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Re: squawk, gawk, gowk and spoke (fwd)
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From: Chaswe@aol.com
The noun "gawk", if meaning "an awkward (gawky) person, a fool, a
simpleton",
can only be (very closely) related to "gowk", from the Anglo-Saxon "geac",
a cuckoo. "Gowk" is in common current use in Scotland (pop c 5 mil), where
it also means "a fool or simpleton", and is frequently used in that sense:
"you daft gowk, April gowk" etc. Little to do with a heron, but the sound
might be felt to relate somewhat to the cuckoo's note. cf also German
"Kuckuck or Guckguck", cuckoo, as well as "gucken", pronounced "kucken",
meaning to peek or even to gape. Young cuckoos gape remarkably widely.
There's also "geck", a dupe or fool. Does this get us anywhere useful?
Charles HW: trivialist.
The noun "gawk", if meaning "an awkward (gawky) person, a fool, a
simpleton",
can only be (very closely) related to "gowk", from the Anglo-Saxon "geac",
a cuckoo. "Gowk" is in common current use in Scotland (pop c 5 mil), where
it also means "a fool or simpleton", and is frequently used in that sense:
"you daft gowk, April gowk" etc. Little to do with a heron, but the sound
might be felt to relate somewhat to the cuckoo's note. cf also German
"Kuckuck or Guckguck", cuckoo, as well as "gucken", pronounced "kucken",
meaning to peek or even to gape. Young cuckoos gape remarkably widely.
There's also "geck", a dupe or fool. Does this get us anywhere useful?
Charles HW: trivialist.