"GUMPTION"; "PAWKY"; "SMIDGEN"; "Fluke"; "Flummox"

       Now it could be that three of these words have taken what I call the "low" road back to Scotland.  I begin to wonder if the English who make the OED don't inherit a little of their great predecessor Samuel Johnson's attitude towards the "outside."   Johnson's definition of "oats"?  "A grain which is generally given to horses but in Scotland supports the people."

       When the OED writers came to a word they couldn't find the root of, did they tend to dismiss it to Scotland:  "gumption"; or to Scotland and "northern":  "pawky"; or even beyond, to Scotland and North America:  "smitch"; or worst and consigned to total oblivion:  "smidge"--"originating and chiefly North America"?

       Just kidding, OED, where would we be without you?

       (Concluded tomorrow)