A known NW indigenous-to-English loan, and a possible 'nother
David Robertson
drobert at TINCAN.TINCAN.ORG
Thu Jan 28 05:32:20 UTC 1999
LaXiyEm.
We know that 'high muckymuck / high muckamuck' etc. is a loan from The
Jargon to English. Viz. Hubert Howe Bancroft's "Retrospection: Political
and personal" (New York: Bancroft [yes, his company], 1912), page 107:
[An indigenous gentleman in Coloma, California, referred to as
George Washington is addressed.]
'"You high muck-a-muck here George?"
'"Yas, gotambread?"
'"Ah, your Excellency has not breakfasted. Kindly go to the
kitchen and tell them I sent you."'
But as I happened upon another book about the Pacific Coast of North
America today, I wondered, upon seeing the following, from Marius
Barbeau's "Pathfinders in the North Pacific" (Caldwell, ID: Caxton,
1958), page 133:
'On another occasion, over a hundred years ago, the Tlingit or
Russian Indians fell out with another party of Tsimsyan -- or
British Indians -- visiting them at their old village near the
mouth of the Stikine. As, in a dog fight, the Tlingit gained the
upper hand, this time they claimed to have captured from the
Tsimsyan the name of Shaiks....
'The defeated Shaiks of the Tsimsyan, in a great feast given to
wipe out his defeat, altered his former name to Great-Shaiks, and
had still finer headdresses carved by the best Nass River artists
of the day. For he would not accept his loss at the hands of a
spoliator.'
My friends, today's question is "Where did the English idiom 'No great
shakes' come from?" The Tlingit name is commonly spelled Shakes, and may
have been hereditary; I've heard of a Chief Shakes IV, haven't I?
I could look this up, but I always want to encourage some repartee here.
Yr Humble & dev. srvt,
Dave
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