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Hucking documentation

Posted by April on September 12, 2000

In Reply to: "Hucking" phrases revisited posted by ESC on June 26, 2000

: : Despite the excellent discussion that I'm pasting in, below, I recently heard a guy here in British Columbia (western Canada) say he was going to "huck a load of weeds into the compost pile." So in some usages, hucking seems to equate to throwing.

: : (Earlier dialogue:)
: : Picture a peddler carrying a load of goods on his back, bending and stooping over from the weight of his load---to heuker or huckster or hawk something for sale---in a stooped over position.

: : Main Entry: 1huck·ster
: : Pronunciation: 'h&k-st&r
: : Function: noun
: : Etymology: Middle English hukster, from Middle Dutch hokester, from hoeken to peddle
: : Date: 13th century
: : 1 : HAWKER, PEDDLER
: : 2 : one who produces promotional material for commercial clients especially for radio or television

: : huiken: to stoop
: : hocken: to squat
: : heuker:bend

: : Huckster
: : (Huck"ster) n. [OE. hukstere, hukster, OD. heukster, D. heuker; akin to D. huiken to stoop, bend, OD. huycken, huken, G. hocken, to squat, Icel. hka; - the peddler being named from his stooping under the load on his back. Cf. Hawk to offer for sale.]

: :
: : Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1913

: One meaning of the word "huckleberry" is to be someone's assistant or helper. I thought maybe from that noun came the verb "huck," meaning to do the grunt work on a project.

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