A few examples of 'chunked'

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on January 15, 2009 - 9:10am.
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It seems that "chunked" is in common use.

Here are a few examples culled from North Carolina newspapers in recent years of the verb "to chunk" being used instead of "to chuck" (as used by former Gov. Mike Easley and President George W. Bush):

* Food correspondent Debbie Moose, in a March 23, 2008, article about Duke mayonnaise: "And she chunked another jar of Big D into our cart."

* Charlotte Observer sports writer Ron Green Jr. writing about Padraig Harrington at the British Open on July 23, 2007: "When Harrington chunked his 229-yard third shot into the water, visions of Van de Velde danced in every head."

* Winston-Salem Journal writer Lenox Rawlings writing about football on Jan. 9, 2006: "The Carolina Panthers, striving for legendary status as the NFL's ultimate playoff road team, read that conventional scouting report and chunked it into the Hudson River yesterday."

* Durham Herald-Sun columnist Jason Hawkins discussing a fishing trip on Aug. 3, 2003: "He said, something was wrong with the cantaloupe, and he chunked his half overboard."

The word seems to be mostly used in the context of golf, but other sports writers use it a lot as well. That could be because sports writers use a more colloquial voice or possibly because more of them are Southerners.

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Re: A few examples of 'chunked'

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on January 15, 2009 - 12:38pm.

Good point. It also seems to pick up on the other meaning of "chunked" as tearing something larger (in this case, the sod) into chunks.

— RTB 

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Re: A few examples of 'chunked'

Submitted by jjsmith2 on January 15, 2009 - 12:27pm.

true, but in this situation it is completely different. Chunk in golf has a negative denotation, where as the southern colloquialism does not.

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Re: A few examples of 'chunked'

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on January 15, 2009 - 11:57am.

But it does seem to have a similar meaning of hitting something into the air.

— RTB 

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Re: A few examples of 'chunked'

Submitted by jjsmith2 on January 15, 2009 - 11:46am.

Chunk has a different meaning in relationship to golf than what you are thinking about. In golf it means you hit the ground before you hit the ball leaving a huge divot (chunk of dirt).

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Re: A few examples of 'chunked'

Submitted by domewatcher on January 15, 2009 - 10:40am.

Chunk is the Southern version of chuck. You see, the letter “c” and the letter “k” are pronounced somewhat alike down here in the South. So to make it easier on the children, we substitute “n” in cases where “c” is followed by a “k.” In economics it is known as the rule of “78’s.”

For example, “Walker, Texas Ranger” is Chunk Norris. Fried chicken is actually fried chinken. And Beckwith is really Benkwith. It is much easier to understand than that business about “eye before e except after c.”

I am no expert but I do have a Masters degree in English from North Carolina State University.

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