ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Chinook Jargon

Chinook jargon is like a secret language that some people used a long time ago in North America. It was a mix of different languages, including English, French, and some Native American languages.

Imagine you and your friend speak different languages, but you want to communicate with each other. You might try to use some words from your language and some words from your friend's language to create a new language that you both understand. This is kind of what happened with Chinook jargon.

The people who used Chinook jargon were often traders or travelers who needed to talk to people from different regions. They used this new language to make it easier to communicate with each other.

Some Chinook jargon words are still used today, especially in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada. For example, "skookum" means "strong" or "good," and "potlatch" is a big celebration where people give gifts to each other.

So, Chinook jargon is a special language that people created a long time ago to help them talk to each other, and some of the words are still used today.