[Mihalic] Asidua

[Ross Clark (FOA DALSL)]

A recent post to the ASAO list mentions the Tok Pisin word:
 
"asidua" ("sex workers," in public health parlance, but "street friends" and
"sisters" in local parlance, from the Portuguese for "plenty," originally)
 
The last part does not sound right. For a start my Portuguese dictionary
gives assidua (feminine) as "assiduous, unremitting, sedulous" rather than
"plenty". Also it seems rather a bookish word to have found its way into
pidgin, and I have not heard of it turning up in pidgins elsewhere. As for
an alternative etymology, one would immediately think that "as" might play a
role here. But I'm sure others on this list will know more about this word's
meaning, currency, variant forms and possible etymology. 
 
Ross Clark
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/mihalic/attachments/20040911/a1d64f0f/attachment.html