The staff are finally packed for our Northwest Odyssey, and the car for the airport comes ridiculously early, so this note and attendant tide-you-over question will be brief. Look for a special appearance by multiple Quiz-champeen BoxJam on Friday the 27th in the Guest Quizmaster seat, as he offers a question of infinitely higher quality than the tripe we usually peddle around here.
Until then (or until one of you damnably well-informed types browses over this way and dispatches with the tattered cloak of mystery I had hoped to flourish), you may nibble on the following semi-quiz question:
In the 1950s, American servicemen stationed in Asia brought back to the U.S. a word picked up from colleagues in another nations armed service, used by them to mean "squadron leader." Misleadingly, it rhymes with loanwords from another, unrelated language.
What's the word?
I'll try to check in from the Pacific Time Zone on Friday to see if anyone knows this one. In the meantime, no Googling and stay out of the sun. First correct answer posted to comments wins a Haystack Rock paperweight and a handful of saltwater taffy. As always, one guess per comment, please.
Posted by BT at August 19, 2004 01:23 AMsahib
Posted by: teenidol on August 19, 2004 11:59 AMor the leet version:
sah1b
Posted by: teenidol on August 19, 2004 11:59 AMKahuna?
Posted by: terry on August 19, 2004 01:39 PMSahib's gotta be it, Kemosabe.
Posted by: Jonathan on August 20, 2004 01:06 AMGive it up for 'gung ho'
Posted by: Scott on August 20, 2004 08:27 AMHoncho it is, apparently adopted from Japanese fighter pilot squads. I thought that one might be a meatball for one of you, but I just love saying "honcho." Don Rauf of Life in a Blender pointed out "honcho"s origin to me, as well as remarking that its current most frequent use is among the kind of people who are likely to say, "Gentlemen..." as a valediction as they leave the cube farm for the evening, and who also frequently employ the phrase "Have a good one."
Portland and its environs are, incidentally, stunningly beautiful in the serene late-summer sunshine. Sadly, as we hit the beach next week, the forecast calls for nothing but rain and temperatures that aren't likely to break seventy degrees. But it should be a more relaxed, if sodden, wombat that returns to you next week.
Posted by: BT in Portland on August 20, 2004 04:05 PM