In Finnish we have ‘punkka’ meaning a bed, like you say, in a train, a ship, a logging cabin or some such usually arranged in tiers or temporarily made.
We also have ‘punkkeri’ for a heavily enforced underground fortification.
Lee Spann:
April 24th, 2013 at 3:09 pm
I have a friend whose nickname is Bunk. His mother reported that when his first cousins were small (before Bunk was born) they couldn’t say “Uncle” or “Unc” and they ended up calling Bunk’s Dad “Bunk.” These little guys were the only ones who ever called him “Bunk.” When my friend was born, his parents named him after his father but decided to call him “Bunk” rather than “Junior” or “little Milt.” This term of affection has remained with him throughout his life.
Jada:
September 4th, 2015 at 1:22 pm
This does not help me at all.
Mel S:
April 20th, 2020 at 6:49 pm
I wonder if the bunk, for bed, could be onomatopoeia for the sound one’s head makes upon sitting up too quickly in one. The rare times I’ve had the dubious pleasure of sleeping in one, I certainly made a resounding “bonk!” from head hitting slats, or head hitting ceiling, when startled awake in one!
Lasse Hjalmarsson:
January 19th, 2022 at 12:14 pm
Bunk in Swedish is vague as well. Interestingly, a bunkalag meant the group of people eating from the same bowl (bunke)(particularly at sea) or generally being in a “gang”.
Bunk or bunke also meant plants unusable for hay (today visible in ormbunke, fern). So kind of rubbish rather than nonsense.
These meanings are all pre 1700.
I see but a slight connection to bunker, a younger word in Swedish; both bunk(e) and bunker might have ralated to [steam] ships’ [coal] storage.
To bunkra is to get supplies (onboard), but that’s only from the 1900s.
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Topi Linkala:
July 3rd, 2011 at 3:17 pm
In Finnish we have ‘punkka’ meaning a bed, like you say, in a train, a ship, a logging cabin or some such usually arranged in tiers or temporarily made.
We also have ‘punkkeri’ for a heavily enforced underground fortification.
Lee Spann:
April 24th, 2013 at 3:09 pm
I have a friend whose nickname is Bunk. His mother reported that when his first cousins were small (before Bunk was born) they couldn’t say “Uncle” or “Unc” and they ended up calling Bunk’s Dad “Bunk.” These little guys were the only ones who ever called him “Bunk.” When my friend was born, his parents named him after his father but decided to call him “Bunk” rather than “Junior” or “little Milt.” This term of affection has remained with him throughout his life.
Jada:
September 4th, 2015 at 1:22 pm
This does not help me at all.
Mel S:
April 20th, 2020 at 6:49 pm
I wonder if the bunk, for bed, could be onomatopoeia for the sound one’s head makes upon sitting up too quickly in one. The rare times I’ve had the dubious pleasure of sleeping in one, I certainly made a resounding “bonk!” from head hitting slats, or head hitting ceiling, when startled awake in one!
Lasse Hjalmarsson:
January 19th, 2022 at 12:14 pm
Bunk in Swedish is vague as well. Interestingly, a bunkalag meant the group of people eating from the same bowl (bunke)(particularly at sea) or generally being in a “gang”.
Bunk or bunke also meant plants unusable for hay (today visible in ormbunke, fern). So kind of rubbish rather than nonsense.
These meanings are all pre 1700.
I see but a slight connection to bunker, a younger word in Swedish; both bunk(e) and bunker might have ralated to [steam] ships’ [coal] storage.
To bunkra is to get supplies (onboard), but that’s only from the 1900s.