hawk/hock

[Baker, John]

        Then, in answer to your earlier question, yes, some people do think that "hawk" means to pawn, per RHHDAS.  However, I'm not aware of anybody who thinks that "hock" means to sell.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis R. Preston [mailto:preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 7:42 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: hawk/hock


Nope! No confusion here in phonology or lexicon. I have (at least)
"hawk" (v.) 1. to peddle aggressively, 2. to attend to or watch
carefully (as in "ball-hawk" in hoops), and 3. a sport using birds
(called "falconry" by the elite).

None of these are related to "hock," but it's easy to see how the
morally inadequate vowel conflaters among use might see a
relationship between the first verb "hawk" and "hock."

dInIs

>        You're confusing two completely different words.  "Hawk," in
>"Muncie Hawk Shop," is either a misuse of "hock" or, far more
>likely, from the verb "to hawk," meaning to peddle goods
>aggressively, a back-formation from Middle English "hauker," a
>hawker or peddler.  "Hawk," in the sense of a bird of prey, derives
>from Old English "heafoc," a hawk or falcon.
>
>
>John Baker
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dennis R. Preston [mailto:preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU]
>Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 6:25 PM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: hawk/hock
>
>
>Is there a merger of the words anywhere (i.e., people who confuse
>"pawning" with "bird of prey"?
>
>dInIs

--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
740 Wells Hall A
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office - (517) 353-0740
Fax - (517) 432-2736