CHAT geek (was: /nj/ vs. /J/ etc)

On Monday, August 16, 2004, at 09:06 , John Cowan wrote:

> Benct Philip Jonsson scripsit:
>
>> What's the origin of _geek_, BTW?
>
> The AHD, http://www.bartleby.com/61/0/G0070000.html , guesses that it's
> an arbitrary alteration of Platt _geck_, fool (presumably cognate
> with Scots _gowk_ 'cuckoo, fool').  But nobody knows.  When first
> recorded it meant 'circus freak'.
Could it, in fact, have been a portmanteau word, i.e. /gEK/ geck + /frik/
freak  --> /gik/ geek?

Ray
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