penmachine.comments (all fields optional!)
I always thought 'skookum' was slang from the town of 'Skookumchuk' (sp?) in Northern British Columbia - hence the reason that only British Columbians had ever apparently heard the term... I'm not sure which came first, though - the word or the town...
Skookumchuck is also the name of the roiling tidal narrows at the head of Sechelt Inlet on the Sunshine Coast. Apparently it means "big current" ("chuck" being "current"), so "skookum" would have come first.
About "naa..." It's often used rhetorically at the end of the sentence, similar to how we use "isn't it?" Naa is a more casual version of "ne" (rhymes with "eh").
How appropriate. "Eh?" is used just the same way in Canadian English: "That's some pretty skookum back bacon, eh?"
We'll chat about eh's and ne's at a future EAC meeting (yup, that Barb.)
Hey, thanks for the link from the words "positive meanings"
I started the company "Skookum Tools" in Victoria, B.C. in 2000
Hey, thanks for the link from the words "positive meanings"
I started the company "Skookum Tools" in Victoria, B.C. in 2000
THe word cozy as a translation does not really convey the meaning of gezellig at all. Gezellig means a sort of warm, cozy atmosphere enjoyed by a group of family or friends who all are having fun, and are all happy.
Sitting in a nice cafe is gezellig, enjoying a picknick in the park is gezellig, a small naighbourhood store is gezellig, but large warehouses are not, a dentis waiting room is not. etc.
Note that gezellig always means being in the company of friends or family, never alone. While sitting alone at home, curled up on the sofa with a book and a hot chocolate may be cozy, but is not gezellig.
I hope this clarifies the difficulties with translating.
Commenting by HaloScan
