Talk:smokum

Attribution

Thanks to Stephen G. Brown for providing the language used to describe the etymology. bd2412 T 15:36, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

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To smoke the peace-pipe. Any takers? SemperBlotto 07:15, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Google books turns up:

• He say tree, "Be good Indian." He say Indian, "Be good tree." We swear by Great Spirit. We smokum pipe. Johnny Appleseed And Paul Bunyan: A Play of American Folklore in Three Acts with Prologue by Henry Bailey Stevens
• "Givum dinner ; smokum pipe," was all that we could get out of Quatchett. King Noanett: A Story of Old Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay by F J Stimsom
• Historyland... sought to present a historical image of Native Americans ... different from the "Ugh! We-smokum peace-pipe” images once presented at Knott's Berry Farms. Time, Space and the Market: Retroscapes Rising, Stephen Brown, John F Sherry, eds.

In sum, it's not really an "Indian" word, but rather one stereotypically and derogatorily attributed to Indians. Keep, so defined. bd2412 T 07:44, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

The suffix -um is used to mark transitive verbs in the trade pidgins used between English-speakers and American Indians. It is used derogatorily in English and is incorrectly added to any verb, transitive or not. However, smokum is more common than most such verbs. —Stephen 11:14, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I've changed the article to so reflect. bd2412 T 15:32, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I have marked the entry as "dated" and "derogatory" Andrew massyn 21:56, 22 August 2006 (UTC)