Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

[google is your friend]

It could also be from Chinook Jargon "muckamuck", food, eat.  "High
muckamuck", spelled "hayo makamak" by the online AHD, which also
records "hiyou Muckamuck", means "plenty to eat".  The sense of
"important person" came shortly after its first recorded English use
in the original meaning.  I suppose the sound, and the first word's
resemblance to "high" must have influenced the shift, but perhaps the
second meaning also comes from potlatch, the West-coast Indian custom
of asserting social status at lavish feasts.  Hiyu muckamuck, skookum
tillicum.

All there was between the Hawaiians and the Chinook (et al.) was a
stretch of water, and they were good sailors.

http://www.bartleby.com/61/76/H0197600.html

I don't blame you.

I'm puzzled by the link. I don't know what happened there. I think I
was trying to point to a page illustrating or commenting on Google's
peculiar 'Translate to English (UK)' feature. Perhaps at that time the
feature was, er, featured on the iGoogle home page.

Anyway. A 'Translate to English (UK)' option has recently appeared to
the right of the 'View profile' option on individual newsgroup posts
in Google Groups, including posts in English (UK) in the
alt.usage.english newsgroup. When clicked on, the option causes all
the text in the post to vanish. Very odd.

Does anyone have an explanation?

I don't have to be logged in to Google to get this option and I don't
save cookies, so I assume it's offering UK English because of my IP
number.

PS: Speaking of British English, a British magazine recently described
Kazuo Ishiguro as a 'master of the British language'. Comments?

PPS: While I'm here, I might as well mention that an hour or so ago on
R4's Any Questions, Jonathan Dimbleby interrupted one of the
panellists to say, with perfect clarity, 'That puts the anus on ...'.
He left the anus's destination hanging, but it must have been clear
from the context because the panellist said 'Yes' and resumed her
panellising.

--
VB