hooch English · revision 2081

15 Oct 2026, 02:23 by bogdan “Redone from scratch with separate homographs”
Changes in this edit

@@ -1,27 +1,51 @@
+ English has two words spelled ''hooch'', both from North American slang: the liquor, named after an Alaskan people, and the hut, from Japanese.^(AHD 2000)^(SOED 2002)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
  ==Pronunciation==
− * IPA: /huːt͡ʃ/^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA: /huːtʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+ 
+ {{homograph|1|liquor}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1897}}
  
  ==Etymology==
− It is short for ''hoochinoo'',^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a liquor distilled by the Hoochinoo (Hutsnuwu), a Tlingit people of Alaska,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) whose name is said by the OED to mean “grizzly bear fort”.^(Etymonline) An unrelated ''hooch'' “hut” is an alteration of Japanese ''uchi'' “house, inside”.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+ The liquor is short for hoochinoo (1877), a liquor made by the Hoochinoo or Hutsnuwu,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002) a Tlingit people of Alaska,^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD 2000) whose name the OED derives from Tlingit Hutsnuwu, literally “grizzly bear fort”.^(Etymonline) Their liquor was a favourite with miners in the Klondike gold rush.^(Etymonline)
  
  ==Earliest recorded meaning==
− Alcoholic liquor, especially of low quality or illegally made (1897).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)
+ Cheap or illicit liquor, first recorded in 1897 in Hayne's ''Pioneers of the Klondyke'', of a concoction made in the Klondike because real whisky was scarce.^(GDoS)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
  
  ==Semantic evolution==
− ''Hoochinoo'' (1877) named the liquor made by the Alaskan people,^(Etymonline) and it became a favourite with miners in the Klondike gold rush of 1898, when real whisky was scarce.^(Etymonline) Shortened to ''hooch'', it came to mean any cheap or illicit liquor,^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) a sense that flourished during Prohibition.^(Wiktionary)^(MW Collegiate) The American Heritage Dictionary also records it as slang for marijuana.^(AHD) The second ''hooch'', for a thatched hut or any simple dwelling, was picked up by American servicemen in Japan and Korea (1950s).^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+ It spread as a general word for whisky or liquor, especially of poor quality or illegally made, and is chiefly North American.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) The verb ''hooch'', to drink, is recorded from 1901.^(GDoS) The American Heritage Dictionary also gives the sense “marijuana”.^(AHD)
  
  ==Timeline==
− * 1877 – ''hoochinoo'', Alaskan liquor.^(Etymonline)
− * 1897 – ''hooch'', inferior or illicit liquor.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)
− * 1950–55 – ''hooch'', a hut (separate word).^(RHWU)^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1877 – ''hoochinoo'', the Alaskan liquor.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1897 – ''hooch'', in the Klondike.^(GDoS)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1901 – verb, to drink.^(GDoS)
  
  ==Modern meaning==
  ===Noun===
− # ''(slang)'' Alcoholic liquor, especially cheap or illegally made whisky.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
− # ''(slang)'' Marijuana.^(AHD)
− # ''(slang)'' A thatched hut or simple dwelling (a separate word).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(informal)'' Alcoholic [[liquor]], especially inferior or [[bootleg]] liquor.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+ # ''(slang)'' [[marijuana|alt=Marijuana]].^(AHD)
+ 
+ {{homograph|2|hut}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1952}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ The hut is a shortening of earlier hoochie,^(MWU 2024) and probably [[bor|ja|家|tr=uchi|t=house, dwelling]],^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)^(AHD 2000)^(Wiktionary) altered perhaps under the influence of [[hut]].^(AHD 2000) Wiktionary points to the dialect form with initial h- used in the Ryukyu Islands, where many American soldiers were based.^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A dwelling or shelter, in American military slang, recorded from 1952 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged and 1960 in the Collegiate.^(MWU 2024)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ In military slang it is a hut or simple dwelling, a dugout, or any temporary shelter.^(SOED 2002)^(AHD)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1952 – a hut or shelter, in military slang.^(MWU 2024)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(military slang)'' A [[hut]], especially a thatched one, or a temporary shelter.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
  
  ==Related words==
− * [[hootch]]
  * [[moonshine]]
  * [[bootleg]]