>From Ben Zimmer is executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus and editor of the online magazine.: The way that *nunchaku* got reshaped as *nunchuck*/*numchuck* is reminiscent of the "Hobson-Jobsonisms" that I discussed in this space last month<http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1874/>. *Hobson-Jobson*, you may recall, was the title of an Anglo-Indian dictionary that has come to refer to the process of adapting foreign words into the sound system of another language. So, for instance, the Malay word *amok*"run around violently" got Anglicized as *amuck <http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?word=amuck>*, perhaps under the influence of the English verb *muck (up)<http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?word=muck up> *, "make a mess of, destroy or ruin." And if you run amuck with a nunchuck, well, you're pressing your luck.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1918/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Also at the aboove url, came across a reference to Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographic and Disursive, by Henry Yule and A. C. Burnell.New Edition Edited by William Crooke. Btw, those who have never seen Hobson-Jobson should look it up sometime. Interesting words abound -- like Hoogly (Hugli, from the Bengali word "hogla" for tall grass (Typha angustifolia), Hooghley, Hoogly; Chatanati, Chuttanutty, now Calcutta; or for that matter the same word -- Shahbunder, Xabandar, Sabaio, Sabandar, Sabindar, Sha-bunder, Shawbunder, Shabander, Sjahbander, Shawbandaar, Shebander, Shahbendar, meaning Harbour-Master; The story Behind "Hobson-Jobson" at: http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1874/ (excerpt) *amok* (run around violently) > *a-muck*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:49.hobson> *bangsal* (shed, warehouse) > *bankshall*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:140.hobson> *gadis* (young woman) > *goddess*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:29.hobson> *gudang* (warehouse) > *godown*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:30.hobson> *jung *(Chinese ship) > *junk*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:280.hobson> *kampung* (quarter, residential area) > *compound*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:603.hobson> *kris* (Javanese dagger) > *crease*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:678.hobson> *padi* (rice plant) > *paddy*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:727.hobson> *perahu* (boat) > *prow*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:884.hobson> *rotan* (rattan) > *rattan*<http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:940.hobson> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ venantius j pinto
