Etymology of Skosh

[Wilson Gray]

A friend of mine who had been sailor in the Pacific Fleet used not only
"skosh" but he also used "(i)kimasho" as a slang term for "let's go." I
think that "ikimasho" and "kimasho" have pretty much the same meaning
in Japanese, i.e. literally, "let's go," but I may be mistaken.

-Wilson Gray

On Aug 24, 2004, at 9:19 AM, James Smith wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James Smith <jsmithjamessmith at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Etymology of Skosh
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> I heard "skosh" frequently in the late 60's, early
> 70's, and my assumption was that is was Vietnamese
> that was picked up by military during the Viet Nam
> War.  Based on the etymology, I would still suspect it
> was introduced through the military, although those
> stationed in Japan rather than Viet Nam.  I have not
> heard anyone use "skosh" for quite some time.
>
>
> --- "J. Eulenberg" <eulenbrg at U.WASHINGTON.EDU> wrote:
>
>> The only person I've ever heard use this expression
>> is my western Canadian
>> friend.  Now I have to wonder where she picked it
>> up!
>>
>> Julia Niebuhr Eulenberg <eulenbrg at u.washington.edu>
>>
>> On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>
> ...
>>> =E2=80=93ORIGIN 1950s: from Japanese sukoshi.
>
>
>
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> James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
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