Sooking?

[Grant Barrett]

On Sep 29, 2005, at 01:13, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
> Seems to be Australian slang, "sook" [v.] = "whine" or so,
> "sook" [n.] =
> "wimp"/"crybaby". Maybe a modification of "suck"? Lots of examples
> on the Web.

Macquarie, the Australian Oxford Dictionary, and the Dictionary of
New Zealand English don't have the verb, but they have other forms:

AOD: n. esp. Aust. colloq. 1.derog. a timid bashful person; a coward
or sissy; a cry-baby. 2. a hand-reared calf. 3. a timid racehorse.
[ORIGIN: English dialect _suck_, used to call a calf.] adj. Aust.
babyish, stupid.

Mac: noun 1. Also, *sookie*, a poddy calf. 2. (usually with children)
a timid, shy, cowardly persoon; a cry-baby.[...] [cf. 19thC Brit.
slang _sock_ an overgrown baby, and Brit. D. _sokerel_ an unweaned
child; ? reflexes of OED _sucan_ top suck] -sooky, adj.

I won't do the DNZE entry, since it is very similar, but it
references EDD, ADD, and OEDAS.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org
http://www.doubletongued.org/