# Canadian Dopers...is Skookum a family friendly word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807 "2017-03-23T01:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/43 "2017-03-24T17:26:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Never heard it here in Ohio, but I like it and will try to start using it! Only if you want to get in trouble for appropriating our Northwest idiom. :rolleyes: Personally, I’ve lived in the Northwest most of my life (mostly Spokane and Portland areas) and have never heard anyone use the word in conversation. It’s probably more of a BC thing than Washington and Oregon thing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/44 "2017-03-24T20:26:55Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Only if you want to get in trouble for appropriating our Northwest idiom. :rolleyes: … Dammit, I’m willing to take that risk. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/45 "2017-03-24T21:03:33Z")
I grew up in Ohio, but I became familiar with the word as a fourth-grader in 1969 when a book called _Skookum_ (or at least featuring a dog by that name) was assigned to one of the reading groups that was “slower” than the one I was in. However, a cursory Google search for the “novel” (as the teacher called it in an apparent attempt to make the kids think they were reading a work for grown-ups) comes up empty. As I recall, the cover featured a snowy Alaskan landscape with a solitary dog set against the desolate backdrop. Does this ring a bell with anyone? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/46 "2017-03-24T21:23:25Z")
Now I’m afraid to even think about the word. Someone tried to warn me about its use and … _ **they got to him!** _ :eek: > [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > …and still, despite the rapturing of one of our posters, I’m still left with no information about how best to employ the Pecker Detector. It’s a built-in magnifying glass with a small LED light to illuminate the …uh… subject. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/47 "2017-03-24T21:28:58Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Does this ring a bell with anyone? I may have found [a trace](https://books.google.com/books?id=se88AAAAYAAJ&q=Skookum+dog&dq=Skookum+dog&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjT0YnrifDSAhVn_4MKHXyWDfQ4ChDoAQg3MAY) of it. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/48 "2017-03-24T21:33:17Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Now I’m afraid to even think about the word. Someone tried to warn me about its use and … _ **they got to him!** _ :eek:It’s a built-in magnifying glass with a small LED light to illuminate the …uh… subject. Ah, that’s excellent. Somehow I missed that detail. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/49 "2017-03-24T21:51:00Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > As I recall, the cover featured a snowy Alaskan landscape with a solitary dog set against the desolate backdrop. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Aaaaaaand, [boom-yow](https://www.amazon.com/Skookum-Merit-books-Knox-Evans/dp/B0006BNXB6=1-93&keywords=skookum)! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/50 "2017-03-25T17:39:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Never heard it here in Ohio, but I like it and will try to start using it! Do you mean you will start using the word “skookum”, or that you will start appropriating someone, with or without compensation? :eek: It depends on what the meaning of “it” is. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/51 "2017-03-25T21:08:46Z")
You’re smart. I’m sure you can figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/52 "2017-03-26T18:13:56Z")
I use it frequently and even started a thread about it a while back: > **[Skookum - Do you know this word?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=603541)** > > Today at work we got some new appliances for the kitchen, stainless steal and shiny. I said “Oh those are pretty skookum.” And my coworkers looked at me like 😕. Not one of them had ever even heard of the word. Now I’m from Vancouver Island on the... ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/53 "2017-03-26T23:56:14Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I use it frequently and even started a thread about it a while back: > > [Skookum - Do you know this word? - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=603541) Wow, I didn’t imagine that anyone had posted a thread about such an odd word before. But it appears that there was an even older thread: [What demographic group do you associate with the word “skookum?”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441770) Anyway, I plan on invoking this word on a regular basis now. It expresses the concept of “robustness” and “fit for purpose” in a pleasing manner. (and I’m tired of referring to things as being robust). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/54 "2017-03-28T23:02:14Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Aaaaaaand, [boom-yow](https://www.amazon.com/Skookum-Merit-books-Knox-Evans/dp/B0006BNXB6=1-93&keywords=skookum)! That looks like the right book, indeed, although I likely remember a later edition. Great find, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807/55 "2017-03-29T13:12:54Z")
Funny, I’ve heard it occasionally from people from out West, but did not specifically associate it with Canadians or even Aboriginal peoples really. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-is-skookum-a-family-friendly-word/782807.md?page=2)