Re: Word of the day: “Papoose”

On 2024-08-31 12:54, Aidan Kehoe wrote:

 I came across this word for the first time today, in the second meaning from
Wikipedia, describing basically something to swaddle a toddler to keep it still
for a procedure in Emergency Medicine:
 “Papoose (from the Narragansett papoos, meaning "child")[1] is an American
English word whose present meaning is "a Native American child" (regardless of
tribe) or, even more generally, any child, usually used as a term of
endearment, often in the context of the child's mother.[2] In 1643, Roger
Williams recorded the word in his A Key into the Language of America, helping
to popularize it.[3]
[...]
Cradle boards and other child carriers used by Native Americans are known by
various names. In Algonquin history, the term papoose is sometimes used to
refer to a child carrier.”
 Given I am 43 and fairly well-read I can assert that it has basically no
currency outside the US. Does it have much currency within the US?

I was somewhat befuddled when I first heard someone call the child a 'papoose', as I had always  heard it in reference to a child carrier.
--
Save time: See it my way.