What demographic group do you associate with the word "skookum?"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve been hearing “skookum” a bit more frequently in my day-to-day life than I have since I was a child.

I don’t recall hearing the word much at all throughout the eighties and most of the nineties, but then it began to resurface - and it seems to me to be embraced by one particular subset of society, almost exclusively.

When I was a kid, this already seemed very old-fashioned. My mom and her sisters used it, fercryinoutloud.

Its persistence seems (to me) to be more among one group than any other - but it’s still rare enough that I can’t be sure if my observations are statistically significant.

So… uh… who would you expect to describe something as “skookum?”

2

Nobody. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word before and have no clue what it means.

3

I recall it as an affectionate term for a lover, or a child.

4

No one. I’ve never heard it before… (A.R. Cane - do you mean snookums - I’ve heard that one as an affectionate term)

GT

5

Never heard it before and have no idea what it is supposed to mean.

6

I’ve never heard it, either. No idea what it could mean.

7

Another poster here, who is completely baffled by the term. I don’t associate it with any ethnic group, either.

8

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking of, sorry.

9

I associate it with men in their 50s who are working in a trade such as carpenters, electricians, welders, security systems (automated gates, electronic entry), plumbers, etc.; or guys in their 30s who grew up in rural PNW areas.

10

“Skookum” is a First Nations word, is it not? Chinook specifically? I believe it is most well known in BC and Alberta, maybe in the PNW as well. To me, it means “awesome” or “top-notch”.

11

I think of the Okanagan and our friends at the Columbia Brewing Company when I hear that word.

12

Grandmas, I guess. TV grandmas.

13

This is what I was thinking as well, though I’d include the Yukon in the list of places. Addind the word to a name (for example, “Skookum Joe”) would mean that the bearer of the name was an upstanding guy.

14

The above-noted lexicon of British Columbia words and phrases defines “skookum” as:

“strong, big or powerful” in Chinook jargon. Still in active use, the word is now being applied in instances where it means “terrific” or “good”.

I heard my father use it a lot - “skookumchuck” was a powerful tide rip or run; “skookum house” was the jail.

das Glas

15

How do you pronouce it?

We don’t have many Chinooks down here.

16

SKOOK-um

17

Never heard of it before. If I had to guess, I’d say it was a brand of chewing tobacco.

18

Skookum – I’m in another part of th’ world, so sorry, no recall on it.
Snookums - No one says it around here except as extreme sarcasm aimed as a wussy-wuss. Based on that, though, it crosses the both the gender and age barriers. Usually associated with some kind of clucking aunt or granny figure, complete with the cheek pinching and a fiver tucked into a Christmas card.

19

I didn’t know what it meant until it was defined, either. No associations, no ideas, nothing.

20

Never heard of it, have no associations.