3 ms·

TIL “honcho” is not a Native American term as I’d always assumed, but Japanese? https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honcho https://www.merriam-webster.c

• xanderlewis 3y ago
  Yes! I was amazed several years ago after I had learnt the word 班長 (hanchō)… and a while later realised it sounded a bit like the phrase ‘head honcho’…and then realised that that’s actually where it came from. There are lot of words ending in 長 (chō) in Japanese that refer to people in positions of leadership: shachō (company director), kōchō (headmaster), kichō (captain, of an aircraft). Another somewhat surprising example of unexpected Japanese etymology: ‘rickshaw’ comes from the Japanese 人力車 (jin-rikisha, literally “person-powered-car”). I would’ve probably expected it to have come from an Indian language, or something.
  • matvore 3y ago
    Some say hunky dory comes from "honcho doori" or 本町通り (personally I don't see how ki can come from cho)
    • xanderlewis 3y ago
      Would be fun if true! Seems to somewhat match semantically as well.