A German dialect form used as slang by black GI's

[Wilson Gray]

When I was first stationed in Heilbronn, a town in the
Schwaebisch-dialect region of Germany (a point driven home by the fact
that the towns of Schwaebisch-Hall and Schwaebisch-Gemuend were only a
couple of kliks away), I noticed that my fellow black G.I.'s used a
slang term that new to me: "COOKamo." From context, it was clear that
this meant, "Take a look (at this)," "Look (here)," and was even used
as a kind of sentential adverbial: "Look (here), that's not what I was
trying to say." Later, I began to notice that the local "indigenous
personnel" also used this word *very* often in conversations that were
otherwise totally in German. Naturally, I was accustomed to hearing
Germans who made their living off G.I.'s use G.I. slang when speaking
English to G.I.'s or even occasionally when speaking German to one
another. But this use of G.I. slang by everyday people was something
new.

To make along story short, a grammar of the Schwaebisch dialect showed
me that Standard German "Gucke einmal!", literally "Look one time!"
(this literal translation may be a little strange in standard English,
but it's perfectly grammatical in BE), "Take a look!", "Look here!",
etc. was, in the Schwaebisch dialect, none other than "Kucke 'mo!"
Problem solved.

FWIW, some here may recall that, in 1961, there was a popular song
called "Wooden Heart," by an Elvis sound-alike named Joe Dowell, who
didn't, since he was a one-hit wonder. This song is set to the tune of
"Muss' I' Denn," the best-known folksong in the Schwaebisch dialect.

-Wilson Gray