A. Metcalf, "How We Talk" & Chinook Jargon

[Dave Robertson]

Howdy,

Our public library has a new copy of Allan Metcalf's "How We Talk:  American
Regional English Today / A Talking Tour of American English, Region by
Region."

The book's pretty undaunting, considering the title's length.  It's a fun
and informative popular treatment of the subject.

(Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston & New York, 2000.)

Chinook Jargon plays a big role in both Washington's and Alaska's linguistic
peculiarities.  Are you surprised?

The Alaska section mistakenly attributes "skookum" to the Tagish
(Athapaskan) language, certainly because it was "Skookum" Jim Mason, a
Tagish, whose gold discovery led to the Klondyke rush.  The meaning given in
this book is correct, though, and the examples very amusing.  (I believe
"skookum lay" will now be entering my vocabulary.)

Metcalf does get the etymology of "mush" a bit muddled, by quoting venerable
old dictionary-makers' tales, i.e. saying it may come from French
"marchons".  But that's not apparently a Chinook Jargon question.

He nails the origin of "cheechako" perfectly, and appropriately contrasts it
with "sourdough".

The Washington section features some eye-opening information about Seattle
dialect, and goes on to ruminate on how (quoting a newspaper columnist) "you
might be from Seattle if you know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and
Sockeye Salmon."  And "Chinook Jargon" gets its own entry in the book.

There's an excellent list at the end of the book, of movies you may want to
see if you're interested in this or that particular dialect.  Unfortunately,
the movies with Chinook Jargon in them aren't mentioned.

Dave