saltchuck means any body of saltwater, especially the ocean. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 91 out of 100.
Why “saltchuck” is a great word
Any body of saltwater, especially the ocean. Borrowed from Chinook Jargon saltchuck, literally 'saltwater', from English salt and Nootka č̕aʔak ('water'). Unlike 'ocean', which evokes a vast, planetary expanse, or 'sound', which names a specific, charted inlet, saltchuck is the general, workmanlike word for the briny medium itself. It is the cold, grey swell lifting a cedar dinghy, the iodine scent of exposed kelp, and the chuckling slap against a weathered piling—the encompassing, working reality of the wet edge of a continent.
Etymology
Borrowed from Chinook Jargon saltchuck (“the sea”, literally “saltwater”), from salt (“salt”) (from English salt) + chuck (“water”) from Nootka č̕aʔak (“water”).
noun
- Any body of saltwater, especially the ocean.“The ultimate consensus was to keep the de-Whited river Green to its Tukwila junction with the Black, the outlet of Lake Washington, then make it Duwamish the rest of the way to the saltchuck.”