I got thinking about the word "caucus." Diane Sawyer enlightened me this morning that "caucus" is a Native American word (in the old days we would have called it an "Indian" word) that means "gathering." The word reminded me of a small village near my elementary school that was also named by Native Americans: Manunka Chunk. I think that it meant something about water, being that it is on the Delaware River, which of course was also named after Native Americans. I always thought Manunka Chunk was not only funny, but really cool. I would have loved to live there, just to tell people, "I live in Manunka Chunk. No, really! I do! No, I haven't been drinking. If I were, I wouldn't be able to pronounce Manunka Chunk." Although, it just hit me that it sounds like something you might do into the toilet if you DO drink too much.
Anywho, I also realized that as much as I like "Manunka Chunk," I really dislike "caucus." My cats make that sound before they cough up a hairball. "CAU-cus, CAU-cus!"
And speaking of cat noises, another word, or rather, acronym I dislike, is that which describes our local 2 year college:
HACC.
Yeah, HACC.
Harrisburg Area Community College. Now, I want to know who's responsible for this. I mean, would it have been so hard to name it "Central PA Community College"? Or, "Harrisburg's Interior Community College"... then it would have been HICC, which, I'm tellin' ya, WAY more accurately describes our area... any courthouse that has to ask if you when applying for marriage license if you and your fiancee are related surely can be described as "hick." And yes, that did happen to Hubs and me. NO, we are NOT related.
If they ever rename HACC, I'm going to suggest "Manunka Chunk Community College." And part of the application will be spelling it correctly.
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5 comments:
Love that - HACC. That's just too funny. My college roommate lived near a town called Lackawana, which they fondly called "Lackaknowledge."
On a side note: thanks for your kind words on my blog. And while I claim no Netherlands heritage, I have a fair amount of Swedish ancestry from the side that gives me the height and fair skin. Very close and in the same area anyway.
ps. I'm always wanting to respond to your comments, but have no email through blogger. Want to send it to me? gremlinwrangler@gmail.com
You don't have to, it's just an idea.
HACC, that is real nice. when i lived in Cali there was a grocery store called "Ralphs", and the smell inside always made me want to ralph. who thinks of these things?
thanks for stopping by my blog.
:) jen
I bet Harrisburg isn't the only area with a goofy community college acronym.
San Mateo Area Comm. College = SMACC
Camino Real Area Comm. College = CRACC
Washington Area Comm. College = WACC
Santa Noches Area Comm. College = SNACC
Arlington Area Comm. College = AACC
Affiliated Florida Area Comm. Colleges = AfFlACC
Leave it to you to remember Manunkachunk (I think it was all one word). When I first read the title of your post, I thought it sounded like a flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
TC,
When I first wrote my entry, I did spell Manunka Chunk as one word. Then I googled it and it actually came up as 2 words on the NJ map. Who knew??
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