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#208762 01/06/13 10:07 PM
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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?

Prof@NHTI #208764 01/06/13 10:18 PM
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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=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?

maverick #208765 01/06/13 10:36 PM
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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]

Prof@NHTI #208766 01/06/13 10:42 PM
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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.


----please, draw me a sheep----
tsuwm #208767 01/06/13 11:09 PM
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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.
maverick #208768 01/06/13 11:16 PM
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>unfamiliar sk~ combination

yeahbut: ski, skate, skimpy, skip, skedaddle, et alia.

Prof@NHTI #208769 01/06/13 11:29 PM
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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.

Prof@NHTI #208771 01/06/13 11:50 PM
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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.


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Buffalo Shrdlu #208772 01/07/13 12:41 AM
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hmm, skoshe. I think I woulda spelt it that way.
As in, Skoshe on the rocksh pleash.

tsuwm #208773 01/07/13 12:56 AM
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Except for skate these words all need the k to retain the /sk/ pronunciation.

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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

Faldage #208780 01/07/13 03:15 AM
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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.)

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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).

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Then there's always that Brit piece of perversion, sceptical.

maverick #208783 01/07/13 03:34 PM
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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.

tsuwm #208784 01/07/13 03:37 PM
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Excellent - thank you !!!

Prof@NHTI #208786 01/07/13 05:10 PM
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no, thank you for an interesting question with an interesting answer smile

maverick #208796 01/07/13 08:59 PM
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..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.

tsuwm #208804 01/08/13 02:55 AM
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course, that never stops us arguin' amongst ourownsef... wink

Prof@NHTI #208823 01/08/13 05:36 PM
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heh


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Prof@NHTI #208883 01/10/13 02:19 PM
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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!


The idiot also known as Capfka ...
Prof@NHTI #208885 01/10/13 03:26 PM
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heh


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Capital Kiwi #208910 01/11/13 12:36 AM
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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

Prof@NHTI #214270 02/22/14 10:21 PM
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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.

Faldage #214271 02/22/14 10:24 PM
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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".

jetcityjester #214272 02/23/14 12:37 AM
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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'.

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