When & Where:
I was watching a DVR'd Parenthood, a show that I just love. Zeek (Craig T. Nelson's character) was talking to his son, Crosby, about parenting girls. He remarked that if a boy has a problem you take him to a ballgame, buy him a hotdog and everything is copacetic. He went on to talk about how girls will spend most of their time hating and ignoring their fathers.
Level of Familiarity:
I have heard and possibly used this word before in conversation. However, I'm not sure I've ever seen it in print since I initially spelled it incorrectly (I was surprised to see it spelled with a "c" in the middle instead of an "s"). When Zeek used the term, however, I thought about what a funny word it is and how it sounds like something used to treat a medical condition. This prompted me to include it here so that I could find out more about it.
What it Means: Merriam-Webster defined copacetic as "very satisfactory."
Reflective Commentary: I don't mean to be overly critical, but "very satisfactory?" Satisfactory to me implies that something is moderately good, maybe slightly beyond "mediocre." I find it interesting that Merriam-Webster would use this phrase, as if to say that copacetic means very moderately good. I was sorry to see that, at least on this website, the origin is unknown. It sounds so unlike most words in conversational English to me.
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