The Oxford English Dictionary says that the intransitive verb hunker is originally Scottish; its origin, obscure. The dictionary makes comparisons to words in a variety of languages: Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, Dutch, and Old Norse. And there’s the modern German hocken, “to sit on the hams or heels, to squat.”
And to hunker was, at first (1720), to squat: “to squat, with the haunches, knees, and ankles acutely bent, so as to bring the hams near the heels, and throw the whole weight upon the fore part of the feet.” Later (1790) the word acquired a pejorative meaning: “to cower or squat in a lowly manner.”
The meaning I wanted, with down, is “originally and chiefly U.S.” and entered the dictionary as a draft addition in 1993:
to concentrate one’s resources, esp. in unfavourable circumstances; to dig in, buckle down; spec. (frequently in Military contexts) to shelter or take cover, lie low.The dictionary’s first citation for this meaning is from 1903. I like this second citation, from Chemical Week (1975): “There comes a time . . . when you should hunker down and ride out the storm.”
I hope that you, reader, are hunkered down and riding out the storm.
comments: 4
The first thing that popped in my mind -- REO Speedwagon lyrics
And I'm not missing a thing
Watching the full moon crossing the range
Riding the storm out
Those of us who grew up with out all of the social media most likely can ride the storm out easier as we know how to entertain ourselves!!
Kirsten
Books and movies and music here. My only social medium is my blog. Everything else is person-to-person: texting, FaceTime.
Speaking of music,for a little bit of fun have you seen these: the trains playing Pachelbel’s canon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD3QlR98--A&feature=youtu.be
and the version with a rubber chicken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khOfSVULtsU
The guy with the rubber chicken is actually part of Two set violin https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAzKFALPuF_EPe-AEI0WFFw
and they are serious musicians who do classical music with comedy. Their analysis of the fastest violinist in the UK is great. I love watching their music challenges.
Kirsten
That’s great. The trains are new to me. (Except Thomas at 1:01.) I’ve seen the chicken but not the mocking of the BBC showoff or the sightreading challenge — pretty hilarious, and smart.
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