SCROOCH

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SCROOCH

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:58 pm

• scrooch •

Pronunciation: skruch • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive

Meaning: (US Colloquial) To bend down, crouch, or duck (scrooch down).

Notes: Today’s Good Word is purely English, hence its family is purely English. However, it is considered colloquial, that is, conversational, and not a word you would use in a formal document or in a high-paying job interview. Be careful not to confuse this word with the similar US colloquialism, scooch, without the R, as to scooch over a little bit and give me more room on the couch. They don’t mean the same thing. If your coconversationalists are very forgiving, you may take the plunge and use the adjective from today’s word, scroochy, as a scroochy person who slouches all the time.
In Play: It is difficult to use today’s Good Word without the adverb down: “If you aren’t wearing a helmet, I would suggest you scrooch down when we go down to the cellar, where the ceiling is rather low.” You would be surprised how many situations present themselves where today’s word works well: “Boy, would I love to scrooch down over a bowl of hot buttered grits this morning!”

Word History: This Good Word has an unusual origin: it was created by a series of repeated slips of the ear. It began its life somewhere around the turn of the seventeenth century as scruze “to twist and squeeze”, a blend of the two verbs screw and squeeze. By the middle of the 18th century, it was being mispronounced as scrouge and its meaning had changed to “squeeze up against someone” or “bow down toward someone shorter.” A century later it had become today’s Good Word, retaining only the second meaning. (Before I stop scrooching over my keyboard and go to lunch, let me thank Paul Rowland of Wallasey, England, for suggesting today’s Good Word, no doubt from disbelief that we Yanks actually use it.)
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dougsmit
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and scrunch

Postby dougsmit » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:51 am

If we are to take the side trip to scooch might we not as well journey over to 'scrunch' which not only offers a meaning of make compact but allows a transitive option "scrunch the foil into a ball".

If scrouge was a relatively new form in the day, what was Dickens saying when he named his miser in the Christmas Carol? After Dickens, the word took on the miser meaning but was he refering to the posture of the bookkeeper when he selected the name?
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Re: and scrunch

Postby Slava » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:31 pm

If scrouge was a relatively new form in the day, what was Dickens saying when he named his miser in the Christmas Carol? After Dickens, the word took on the miser meaning but was he refering to the posture of the bookkeeper when he selected the name?
But wasn't the Dickens character "Scrooge"?
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Postby scw1217 » Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:42 pm

I was going to suggest, as Doug Smith did already, "scrunch". I had not heard "scrooch" before and in fact, the spell check doesn't like it!
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Postby Perry » Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:51 pm

Scrunch works for me too.
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Postby gailr » Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:04 pm

The girls here wear "scrunchies" in their hair.
"Scroochies" just doesn't sound the same...

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Postby Slava » Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:20 pm

The girls here wear "scrunchies" in their hair.
"Scroochies" just doesn't sound the same...
They aren't the same. Scrunch is to crumple up, scrooch is to bend over forward. At least that's how I understand the original Dr. GW post.
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Postby Stargzer » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:45 am

The girls here wear "scrunchies" in their hair.
...
I couldn't help remaking an old 1960s anthem:
If you're going to Colorado,
Be sure to wear some scrunchies in your hair.
In the streets of Colorado,
You're gonna meet, some mellow people there ....
The mind is going ....


[Stargzer thought he'd better edit to add a link to explain the particular old 1960s anthem for the youngsters in the group.]
Last edited by Stargzer on Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Scrooch Down and Scooch Over

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:02 pm

Here are a few more comments on scooch in the blog: http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=304
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Postby Stargzer » Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:23 pm

Are scoot and scooch related?


I found only one definition for schootch, which is the way I think I'd spell it.
scootch definition
☆ scootch

intransitive verb

Informal scooch

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
I think I've always been an informal sort.

scooch definition
☆ scooch

intransitive verb

1. to hunch or draw oneself up and move (through, down, etc.); scrunch she scooched through the window and unlocked the door; he scooched down in his chair

2. to slide as with short, jerky movements scooch over and make room for me on the bench
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Postby Slava » Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:28 pm

It does seem more like an alteration of "scoot," as in scoot over.

If I stub my toe and my foot swells up, will I have trouble putting my booch on?
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Re: SCROOCH

Postby misterdoe » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:28 pm

In Play: It is difficult to use today’s Good Word without the adverb down: “If you aren’t wearing a helmet, I would suggest you scrooch down when we go down to the cellar...”
Which means that somewhere, probably right where people are apt to use this word, someone is saying "scrooch up" to mean stand straight and/or tall, the same way I have an album from the 70s featuring a song wiith the subtitle "Raise the Window Down" (the Spinners, from the Midwest BTW) and some of my West Indian friends might recommend that, after using an appliance that uses lots of power, you should "plug it out."


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