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<DIV><FONT size=4>Forrest says his former boss thought it was Ukrainian; I doubt it (in the form "copacetic", anyway; the alleged Chinook form "copasenee" actually looks more plausibly Ukrainian in origin, though I still doubt it). He further says that, his boss aside, he never ""</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Jeff cited:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>> > 'Other accounts say it derives from a Chinook word copasenee, <BR>> > "everything is satisfactory", once used on the waterways of <BR>> > Washington State . . .' <BR>> > <BR>> > </FONT><A href="http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-cop1.htm"><FONT size=4>http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-cop1.htm</FONT></A><FONT size=4> <BR></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>In my own experience I've heard it many times, and used it, too, but almost always in the stock phrase "Everything copacetic?" or (less often) "Everything['s] copacetic." Either of which would yield, if the "everything is satisfactory" gloss is correct, a grammatical oddity of the sort typified by "the hoi polloi" (where "hoi" is Greek for "the").</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>lilEnd</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>who never really thought about it but always figured it was Romance one way or another</FONT></DIV>
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