hawk/hock

[Baker, John]

        Maybe, but if you're running a second-hand store I would think that you would try to avoid any association of your shop with a pawnshop, and an association with stolen goods would be even more problematic.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas G. Wilson [mailto:douglas at NB.NET]
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 8:15 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: hawk/hock


It's a punshop, isn't it?

Unless the owner's surname is Hawk or something like that (and maybe even
if it is), I suppose the name "Hawk Shop" is a play on "hock shop"? I don't
know whether that implies anything with respect to phonetic variations.

The slang term "hawk" = "steal" is, I suppose, basically a variant of
"hock" = "steal" ... or vice versa ... and this connection might be
relevant, perhaps?

-- Doug Wilson