi ‘few, some’ and its antonym takusan ‘plenty’, both of which are forthwith made into two-syllable words, dispensing with the voiceless Japanese u.]

1959 (recorded by Prof. A. L. Hench, Univ. of Virginia) 10 May, ‘Just a skosh,’ he said. When I asked him what he meant he said he had picked the word up in Korea. It means ‘a little bit’. ‘Just a little bit left’ was his meaning.

1977 Detroit Free Press 19 Dec. 4- c/1 In the ad, a slightly out-of-breath jogger laments middle-age body bulge and tells how glad he is that a new line of Levis for men is constructed with ‘a skosh more room where I need it’.

1988 Cycle World Sept. 37/1 The GSX-R's seat is more comfortable than the Yamaha's thinly padded perch, and its bars are a skosh higher.
[OEDonline]
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: scosche - 01/06/13 10:42 PM
Originally Posted By: Prof@NHTI
Here's a word I heard today, and wondered if anyone has heard it used before...
Have you seen it in context for a small amount?


Mi sainted grandmither of blessed memory used the term
when baking, as in, "now just a scosche more flour, and
it's good to go".
Not an unfamiliar term to me.
Posted By: maverick Re: scosche - 01/06/13 11:09 PM
Good catch, wise one! So we have an example of folk etymology taking place before our eyes, it would seem: alteration of an unfamiliar sk~ combination to align more closely with familiar words like scorch, scotch, scamp, and so on.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: scosche - 01/06/13 11:16 PM
>unfamiliar sk~ combination

yeahbut: ski, skate, skimpy, skip, skedaddle, et alia.
Posted By: gooofy Re: scosche - 01/06/13 11:29 PM
The Japanese word sounds a lot like /skoʃ/ to English ears due to the vowel devoicing. So it's not surprising it would be spelled skosh or scosche.
Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: scosche - 01/06/13 11:50 PM
I've often heard and used it, but never seen or written it. took me a minute seeing "scosche"to think of what was meant.

hmm, skoshe. I think I woulda spelt it that way.
Posted By: olly Re: scosche - 01/07/13 12:41 AM
hmm, skoshe. I think I woulda spelt it that way.
As in, Skoshe on the rocksh pleash.
Posted By: Faldage Re: scosche - 01/07/13 12:56 AM
Except for skate these words all need the k to retain the /sk/ pronunciation.
Posted By: maverick Re: skoshe on the rocksh - 01/07/13 01:58 AM
smile

> yeahbut...

So M (as if I didn't expect you to argue the case!) are you really telling me that sc~ is not a more common feature of Englisc than sk~ ?

and no, I can't LIU cause my bloody OED won't load for some reason frown
Posted By: tsuwm Re: scosche - 01/07/13 03:15 AM
Originally Posted By: Faldage
Except for skate these words all need the k to retain the /sk/ pronunciation.


ah.. like in scald and scathe.

(like you've so often pointed out, don't look for consistency in English spelling.)
Posted By: tsuwm Re: skoshe on the rocksh - 01/07/13 03:18 AM
Originally Posted By: maverick
smile

> yeahbut...

are you really telling me that sc~ is not a more common feature of Englisc than sk~ ?



not at all.. I'm just telling you that sk~ is not at all rare (see also previous post).
Posted By: Faldage Re: skoshe on the rocksh - 01/07/13 04:49 AM
Then there's always that Brit piece of perversion, sceptical.
Posted By: Prof@NHTI Re: scosche - 01/07/13 03:34 PM
My dancing partner said, " We were just a scosche off" and when I asked about the word he said his grandfather used it when they were building and measuring.
Posted By: Prof@NHTI Re: scosche - 01/07/13 03:37 PM
Excellent - thank you !!!
Posted By: maverick Re: scosche - 01/07/13 05:10 PM
no, thank you for an interesting question with an interesting answer smile
Posted By: tsuwm Re: scosche - 01/07/13 08:59 PM
..and welcome back - you'd be amazed how often someone asks a question here and never bothers to comment on the answer(s), or never bothers to return, one.
Posted By: maverick Re: scosche - 01/08/13 02:55 AM
course, that never stops us arguin' amongst ourownsef... wink
Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: scosche - 01/08/13 05:36 PM
heh
Posted By: Capital Kiwi Re: scosche - 01/10/13 02:19 PM
So ... skosh I have seen (although I've never heard it used). Divined its meaning from context in general terms, but now I understand it's a cognate for "gnat's cock". Thanks!
Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: scosche - 01/10/13 03:26 PM
heh
Posted By: Faldage Re: scosche - 01/11/13 12:36 AM
Originally Posted By: Capital Kiwi
So ... skosh I have seen (although I've never heard it used). Divined its meaning from context in general terms, but now I understand it's a cognate for "gnat's cock". Thanks!


Not quite. More like red pubic hair, 毫
Posted By: jetcityjester Re: scosche - 02/22/14 10:21 PM
I first heard it when I joined the Army in 1977, in Korea with the 2nd Division. I was told it was Japanese in origin and and it came from GI's stationed in Occupied Japan after WWII.
Posted By: jetcityjester Re: scosche - 02/22/14 10:24 PM
While in the Army, we Combat Engineers would use a "C-Hair" (or a "C**t-hair") as a unit of measure. Even smaller was the "Red C-Hair".
Posted By: Faldage Re: scosche - 02/23/14 12:37 AM
Originally Posted By: jetcityjester
I first heard it when I joined the Army in 1977, in Korea with the 2nd Division. I was told it was Japanese in origin and and it came from GI's stationed in Occupied Japan after WWII.


It is from Japanese. The original is sukoshi, and it means 'a little bit'. The way it is pronounced in Tokyo Japanese the U and the I are barely there, being whispered, so it comes across to the American ear as s'kosh'.
© Wordsmith.org