# Origin of "skosh" for "little"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-skosh-for-little/48>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [May 9, 1999, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-skosh-for-little/48 "1999-05-09T04:53:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 1999, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-skosh-for-little/48/1 "1999-05-09T04:53:00Z")

</div>

The answer doesn’t appear on the webpage for some reason, but “skosh” is a very close approximation of the Japanese word “sukoshi”, meaning “a little”. The “U” is barely pronounced, so it sounds like “s’koshi” in Japanese.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 1999, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-skosh-for-little/48/2 "1999-05-09T15:32:00Z")

</div>

True, actually comes from the Japanese, IE:

skosh "skosh\ noun [Jp sukoshi] (1952)  
: a small amount : bit, smidgen — used adverbially with a \<just a skosh bit shook — Josiah Bunting\>

© 1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.