We came across a word the other day, which neither of us two have heard before.
It’s “copacetic” and means “something is in excellent order”. Apparently, it’s an obscure American word! Have you come across it before?
It was used to describe the mood of my cow, Malcolm, who I’ve adopted online and after I fed him some broccoli....
I have to admit it was a new one on me too. However Wikipedia says copacetic is used "almost exclusively in North America", so maybe it is not so surprising I haven't come across it before. I wonder where Malcolm the cow lives?
Copacetic, which rhymes with 'oh, pathetic' and has a number of variant spellings, is an interesting word because its origin is highly debated. Theories variously suggest it comes from Creole French, Hebrew, or African American slang. It may even be a corruption of 'the cop is on the settee' (my personal favourite).
There's too much to write about copacetic here, but if you want to find out more then good starting places would be the Wikipedia entry on copacetic, or Michael Quinion's World Wide Words.
I would also be interested to hear from other people, American or not, about their familiarity with this word. Ta.
How now, copacetic cow?
