LL-L "Etymology" 2004.06.13 (04) [E]

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Mon Jun 14 03:20:59 UTC 2004


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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

[Sorry! This one got away before I was finished.  So here we go again ...]

Hi, John, Lowlanders!

Happy Father's Day (or what remains of it) to those of you who celebrate(d)
it today!  (Or did I get the date wrong again?)

> Since you spent some time in Australia, Ron, perhaps you have given
> some thought to its etymology?

I have lived there for quite some years, am a naturalized Australian and am
likely, at the very latest, to experience my last sunset there, John.
However, this does not mean that I am an expert in the area of Australian
English, although I often do "research" it and, yes, I *have* given "crook"
in this sense some thought.  Having said this, I hasten to add that others
on the List, Australians and non-Australians alike, may well know more about
this.

In Australian and New Zealand English dialects, "crook" can mean several
things: 'unsatisfactory', 'unpleasant', 'dishonest', 'bad-tempered',
'angry', 'unwell', 'injured', sometimes even 'broken' in the sense of 'out
of order'.  If someone "goes crook" it usually means that he or she gets
angry, disgruntled or ill-tempered, but if he of she "is crook" it tends to
mean that he of she is unwell, ill or sick.  So, all in all, the meaning is
something like "out of sorts" or, more basic, "wrong," "not as it should
be," "abnormal."

In other English dialects, this comes through in the noun "crook" in the
sense of 'rogue', 'swindler', 'criminal', so 'dishonest (person)', "someone
who acts wrongly, thus is (socially) abnormal."

Apparently, in the senses of the above, there used to be dialectal variation
between "crooked" and "crook."  "Crook" came to predominate in Australasia,
while "crooked" came to predominate elsewhere.  In American English you
talk, for instance, about "crooked cops," namely about corrupt police
officers, or about something "crooked" someone (a "crook") has been up to,
namely something illegal or otherwise contrary to regulations or
expectations.

I have a hunch that this "crook(ed)" started off in the sense of "bent."
(Remember the noun "crook" for the bent shepherd's staff, later the bishop's
staff.)  So, something "bent" or "crook(ed)" is not "straight," is thus not
right or normal according to this line of cultural imagery.

Apparently, all this goes back to Old Norse word _krókr_ 'hook' borrowed by
Middle English.

Why "crook" instead of "crooked"?  Whatever the reason, I think it's the
same morphological phenomenon as "broken" and "broke."  In most English
dialects, you can say that someone is "broke" if he or she is out of money.
In American dialects you can, to a degree, interchange "broken" and "broke."
Thus, a table leg, for instance, can be "broken" or "broke."

German _krank_ 'ill', 'unwell', too, originally meant "bent" or "crooked,"
or simply "not straight," is related to words like _Kringel_ 'squiggle',
'(edible) ring', and Lowlands Saxon (Low German) _kring_ (<Kring> ~ <Krink>
[krI.N(k)]) 'circle' (> 'club', 'association').

I hope this was of help.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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