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stranger
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stranger
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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?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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=scosche1. 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 doughnutsfwiw, the crowdsource response gives your usage the popular nod. Can you give a context of how you have heard it?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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]
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Joined: Jun 2008
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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.
Last edited by maverick; 01/06/13 11:09 PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>unfamiliar sk~ combination
yeahbut: ski, skate, skimpy, skip, skedaddle, et alia.
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newbie
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newbie
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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.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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.
formerly known as etaoin...
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old hand
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old hand
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hmm, skoshe. I think I woulda spelt it that way.
As in, Skoshe on the rocksh pleash.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Except for skate these words all need the k to retain the /sk/ pronunciation.
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