[Ads-l] to kamashaw something

[Jonathan Lighter]

"Comshaw" is another recent spelling.

JL

On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 6:46 PM Will Salmon <
00000f3af6842778-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Nice. Thanks much!
> Will
>
> > On Mar 15, 2021, at 4:43 PM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: to kamashaw something
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I expect this is a variant of _cumshaw_, ultimately from Amoy,
> originally referring to a gratuity or (more broadly) a bribe, but evolving
> into something along the lines of what you're describing.
> >
> > HDAS has this as sense 2 of _cumshaw_ v., 'to obtain by devious or
> ingenious methods; scrounge', with a first quotation from 1918 in US Navy
> use, and frequent in the Vietnam War.
> >
> > Jesse Sheidlower
> >
> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 04:02:21PM -0500, William Salmon wrote:
> >> Hello,
> >> Does anyone on the list know the term "kamashaw" [not sure about
> spelling]
> >> from military slang, meaning to steal bits of military property for
> >> personal use? As in, "Those are regulation US Navy spoons that the
> ship's
> >> cook kamashawed."
> >>
> >> Any insight on this word would be appreciated.
> >> Thanks all!
> >> Will
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Professor of Linguistics
> >> Head | Department of English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies
> >> University of Minnesota Duluth
> >> https://williamsalmon.com
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org