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Everyone agrees the original meaning of the word “hunker”
was to “crouch or squat.” But etymologists
are divided about its origins. Some trace it to 1720 in Scotland, theorizing it
was a nasalized borrowing of the Old Norse huka
(“crouch”) or hokra
(“crawl”). Others wish to establish
a relationship with the northern British noun “hunker,” which means “haunch.”
Webster traces it to Middle Low German hoken,
which means either “squat” or “peddle.”
In any event, “hunker” found its way into Southern U. S.
dialect around 1900, coupled with the word “down,” and meaning to “dig in for a
sustained period.” For some unexplained reason the term “hunker down” entered
widespread general usage around 1965.
The Bard of Buffalo Bayou hunkers down a lot, but that’s
because he can’t move from that position after his third glass of cheap
Chardonnay.
A
banker who hankered to hunker
Settled
down for a while in a bunker.
But
that dirty old stinker
Was
a punk and a drinker,
And
he hunkered until he got drunker.
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