"Hump puss": the most wonderful CJ-to-English loan

David D. Robertson ddr11 at COLUMBIA.EDU
Fri Aug 29 23:39:12 UTC 2003


Found this in the Dict. of Amer. Regional Engl. (a Washington State usage):

"hump puss":  a skunk (from Chinook Jargon humm opoots / hEm upuch).

And it's a stellar example of folk etymology.  Looks like English speakers
reinterpreted the CJ term into English words that might suggest skunks
look like humpbacked cats.  (They do, after all.)

Is there not a reverse index to DARE, where one could look up all the
words that are attributed to CJ sources?  Even if there is, it wouldn't
necessarily include "Boston" in the list -- I notice there are two
separate meanings given for this term, one of them being the CJ one
("Americans" or "white people" in general).  According to my notes this
meaning is not attributed to a CJ source, and it really ought to be
separated from the other meaning given ("from Boston").



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