the.com/hooch
The word derives from the Hoochinoo, an Alaska Native people, a history often erased in casual use.
means Cheap, homemade, or illegally produced liquor, especially the rough stuff distilled in secret rather than bought from a legit bottle.
from Traces back to the Hoochinoo (Hutsnuwu), a Tlingit people of Alaska, whose home-distilled liquor became famous among prospectors and soldiers during the late 1800s Alaska gold-rush era. Outsiders shortened 'Hoochinoo' to 'hooch' as slang for any crude liquor, and the word rode the wave south, picking up new life during Prohibition when homemade and bootlegged booze needed a name that didn't sound like a brand.
- origin
- from Hoochinoo, an Alaskan Tlingit clan who distilled liquor
- era
- slang exploded during Prohibition's bathtub-gin boom
- implication
- always suggests homemade, illegal, or dubious quality
- irony
- named after a people, not a flavor or recipe