« for heaven's sake, what is a chookooloonks? »
My chookooloonks. Photographed with Nikon D300, 50mm manual lens.
When people first learn of my site, invariably two questions arise. The first is always, "What in God's name is a 'chookooloonks'?" The second, usually asked before the first one can actually be properly articulated (or responded to), is "How the hell do you say it?" In previous incarnations of this site, I've always included the definition of chookooloonks, because it was much more applicable to what I was writing at the time; however, it's been brought to my attention that I've been remiss in including the explanation in this version. I figure now's as good a time as any to rectify the situation.
When I started this blog five years ago, Marcus and I were waiting for Alex to be born, and I was writing about our experiences; both our emotions as Expectant Parents, and later, our adventures in becoming More Experienced Parents. My main motivation was due to the fact that our families live all over the world, and I thought a blog would be a great way to keep them involved in our lives.
As I was trying to come up with a name for the site, I knew I wanted it to be memorable, somewhat vaguely related to the fact that a child was about to join us, and preferably Trinidadian, since I am, after all, Trini. Then it hit me: the perfect word, the one from my childhood, the one that just felt right, was chookooloonks.
If chookooloonks were in the dictionary, it would look something like this:
choo•koo•loonks (n) A Trinidadian term of endearment, used especially when addressing a child.
In other words, chookooloonks is like "darling." Or "sweetheart." There are variations on this word: you might choose to call your son "choonks." Or "choonksie." Or, as my dad calls Alex, "choonksie-woonksie." It's just a fun little word that we Trinis (and for some reason, it's primarily Trinis) like to use for our kids. Over the years, I've received e-mails from people who have found this site, and say things like, "Hi! I'm a fellow Trini/my dad is a Trini/my mom is a Trini/my wife is a Trinidadian and I found your blog on Google. When I saw the name, I just had to come over and see where you were from. Only a Trini would use that word!"
Nowadays, of course, I photograph and write about much more than just Alex; however, the name has stuck, and sort of become a brand in its own right. And so, my blog and my business remain "Chookooloonks."
And to pronounce it? Just like it looks: CHOO-koo-loonks.
So there you go. And of course, going forward, feel free to use chookooloonks in your everyday lives.
Song: Speaking of "everyday," check out this video by Dave Matthews Band. Guaranteed to make you smile.
Tue, March 24, 2009
Reader Comments (28)
I kinda had it from the context clues that Alex was Chookooloonks. I was never quite sure if it was Choo - Kool - onks or not. That's how I've been saying it ever since last fall.
not too far from me calling my son ChunkyMonkey! or ButterSnot or any of the various nonsensical names that come out of my mouth. I love Chookooloonks! Now that I know what it means I might have to throw that one out there for good measure a time or two.
i love your blog. such an endearing blog title.
What a beautiful photo! I always loved the name and now I like it even more.
My family is Sri Lankan and we call our little one CHOO.KOO.BOO. hehe
Same meaning as what u described.
facinating!
Karen...I didn't know you could read minds! I was seriously just thinking about asking you this very question. Love it!
Oh...and the video is awesome (you can't help but smile)!
Too cute! Karen, I love your photography...not much of a commenter - sorry - but I do love to see your beautiful images. (smile)
I knew the meaning of Chookooloonks because my brother's wife is Trini. Living in the Caribbean, you invariable learn many words from other islands. It's perfect.
even though i already knew what it meant, it is still fun to hear you talk about it.