lawnya vawnya
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
lawnya vawnya* n also lawnya. Cp JOYCE 283 launa-vaula; DINNEEN lán: l[án] an mhála 'the full of the bag.' A good time at a dance or party; plenty to eat.1968 DILLON 147 We had lawnya vawnya last night. P 245-79 Lawnya—having a grand old time.
May all the mothers get one!
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Word of the Week, May 3-9: tangler
tangler
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
tangler n Cp OED ~ (c1520); EDD 7 'thriftless, slatternly person.' A clumsy, disorganized person (P 148-62).
P 108-74 He's a proper tangler. Why, he'd tangle up the Lord himself! C 75-15 ~ A person who, no matter what he went at, he fooled it up. He couldn't do anything right.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
tangler n Cp OED ~ (c1520); EDD 7 'thriftless, slatternly person.' A clumsy, disorganized person (P 148-62).
P 108-74 He's a proper tangler. Why, he'd tangle up the Lord himself! C 75-15 ~ A person who, no matter what he went at, he fooled it up. He couldn't do anything right.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Word of the Week: April 26 - April 30: cambriola
cambriola
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
cambriola n also cambrioll. Short-lived name in the seventeenth century for the southern part of the Avalon Peninsula.
[1620] 1626 [VAUGHAN] The Golden Fleece [map facing sig. a 1] Cambriola. 1626 ibid [a 1] Cambrioll Colchos, out of the Southermost Part of the Iland, commonly called the Newfoundland.
1842 BONNYCASTLE i, 74 [Vaughan's] settlement was called Cambriol, and was on that part of the south coast, now named Little Britain, and was expressly planned on such a scale as to make agricultural pursuits and the fishery mutually depend upon each other.
1971 SEARY 61 Names first recorded by Mason [include] Cambriola—Little Wales or Little Britain, as that part of the south coast of the Peninsula was known ... as late as 1842.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
Each Sunday morning Rattling Books joins Angela Antle on the CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine to release and chat about the word of the week.
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
cambriola n also cambrioll. Short-lived name in the seventeenth century for the southern part of the Avalon Peninsula.
[1620] 1626 [VAUGHAN] The Golden Fleece [map facing sig. a 1] Cambriola. 1626 ibid [a 1] Cambrioll Colchos, out of the Southermost Part of the Iland, commonly called the Newfoundland.
1842 BONNYCASTLE i, 74 [Vaughan's] settlement was called Cambriol, and was on that part of the south coast, now named Little Britain, and was expressly planned on such a scale as to make agricultural pursuits and the fishery mutually depend upon each other.
1971 SEARY 61 Names first recorded by Mason [include] Cambriola—Little Wales or Little Britain, as that part of the south coast of the Peninsula was known ... as late as 1842.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
Each Sunday morning Rattling Books joins Angela Antle on the CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine to release and chat about the word of the week.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Word of the Week (April 19-25): gaff
Word of the Week: April 19 - April 25
gaff
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
gaff n also gaft. Cp OED ~ sb1 1 b (1656-), DAE 2 (1832-), EDD sb1 2 for sense 1; DC Nfld (1883-) for sense 2; OED sb1 5 ~ hook (1844-) for comb in sense 3.
1 A type of boat-hook with a (usu short) wooden handle, used for various fisheries purposes; HAND-GAFF.
1745 OSBORNE 822 [They] drew [porpoises] aboard, with the help of the other sailors, which, with iron hooks, which they call Gaffes, tied at the end of a long pole, pulled them up.
1819 ANSPACH 429 If [the cod] is of large size, it is seized, as soon as raised to the surface of the water, with a gaff or large hook fixed to the end of a pole.
1832 MCGREGOR i, 227 The cod ... is lifted into the boat ... by a strong iron hook fixed on the end of a short pole, called a gaft.
1911 LINDSAY 50 Each man carried a spruce pole, on the end of which was a sort of boat hook called a 'gaff.'
1967 Bk of Nfld iv, 246 And then there was a gaff; that is a stick with a hook in one end of it. It is used to pull fish in over the boat with. C 67-14 When a man who is a member of the Society of United Fishermen is buried, a gaff is broken in two pieces and placed in the grave. The gaff is used (as well as to pick up fish) also for guiding a boat into the wharf or reaching things almost out of reach. M 68-7 Gaft. Used on board a punt to pick up the buoys or the salmon nets. There are gafts of all sizes; some handles are short while others are long. There is a hook fastened to the end of the stick with some service around it.
1971 NOSEWORTHY 203 ~ A stick placed in the side of a dory and used to guide the hauling of trawls.
2 A stout pole, 5-8 feet (1.5-2.4 m) long with an iron hook and spike fastened to one end, used to assist a sealer on the ice and to kill seals; BAT n.
1842 JUKES i, 260 Every man prepared his'gaff,' by firmly fastening a spiked hook like a boat-hook, with strong line, to the head of a stout pole, about six or eight feet long.
1873 Maritime Mo i, 254 He carries ... a stick six or eight feet long, which is called a 'gaff,' and serves as a bat or club to strike the seal on the nose, where it is vulnerable, and also as an ice-pole in leaping from 'pan' to 'pan,' as well as for dragging the skin and fat of the seal over the fields and hummocks of ice, to the side of the vessel. To answer these purposes, the gaff is armed with an iron hook at one end and bound with iron.
[1884] 1897 Nfld Law Reports 35 For the purpose of preventing competition and anticipating the arrival and active participation of others in the fruits of the ice-fields, kill as they go with a blow of a gaff, taking no heed to collect and pan and mark their spoil...
[c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 25 ~ small stick used by the seal hunter for killing or stunning the seals, usually Dogwood or spruce.
1906 DUNCAN 134 Billy's father led me down to the landing-stage, put a gaff in my hand, and warned me to be careful—warned me particularly not to take a step without sounding the ice ahead with my gaff.
1916 MURPHY 28 The men had to use a sealing gaff to beat off the dog.
1924 ENGLAND 54 An' de odders'll haul ye out wid dey gaves [gaffs]—if ye don't get too far away from de gang.
1927 DOYLE (ed) 39 "Hunting Seals": With bat and gaff and 'panning staff' / Surmounted with a flag, sir; / Away we go on the great iceflow, / And we never care to lag, sir. T 43-64 If the ice was in, you'd walk off from the land, an' you'd have your gaff with you and your sealing rope, and probably you get the chance to kill one, two, or three or four.
1979 Salt Water, Fresh Water 53 We'd have a gaff you know, with a hook into her. The gaff was long enough to take you from one pan [of ice] to another, about seven or eight feet in length.
3 In designations of various parts and uses of 'gaffs' in senses 1, 2 above: ~ head, ~ hook, -point, ~ stem, ~ stick, ~ work.
1892 Christmas Review 11 Fires were blazing in the forges; sharp and clear rang out the sound of anvils, re-echoing to the stroke of the sturdy smith as he fashioned the iron 'gaff-heads' for the impatient sealing captains.
[1771] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 141 I caught one [salmon] with a gaff-hook.
1924 ENGLAND 304 At the critical moment the gaff hook tore through the seal's fat and hide, and away his sealship surged with a mighty splash, leaving the man empty handed and agape. Ibid 87 An' you, there, don't putt y'r gaff p'int down! Remember, arr hole in a skin, aft o' the fippers, is ten cents out o' y'r pocket.
1905 CHAFE 6 The procuring of timber from the woods, building vessels, repairing those already in use, building punts, procuring firewood, gaffstems, bats, pokers, oars and other material left nobody with an excuse for being idle.
1924 ENGLAND 44 Some fell to work seizing cruel points on gaff sticks with a kind of tarred cord known as 'spun yarn.' Ibid 239 The season is over when many of the young can be taken. They have gone, either into the fleet's reeking holds or into the Atlantic. Gaff-work recedes; Winchesters come to the fore.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.http://rattlingbooks.com
Each Sunday morning Rattling Books joins Angela Antle on the CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine to release and chat about the word of the week.
gaff
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
gaff n also gaft. Cp OED ~ sb1 1 b (1656-), DAE 2 (1832-), EDD sb1 2 for sense 1; DC Nfld (1883-) for sense 2; OED sb1 5 ~ hook (1844-) for comb in sense 3.
1 A type of boat-hook with a (usu short) wooden handle, used for various fisheries purposes; HAND-GAFF.
1745 OSBORNE 822 [They] drew [porpoises] aboard, with the help of the other sailors, which, with iron hooks, which they call Gaffes, tied at the end of a long pole, pulled them up.
1819 ANSPACH 429 If [the cod] is of large size, it is seized, as soon as raised to the surface of the water, with a gaff or large hook fixed to the end of a pole.
1832 MCGREGOR i, 227 The cod ... is lifted into the boat ... by a strong iron hook fixed on the end of a short pole, called a gaft.
1911 LINDSAY 50 Each man carried a spruce pole, on the end of which was a sort of boat hook called a 'gaff.'
1967 Bk of Nfld iv, 246 And then there was a gaff; that is a stick with a hook in one end of it. It is used to pull fish in over the boat with. C 67-14 When a man who is a member of the Society of United Fishermen is buried, a gaff is broken in two pieces and placed in the grave. The gaff is used (as well as to pick up fish) also for guiding a boat into the wharf or reaching things almost out of reach. M 68-7 Gaft. Used on board a punt to pick up the buoys or the salmon nets. There are gafts of all sizes; some handles are short while others are long. There is a hook fastened to the end of the stick with some service around it.
1971 NOSEWORTHY 203 ~ A stick placed in the side of a dory and used to guide the hauling of trawls.
2 A stout pole, 5-8 feet (1.5-2.4 m) long with an iron hook and spike fastened to one end, used to assist a sealer on the ice and to kill seals; BAT n.
1842 JUKES i, 260 Every man prepared his'gaff,' by firmly fastening a spiked hook like a boat-hook, with strong line, to the head of a stout pole, about six or eight feet long.
1873 Maritime Mo i, 254 He carries ... a stick six or eight feet long, which is called a 'gaff,' and serves as a bat or club to strike the seal on the nose, where it is vulnerable, and also as an ice-pole in leaping from 'pan' to 'pan,' as well as for dragging the skin and fat of the seal over the fields and hummocks of ice, to the side of the vessel. To answer these purposes, the gaff is armed with an iron hook at one end and bound with iron.
[1884] 1897 Nfld Law Reports 35 For the purpose of preventing competition and anticipating the arrival and active participation of others in the fruits of the ice-fields, kill as they go with a blow of a gaff, taking no heed to collect and pan and mark their spoil...
[c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 25 ~ small stick used by the seal hunter for killing or stunning the seals, usually Dogwood or spruce.
1906 DUNCAN 134 Billy's father led me down to the landing-stage, put a gaff in my hand, and warned me to be careful—warned me particularly not to take a step without sounding the ice ahead with my gaff.
1916 MURPHY 28 The men had to use a sealing gaff to beat off the dog.
1924 ENGLAND 54 An' de odders'll haul ye out wid dey gaves [gaffs]—if ye don't get too far away from de gang.
1927 DOYLE (ed) 39 "Hunting Seals": With bat and gaff and 'panning staff' / Surmounted with a flag, sir; / Away we go on the great iceflow, / And we never care to lag, sir. T 43-64 If the ice was in, you'd walk off from the land, an' you'd have your gaff with you and your sealing rope, and probably you get the chance to kill one, two, or three or four.
1979 Salt Water, Fresh Water 53 We'd have a gaff you know, with a hook into her. The gaff was long enough to take you from one pan [of ice] to another, about seven or eight feet in length.
3 In designations of various parts and uses of 'gaffs' in senses 1, 2 above: ~ head, ~ hook, -point, ~ stem, ~ stick, ~ work.
1892 Christmas Review 11 Fires were blazing in the forges; sharp and clear rang out the sound of anvils, re-echoing to the stroke of the sturdy smith as he fashioned the iron 'gaff-heads' for the impatient sealing captains.
[1771] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 141 I caught one [salmon] with a gaff-hook.
1924 ENGLAND 304 At the critical moment the gaff hook tore through the seal's fat and hide, and away his sealship surged with a mighty splash, leaving the man empty handed and agape. Ibid 87 An' you, there, don't putt y'r gaff p'int down! Remember, arr hole in a skin, aft o' the fippers, is ten cents out o' y'r pocket.
1905 CHAFE 6 The procuring of timber from the woods, building vessels, repairing those already in use, building punts, procuring firewood, gaffstems, bats, pokers, oars and other material left nobody with an excuse for being idle.
1924 ENGLAND 44 Some fell to work seizing cruel points on gaff sticks with a kind of tarred cord known as 'spun yarn.' Ibid 239 The season is over when many of the young can be taken. They have gone, either into the fleet's reeking holds or into the Atlantic. Gaff-work recedes; Winchesters come to the fore.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.http://rattlingbooks.com
Each Sunday morning Rattling Books joins Angela Antle on the CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine to release and chat about the word of the week.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Word of the Week: April 12 - April 18: daddle
Word of the Week: April 12 - April 18
daddle
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
daddle n also dattle*. Cp OED ~ sb dial 'the hand' (1785-). The hind flipper or paw of a seal; SCUTTER (1955 ENGLISH 33).
1929 Nat Geog July, p. 125 [He] then cuts off the hinder daddles (back flippers). T 104-64 We would play with the dattles or scutters [as] we used to call [them].
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
http://rattlingbooks.com
Each Sunday morning Rattling Books joins Angela Antle on the CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine to release and chat about the word of the week.
daddle
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
daddle n also dattle*. Cp OED ~ sb dial 'the hand' (1785-). The hind flipper or paw of a seal; SCUTTER (1955 ENGLISH 33).
1929 Nat Geog July, p. 125 [He] then cuts off the hinder daddles (back flippers). T 104-64 We would play with the dattles or scutters [as] we used to call [them].
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
http://rattlingbooks.com
Each Sunday morning Rattling Books joins Angela Antle on the CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine to release and chat about the word of the week.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Word of the Week: April 5 - April 11 : Silver Thaw (aka glitter)
silver thaw
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
silver thaw n OED silver sb 21 ~ thaw (Nfld: 1860-); DC Atlantic Prov, B C 1, 2 (Nfld: 1770-; 1842-); SMYTH 626 'term for ice falling in large flakes from the sails and rigging, consequent on a frost followed suddenly by a thaw.' See also GLITTER, SILVER FROST.
1 A condition of the weather in which freezing rain deposits a coating of ice on exposed objects; the gradual deposit of ice on countryside, trees, etc, during a freezing rain.
[1770] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 73 There was a silver thaw in the morning, and it rained freely; very mild weather all the rest of the day. 1792 ibid Gloss i, xv ~ When it rains and freezes at the same time.
[1822] 1928 CORMACK 83 While in this situation a silver thaw sometimes comes on, and the incrustation of the surface becomes too thick.
1893 Trade Review Christmas No 13 There is a tradition that our ancestors, who flocked to this country in such numbers in the beginning of the century, were induced to emigrate by the prospect of becoming immensely rich in a short time, by simply gathering money after a 'silver thaw.' It is very probable that this witticism originated in the humorous imagination of some droll Irishman when describing the country to his newly-arrived and uninitiated fellow-countrymen.
1897 J A Folklore x, 206 Glitter [is] used on the west coast to denote that peculiar phenomenon known generally through the northern part of America as 'a silver thaw'; that is, when fine rain failing meets near the earth a colder stratum of air and becomes congealed, forming a covering of ice upon every object.
1949 Evening Telegram 26 Feb, p. 3 Last night's silver thaw created slippery conditions and havoc in the pedestrian ranks this morning as early walkers skidded, slithered and went up-ended on their way to work. T 368/9-67 An' we had the silver thaw for a week from the first day we arrived.
2 The coating of ice deposited on exposed objects by freezing rain; in some contexts overlapping with sense 1.
1836 [WIX]1 20 The country at this time presented an appearance quite different from that produced by the vegetation when affected by a moistness of the atmosphere which is afterwards operated upon by sudden frosts, and is improperly denominated here, a silver thaw.
1840 GOSSE 21 In Newfoundland it is by no means rare, where it is known by the name of 'silver thaw.' It is caused by rain descending when the stratum of air nearest the earth is below the temperature of 32, and consequently freezing the instant it touches any object; the ice accumulates with every drop, until a thick transparent coating is formed.
1842 BONNYCASTLE i, 338 Another phenomenon, seldom seen in Canada, is the silver thaw, as it is called in Newfoundland. Rain in heavy torrents in February, accompanied by a low state of the thermometer near the earth, causes a regular deposition of ice round all the branches and twigs of the plants and trees.
1846 TOCQUE 101 'Silver thaw'. . is produced by a shower of rain falling during a frost, and freezing the instant it comes in contact with any object.
[1894 BURKE] 21 'Don't be picking up the scattered ones [shillings found among the silver thaw],' cried one of them [hard cases]; 'wait till you get on Water Street, in the thick of them.'
1903 HOWLEY 55 ~ This is the name given by Newfoundlanders to that brilliant ice-garment with which the trees, houses, bushes, etc., are clothed when the Spring showers are frozen in the act of falling.
1919 GRENFELL1 201 Wind and t' weight of t' silver thaw.
1939 DULEY 30 It had rained in the night, frozen lightly in the morning, leaving a magical silver thaw. Enchanted, dazzling, glittering, the village stood covered in a cellophane coating of ice. C 68-16 [He] used to tell me the following story. When the first Irish immigrants came to Newfoundland they came expecting to find silver growing on trees... When they came however the silver on the trees was nothing more than silver thaw, an ice coating which covers the trees when the temperature suddenly falls on a country-side which is covered with a dense fog.
1970 Evening Telegram 11 May, p. 3 A mild winter it was here on the east coast with next to no snow but a lot of glitter and silver thaw around March.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week where we post the word to the group's members each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland and first released each Sunday morning on the CBC Radio program the Weekend Arts Magazine with Angela Antle.
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
silver thaw n OED silver sb 21 ~ thaw (Nfld: 1860-); DC Atlantic Prov, B C 1, 2 (Nfld: 1770-; 1842-); SMYTH 626 'term for ice falling in large flakes from the sails and rigging, consequent on a frost followed suddenly by a thaw.' See also GLITTER, SILVER FROST.
1 A condition of the weather in which freezing rain deposits a coating of ice on exposed objects; the gradual deposit of ice on countryside, trees, etc, during a freezing rain.
[1770] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 73 There was a silver thaw in the morning, and it rained freely; very mild weather all the rest of the day. 1792 ibid Gloss i, xv ~ When it rains and freezes at the same time.
[1822] 1928 CORMACK 83 While in this situation a silver thaw sometimes comes on, and the incrustation of the surface becomes too thick.
1893 Trade Review Christmas No 13 There is a tradition that our ancestors, who flocked to this country in such numbers in the beginning of the century, were induced to emigrate by the prospect of becoming immensely rich in a short time, by simply gathering money after a 'silver thaw.' It is very probable that this witticism originated in the humorous imagination of some droll Irishman when describing the country to his newly-arrived and uninitiated fellow-countrymen.
1897 J A Folklore x, 206 Glitter [is] used on the west coast to denote that peculiar phenomenon known generally through the northern part of America as 'a silver thaw'; that is, when fine rain failing meets near the earth a colder stratum of air and becomes congealed, forming a covering of ice upon every object.
1949 Evening Telegram 26 Feb, p. 3 Last night's silver thaw created slippery conditions and havoc in the pedestrian ranks this morning as early walkers skidded, slithered and went up-ended on their way to work. T 368/9-67 An' we had the silver thaw for a week from the first day we arrived.
2 The coating of ice deposited on exposed objects by freezing rain; in some contexts overlapping with sense 1.
1836 [WIX]1 20 The country at this time presented an appearance quite different from that produced by the vegetation when affected by a moistness of the atmosphere which is afterwards operated upon by sudden frosts, and is improperly denominated here, a silver thaw.
1840 GOSSE 21 In Newfoundland it is by no means rare, where it is known by the name of 'silver thaw.' It is caused by rain descending when the stratum of air nearest the earth is below the temperature of 32, and consequently freezing the instant it touches any object; the ice accumulates with every drop, until a thick transparent coating is formed.
1842 BONNYCASTLE i, 338 Another phenomenon, seldom seen in Canada, is the silver thaw, as it is called in Newfoundland. Rain in heavy torrents in February, accompanied by a low state of the thermometer near the earth, causes a regular deposition of ice round all the branches and twigs of the plants and trees.
1846 TOCQUE 101 'Silver thaw'. . is produced by a shower of rain falling during a frost, and freezing the instant it comes in contact with any object.
[1894 BURKE] 21 'Don't be picking up the scattered ones [shillings found among the silver thaw],' cried one of them [hard cases]; 'wait till you get on Water Street, in the thick of them.'
1903 HOWLEY 55 ~ This is the name given by Newfoundlanders to that brilliant ice-garment with which the trees, houses, bushes, etc., are clothed when the Spring showers are frozen in the act of falling.
1919 GRENFELL1 201 Wind and t' weight of t' silver thaw.
1939 DULEY 30 It had rained in the night, frozen lightly in the morning, leaving a magical silver thaw. Enchanted, dazzling, glittering, the village stood covered in a cellophane coating of ice. C 68-16 [He] used to tell me the following story. When the first Irish immigrants came to Newfoundland they came expecting to find silver growing on trees... When they came however the silver on the trees was nothing more than silver thaw, an ice coating which covers the trees when the temperature suddenly falls on a country-side which is covered with a dense fog.
1970 Evening Telegram 11 May, p. 3 A mild winter it was here on the east coast with next to no snow but a lot of glitter and silver thaw around March.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week where we post the word to the group's members each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland and first released each Sunday morning on the CBC Radio program the Weekend Arts Magazine with Angela Antle.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Word of the Week (March 28 - April 5): plim
plim v Cp EDD ~ v2 'to swell out' esp s w cties.
1 To expand or swell from absorption of liquid.
1920 WALDO 160 A man who ate hard bread and drank water said 'it plimmed up inside and nearly killed me.' T 75/7-64 He fulled an oval boiler with rice, cover on the stove, and it began to plim. T 194/5-65 We had a half bag of bread down there. He was plimmed so tight as he could plim. P 148-65 During the thaw, a gravel road is soft. It plims up, then goes down.
1979 POCIUS 36 One woman described how she boiled a particular brin bag with coarse mesh to make the strands 'plim right together' in order to use it for a mat.
2 Of a boat, cask or barrel, to absorb water so as to become watertight.
[c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 25 A vessel's or boat's planks when [they are] drawn apart by heat [are] then put in the water to plim or swell and close up.
1920 GRENFELL & SPALDING 151 When a boat is not 'plymmed,' it leaks in all its seams.
1937 DEVINE 37 ~ To make a barrel or keg tight by filling it with water or standing it in running water to soak. P 99-69 The boat plimmed up as soon as she went in the water.
1981 Evening Telegram 4 July, p. 18 He left [his boat in the pond] for a few days to 'plim up'. . prior to a fishing trip.
Dictionary of Newfoundland English Supplement
plim v
1 [1900] 1989 Nfld Qtly lxxxv (2), 27 Previously, between the two layers of boards, some bags of hard bread were dumped. When water touched the bread it 'plimmed'--swelled up. Soon a most satisfactory watertight job was achieved.
1984 POWELL 124-5 There was no way that any animal could eat [the mouldy and fousty hay]. It was still plimming and bursting the wire that tied it.
2 1988 Evening Telegram 2 June, p. 13 We pour the Stockholm tar over frayed or shredded hemp to make what all seagoing people refer to as oakum, which is used with a special chisel to caulk the seams between a boat's planks. Then, when the boat is launched into the water, the planks swell or 'plim' against the oakum and the boat can become as watertight as a bottle.
The Word of the Week is brought to you by Rattling Books.
1 To expand or swell from absorption of liquid.
1920 WALDO 160 A man who ate hard bread and drank water said 'it plimmed up inside and nearly killed me.' T 75/7-64 He fulled an oval boiler with rice, cover on the stove, and it began to plim. T 194/5-65 We had a half bag of bread down there. He was plimmed so tight as he could plim. P 148-65 During the thaw, a gravel road is soft. It plims up, then goes down.
1979 POCIUS 36 One woman described how she boiled a particular brin bag with coarse mesh to make the strands 'plim right together' in order to use it for a mat.
2 Of a boat, cask or barrel, to absorb water so as to become watertight.
[c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 25 A vessel's or boat's planks when [they are] drawn apart by heat [are] then put in the water to plim or swell and close up.
1920 GRENFELL & SPALDING 151 When a boat is not 'plymmed,' it leaks in all its seams.
1937 DEVINE 37 ~ To make a barrel or keg tight by filling it with water or standing it in running water to soak. P 99-69 The boat plimmed up as soon as she went in the water.
1981 Evening Telegram 4 July, p. 18 He left [his boat in the pond] for a few days to 'plim up'. . prior to a fishing trip.
Dictionary of Newfoundland English Supplement
plim v
1 [1900] 1989 Nfld Qtly lxxxv (2), 27 Previously, between the two layers of boards, some bags of hard bread were dumped. When water touched the bread it 'plimmed'--swelled up. Soon a most satisfactory watertight job was achieved.
1984 POWELL 124-5 There was no way that any animal could eat [the mouldy and fousty hay]. It was still plimming and bursting the wire that tied it.
2 1988 Evening Telegram 2 June, p. 13 We pour the Stockholm tar over frayed or shredded hemp to make what all seagoing people refer to as oakum, which is used with a special chisel to caulk the seams between a boat's planks. Then, when the boat is launched into the water, the planks swell or 'plim' against the oakum and the boat can become as watertight as a bottle.
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
Word of the Week (March 22-28): vamp
Word of the Week: March 22 - 28
vamp
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
vamp n Cp OED ~ sb1 1 'part of hose or stockings which covers foot and ankle' now dial (1225-); EDD sb1 1 Co for sense 1.
1 A short, thick woollen oversock, worn in boots to prevent chafing or around the house as a slipper.
[1811] 1818 BUCHAN 4 Snow shoes, buskins, vamps, cuffs.
1884 STEARNS 166 [Vamps] are simply cloth-like slippers, and much resemble a stocking cut off just above the instep with the edges bound or sewed over and over with worsted, and a central flap an inch or two long from the middle of the front edge, in which is made a loop and by which the pair are looped and fastened, the one to the other, when they are hung up to dry.
[1886] LLOYD 55 [Sealskin boots and moccasins] are worn with two pair of thick swanskin vamps.
1937 DEVINE 55 ~s. Outer stockings. T 210-65 You'd make [the boots] a couple of sizes too large for your foot, and then you'd get on some vamps. Sometimes they'd have skin vamp, and then a woollen one inside, beside the sock.
1975 GUY 60 Vamps came next. Hand-knit from the self-same material these socks came to just above the knobs of the ankles and were worn over the first two sets of hose.
1977 RUSSELL 68 I was sittin' by myself in the kitchen this night about nine o'clock, with my boots off, a pair of woolen vamps hauled on over my socks, and with my feet up on the pan of the stove smokin' my pipe. 2 The bottom of a sock.
1872 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 1 He stood 6 feet 4 inches in his stocking vamps.
1955 ENGLISH 37 ~ The sole of a stocking.
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vamp
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
vamp n Cp OED ~ sb1 1 'part of hose or stockings which covers foot and ankle' now dial (1225-); EDD sb1 1 Co for sense 1.
1 A short, thick woollen oversock, worn in boots to prevent chafing or around the house as a slipper.
[1811] 1818 BUCHAN 4 Snow shoes, buskins, vamps, cuffs.
1884 STEARNS 166 [Vamps] are simply cloth-like slippers, and much resemble a stocking cut off just above the instep with the edges bound or sewed over and over with worsted, and a central flap an inch or two long from the middle of the front edge, in which is made a loop and by which the pair are looped and fastened, the one to the other, when they are hung up to dry.
[1886] LLOYD 55 [Sealskin boots and moccasins] are worn with two pair of thick swanskin vamps.
1937 DEVINE 55 ~s. Outer stockings. T 210-65 You'd make [the boots] a couple of sizes too large for your foot, and then you'd get on some vamps. Sometimes they'd have skin vamp, and then a woollen one inside, beside the sock.
1975 GUY 60 Vamps came next. Hand-knit from the self-same material these socks came to just above the knobs of the ankles and were worn over the first two sets of hose.
1977 RUSSELL 68 I was sittin' by myself in the kitchen this night about nine o'clock, with my boots off, a pair of woolen vamps hauled on over my socks, and with my feet up on the pan of the stove smokin' my pipe. 2 The bottom of a sock.
1872 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 1 He stood 6 feet 4 inches in his stocking vamps.
1955 ENGLISH 37 ~ The sole of a stocking.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week where we post the word to the group's members each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland and first released each Sunday morning on the CBC Radio program the Weekend Arts Magazine with Angela Antle.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Word of the Week (March 15 - 21) sheila
sheila n also sheelagh, sheiler. H HALPFRT 'Ireland, Sheila and Newfoundland,' in Ireland and Nfld (1977),147-72; W HONE Every-Day Book (1827) ii, 194-5: Sheelah, -'s day; see BRUSH and PATRICK'S BRUSH for sense 2.
1 In folk legend, the wife, sister, housekeeper or acquaintance of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.
1819 ANSPACH 473 It is hardly in the power of any priest in the world to hinder an Irishman from getting gloriously drunk, if he is so inclined, on the whole of the 17th of March, as well as the next day in honour of Sheelagh, Saint Patrick's wife.
1829 Newfoundlander 26 Mar, pp. 2-3 Members of Benevolent Irish Society had dinner on March 17th. The company continued to retire, successively, until six o'clock on Sheelah's morning, at which hour, we understand, a few of the campaigners might have been seen, as usual, piously and patriotically employed in 'drowning the shamrock.'
1901 Christmas Bells 13 [The crew brought] her safe into the harbour of Placentia, after a thrilling experience, having been driven by the celebrated storm of Sheelah's Day to Indian Harbour, and just getting to anchorage before the veer of the wind to the northwest. C 68-20 Sheila's day is the day after St Patrick's Day, the eighteenth of March. C 73-98 Patty walks the shores around and Sheila follows in a long white gown... Sheila's gown apparently is a blanket of snow.
2 Comb sheila's blush*, ~ brush; also sheila: fierce storm and heavy snowfall about the eighteenth of March; LINER; see also PATRICK'S BATCH, ~ BROOM, ~ BRUSH.
1923 CHAFE 21 About St Patrick's Day [the sealers] start, most of them waiting until after Sheilah's brush or the equinoxial gale has passed.
1924 ENGLAND 124 Perhaps the most memorable of those occasions was on the night of 'Sheila's Brush,' which is to say the 18th of March. Newfoundland has two 'brushes,' Patrick's and Sheila's; that is to say, storms supposed to be connected with the birthday of St Patrick and that of his wife... The word 'brush' is not always used, however; you will hear Newfoundlanders say: 'We have our Sheila dis time o' year.'
1957 Evening Telegram 20 Oct In the days when 600 fishing vessel crews put out their gear around the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador and when 400 of them went to the ice, the sailors, fishermen and sealers all looked for. . .'Sheila's brush' about the time the sun crossed the Equator coming towards us.
1966 FARIS 48 These storms are termed 'St Patrick's Storms' until St Patrick's Day in March. The much less violent storms after that are called 'Sheila's Blush.'
1969 Daily News 12 Mar, p. 1 Don't worry, it's only Sheilagh's Brush. Nothing to worry about, that is. It doesn't mean another long extension of winter. C 69-2 When I was growing up and we didn't have a storm on or before Paddy's Day (called around home 'Patrick and Sheila') someone was sure to say 'Ha boy, we got it coming yet.'
1982 Evening Telegram 3 Apr, p. 33 You seem glad to be alive even if you have to wait for Sheila's Brush before we can safely say summer is just around the corner.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week where we post the word to the group's members each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland and first released each Sunday morning on the CBC Radio program the Weekend Arts Magazine with Angela Antle.
1 In folk legend, the wife, sister, housekeeper or acquaintance of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.
1819 ANSPACH 473 It is hardly in the power of any priest in the world to hinder an Irishman from getting gloriously drunk, if he is so inclined, on the whole of the 17th of March, as well as the next day in honour of Sheelagh, Saint Patrick's wife.
1829 Newfoundlander 26 Mar, pp. 2-3 Members of Benevolent Irish Society had dinner on March 17th. The company continued to retire, successively, until six o'clock on Sheelah's morning, at which hour, we understand, a few of the campaigners might have been seen, as usual, piously and patriotically employed in 'drowning the shamrock.'
1901 Christmas Bells 13 [The crew brought] her safe into the harbour of Placentia, after a thrilling experience, having been driven by the celebrated storm of Sheelah's Day to Indian Harbour, and just getting to anchorage before the veer of the wind to the northwest. C 68-20 Sheila's day is the day after St Patrick's Day, the eighteenth of March. C 73-98 Patty walks the shores around and Sheila follows in a long white gown... Sheila's gown apparently is a blanket of snow.
2 Comb sheila's blush*, ~ brush; also sheila: fierce storm and heavy snowfall about the eighteenth of March; LINER; see also PATRICK'S BATCH, ~ BROOM, ~ BRUSH.
1923 CHAFE 21 About St Patrick's Day [the sealers] start, most of them waiting until after Sheilah's brush or the equinoxial gale has passed.
1924 ENGLAND 124 Perhaps the most memorable of those occasions was on the night of 'Sheila's Brush,' which is to say the 18th of March. Newfoundland has two 'brushes,' Patrick's and Sheila's; that is to say, storms supposed to be connected with the birthday of St Patrick and that of his wife... The word 'brush' is not always used, however; you will hear Newfoundlanders say: 'We have our Sheila dis time o' year.'
1957 Evening Telegram 20 Oct In the days when 600 fishing vessel crews put out their gear around the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador and when 400 of them went to the ice, the sailors, fishermen and sealers all looked for. . .'Sheila's brush' about the time the sun crossed the Equator coming towards us.
1966 FARIS 48 These storms are termed 'St Patrick's Storms' until St Patrick's Day in March. The much less violent storms after that are called 'Sheila's Blush.'
1969 Daily News 12 Mar, p. 1 Don't worry, it's only Sheilagh's Brush. Nothing to worry about, that is. It doesn't mean another long extension of winter. C 69-2 When I was growing up and we didn't have a storm on or before Paddy's Day (called around home 'Patrick and Sheila') someone was sure to say 'Ha boy, we got it coming yet.'
1982 Evening Telegram 3 Apr, p. 33 You seem glad to be alive even if you have to wait for Sheila's Brush before we can safely say summer is just around the corner.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week where we post the word to the group's members each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland and first released each Sunday morning on the CBC Radio program the Weekend Arts Magazine with Angela Antle.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Word of the Week (March 8 - 14) curwibble
Word of the Week March 8-14
curwibble
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
curwibble n JOYCE 244 curwhibbles, etc; Kilkenny Lexicon ~ v. A sudden lurch; unsteady or teetering motion.
1937 DEVINE 17 ~ Unsteady or fantastic motions (of man or beast), such as those caused by too many glasses. \'He was cuttin\' the curwibbles alright.\' P 178-72 ~ a sudden change of direction.
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The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
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curwibble
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
curwibble n JOYCE 244 curwhibbles, etc; Kilkenny Lexicon ~ v. A sudden lurch; unsteady or teetering motion.
1937 DEVINE 17 ~ Unsteady or fantastic motions (of man or beast), such as those caused by too many glasses. \'He was cuttin\' the curwibbles alright.\' P 178-72 ~ a sudden change of direction.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week where we post the word to the group's members each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland and first released each Sunday morning on the CBC Radio program the Weekend Arts Magazine with Angela Antle.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Word of the Week: March 1 - 7: upalong
Word of the Week: March 1 - 7
upalong
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
upalong av Cp EDD up 2 (3) upalong (a) 'a little way up the street or road' Ha IW Do So D Co, ADD ~ Mass for sense 1; EDD 2 (3) (b) [to the east of a county] Ha for sense 3.
1 Away from a person or locality; to or on the mainland of Canada or the United States.
1919 GRENFELLI 226 So Trader Bourne ... put to sea one fine afternoon in late November, his vessel loaded with good things for his necessitous friends 'up along.'
1931 BYRNES 45 [on Regatta Day] all roads led to the 'pond' and the crowds from 'up along,' 'down along,' and 'in along' on 'shanks mare' or lolling luxuriously in a closed carriage from the 'stand' left dull care behind.
T 70-641 And they pulled ashore right up, and enquired from all the boats up along.
T 169/212-651 Don't suppose we'll ever meet again and you be going upalong now, and we down here.
1970 Evening Telegram 11 May, p. 3 They say there are from 8,000 to 10,000 taking off upalong each year.
C 71-106 If we visited neighbours who lived some distance from us, we said we were cruising upalong.
1976 Daily News 2 Nov, p. 2 Local management is not in charge, he says, and 'someone upalong is directing the scene.'
1976 MURPHY 114 I like to think that in his early days going to this school, Mike, a 'Down-Along,' as east enders were called, often met and conversed with (or perhaps fought with) that boy from 'Upalong,' Johnny Dwyer from the Cross Roads (also born in St John's in 1845) who later became professional heavyweight boxing champion of [America].
1980 Evening Telegram 4 Oct, p. 6 I don't see why our Brian [Peckford] is getting so upset with the boys upalong just because he doesn't think it's a good idea to give our oil away.
2 Hence, upalong n: resident farther inland, or one to the south in a settlement.
1931 BYRNES 120 Who can forget the traditional 'scraps' between the 'upalongs' and 'down-alongs'? Heaven help the unfortunate youth found alone in the other fellow's territory.
1976 MURPHY 32 But the clashes between the 'Down-Alongs,' the boys of the East End, and the 'Up-Alongs,' the boys of the West End, that were in being in the sixties, seventies and eighties were reminders of the old faction fight days.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
upalong
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
upalong av Cp EDD up 2 (3) upalong (a) 'a little way up the street or road' Ha IW Do So D Co, ADD ~ Mass for sense 1; EDD 2 (3) (b) [to the east of a county] Ha for sense 3.
1 Away from a person or locality; to or on the mainland of Canada or the United States.
1919 GRENFELLI 226 So Trader Bourne ... put to sea one fine afternoon in late November, his vessel loaded with good things for his necessitous friends 'up along.'
1931 BYRNES 45 [on Regatta Day] all roads led to the 'pond' and the crowds from 'up along,' 'down along,' and 'in along' on 'shanks mare' or lolling luxuriously in a closed carriage from the 'stand' left dull care behind.
T 70-641 And they pulled ashore right up, and enquired from all the boats up along.
T 169/212-651 Don't suppose we'll ever meet again and you be going upalong now, and we down here.
1970 Evening Telegram 11 May, p. 3 They say there are from 8,000 to 10,000 taking off upalong each year.
C 71-106 If we visited neighbours who lived some distance from us, we said we were cruising upalong.
1976 Daily News 2 Nov, p. 2 Local management is not in charge, he says, and 'someone upalong is directing the scene.'
1976 MURPHY 114 I like to think that in his early days going to this school, Mike, a 'Down-Along,' as east enders were called, often met and conversed with (or perhaps fought with) that boy from 'Upalong,' Johnny Dwyer from the Cross Roads (also born in St John's in 1845) who later became professional heavyweight boxing champion of [America].
1980 Evening Telegram 4 Oct, p. 6 I don't see why our Brian [Peckford] is getting so upset with the boys upalong just because he doesn't think it's a good idea to give our oil away.
2 Hence, upalong n: resident farther inland, or one to the south in a settlement.
1931 BYRNES 120 Who can forget the traditional 'scraps' between the 'upalongs' and 'down-alongs'? Heaven help the unfortunate youth found alone in the other fellow's territory.
1976 MURPHY 32 But the clashes between the 'Down-Alongs,' the boys of the East End, and the 'Up-Alongs,' the boys of the West End, that were in being in the sixties, seventies and eighties were reminders of the old faction fight days.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Word of the week Feb 22-28: blessed
Word of the Week: February 22-28
blessed
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
blessed a Cp EDD ~ ppl adj 'emphatic for good'; OED2 'worthy to be blessed by men'; JOYCE 196-7.
Note: The term is of unusual frequency in the region, esp applied to natural phenomena (sun, moon, sky, stars, rain, snow, thunder, etc), or used in exclamatory phrases (e.g. 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph, look down upon us this blessed day and night!'). A few examples are given below.
Comb blessed brand: the remains of wood used in Ash Wednesday church ritual. M 71-121 It was a custom on Ash Wednesday for everyone to receive a piece of Blessed Bran. Wood was burned to make the ashes [and] the wood that remained unbumt was called Blessed Bran. Each person had to clean out his stove and lay a new fire with this piece of [wood] at the bottom. This...would protect the house from fire for that year.
blessed bread: bread over or on which the sign of the cross is made prior to baking in order to ensure rising. M 71-114 Home-made bread was always [made with] the sign of the cross on the dough. The bread was always referred to as blessed bread.
blessed virgin's leaf: lady's thumb (Polygonum persicaria). P 85-65 ~ a common weed with the likeness of a thumb-print on the leaf. C 67-8 Any kind of bleeding can be stopped with the blessed virgin's leaf, a locally known plant.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
blessed
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
blessed a Cp EDD ~ ppl adj 'emphatic for good'; OED2 'worthy to be blessed by men'; JOYCE 196-7.
Note: The term is of unusual frequency in the region, esp applied to natural phenomena (sun, moon, sky, stars, rain, snow, thunder, etc), or used in exclamatory phrases (e.g. 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph, look down upon us this blessed day and night!'). A few examples are given below.
Comb blessed brand: the remains of wood used in Ash Wednesday church ritual. M 71-121 It was a custom on Ash Wednesday for everyone to receive a piece of Blessed Bran. Wood was burned to make the ashes [and] the wood that remained unbumt was called Blessed Bran. Each person had to clean out his stove and lay a new fire with this piece of [wood] at the bottom. This...would protect the house from fire for that year.
blessed bread: bread over or on which the sign of the cross is made prior to baking in order to ensure rising. M 71-114 Home-made bread was always [made with] the sign of the cross on the dough. The bread was always referred to as blessed bread.
blessed virgin's leaf: lady's thumb (Polygonum persicaria). P 85-65 ~ a common weed with the likeness of a thumb-print on the leaf. C 67-8 Any kind of bleeding can be stopped with the blessed virgin's leaf, a locally known plant.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook group each week.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books, a "so small we're fine" Canadian audiobook publisher operating from its global headquarters atop a tor on the coast of Newfoundland.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Word of the Week, February 15 - 22 : lad
Word of the Week: February 15 - 22
lad
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
lad n EDD ~ sb1 (7) lad\'s love.
Comb lad-in-a-bag: a boiled pudding; DUFF1.
C 71-87 ~ name given to a boiled pudding which was cooked in a pudding bag. P 197-76 ~ another name for a figgy duff.
lad\'s love: southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum) (1897 J A Folklore x, 206).
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook page.
The word of the week is released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.
The REDEFiNE iT word of the week is brought to you by Rattling Books, the not just small but fine audiobook publisher from Newfoundland.
lad
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
lad n EDD ~ sb1 (7) lad\'s love.
Comb lad-in-a-bag: a boiled pudding; DUFF1.
C 71-87 ~ name given to a boiled pudding which was cooked in a pudding bag. P 197-76 ~ another name for a figgy duff.
lad\'s love: southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum) (1897 J A Folklore x, 206).
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also post the word of the week on our sister facebook page.
The word of the week is released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.
The REDEFiNE iT word of the week is brought to you by Rattling Books, the not just small but fine audiobook publisher from Newfoundland.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Word of the Week: February 8 - 14: spanish
Word of the Week: February 8 - 14
spanish
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
spanish a
1 A grade or \'cull\' of dried and salted cod-fish prepared for the markets of Spain and Portugal; clipped form of spanish fish. Cp MERCHANTABLE.T 43-64 Our fish used to go to Spain, an\' Portugal and the West Indies. Now Spanish was number one.
1971 NOSEWORTHY 246 ~ Highest grade of fish.
2 Comb spanish cure: see sense 1; CURE.P 243-58 Spanish cure is a variety of dried, salted cod-fish.spanish fish: lightly salted, dried cod-fish of the highest quality or\'cure.\' Cp SHORE1: ~ FISH.
1928 FPU (Twillingate) Minutes 5 Oct [He] spoke about the price of fish and that shore fish was $8 and Spanish fish $9.
1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 47-8 Shore fish of the grade suitable for Spain, known as Spanish Fish... Spanish fish must be extra thick, of an amber colour, with an even surface, thoroughly clean on both back and face, without showing salt, and only [seven-eighths] dry. T 192/3-65 The ones that didn\'t show the salt—that\'s number one—kind of a yellow cast; that\'s the Spanish fish.
1965 Evening Telegram 5 Nov, p. 6 Good Spanish shore fish will never be low in price again.spanish room: in place-names, a tract of land on the water-front of a cove or harbour from which the fishery was prosecuted by Spaniards; ROOM.
1837 BLUNT 43 On the eastern side, at about three miles from the entrance [to Mortier Bay] is an exceedingly good harbor, called Spanish Room.
1951 Nfld & Lab Pilot i, 117 Spanish Room is situated on the eastern side of a peninsula the south-western extremity of which, known as Spanish Room point, lies about one mile northward... A small town stands on its shores.
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The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books and released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.
spanish
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
spanish a
1 A grade or \'cull\' of dried and salted cod-fish prepared for the markets of Spain and Portugal; clipped form of spanish fish. Cp MERCHANTABLE.T 43-64 Our fish used to go to Spain, an\' Portugal and the West Indies. Now Spanish was number one.
1971 NOSEWORTHY 246 ~ Highest grade of fish.
2 Comb spanish cure: see sense 1; CURE.P 243-58 Spanish cure is a variety of dried, salted cod-fish.spanish fish: lightly salted, dried cod-fish of the highest quality or\'cure.\' Cp SHORE1: ~ FISH.
1928 FPU (Twillingate) Minutes 5 Oct [He] spoke about the price of fish and that shore fish was $8 and Spanish fish $9.
1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 47-8 Shore fish of the grade suitable for Spain, known as Spanish Fish... Spanish fish must be extra thick, of an amber colour, with an even surface, thoroughly clean on both back and face, without showing salt, and only [seven-eighths] dry. T 192/3-65 The ones that didn\'t show the salt—that\'s number one—kind of a yellow cast; that\'s the Spanish fish.
1965 Evening Telegram 5 Nov, p. 6 Good Spanish shore fish will never be low in price again.spanish room: in place-names, a tract of land on the water-front of a cove or harbour from which the fishery was prosecuted by Spaniards; ROOM.
1837 BLUNT 43 On the eastern side, at about three miles from the entrance [to Mortier Bay] is an exceedingly good harbor, called Spanish Room.
1951 Nfld & Lab Pilot i, 117 Spanish Room is situated on the eastern side of a peninsula the south-western extremity of which, known as Spanish Room point, lies about one mile northward... A small town stands on its shores.
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Sunday, February 1, 2009
Word of the Week: February 1 - 7: killick
killick
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
killick n also cillick, kellick, killock, etc [phonetics unavailable]. OED ~ naut (N E: 1630-); DAE killock (N E: 1649-); DC (Nfld: 1774-); cp EDD kelk sb2 'a large detached stone' for sense 1.
1 An anchor made up of an elongated stone encased in pliable sticks bound at the top and fixed in two curved cross-pieces, used in mooring nets and small boats; GRANNY 2. 1760 CO 194: 15 To 1 Small Anchor of 40 lb & 1 Cillick.
[1785] 1792 CARTWRIGHT iii, 96 Mr Collingham and two hands finished the shortest seal-net, and the people then carried them both, as also the killicks, &c. to the yawl; but the wind being too high to put them out, they left them there.
1792 ibid Gloss i, xii ~ A wooden anchor, made by nailing a pair of claws across each other, and fixing three rods to each claw; within which a large stone is placed to give it weight, and the ends of all the rods are tied together above the stone to secure it in its place.
[1802] 1895 PROWSE 419 The [seal net] is extended at the bottom by a mooring and killock fixed to each end.
1857 MOUNTAIN 7 Arrived on the Spot, they cast out a home-made anchor called a 'killock,' composed of a long shaped stone encircled with pliant strips of wood, bound tightly at one end.
1878 TOCQUE 192 He lets go his grapnel, or more commonly his kellick, and commences fishing in from 80 to 120 fathoms of water.
1896 J A Folklore ix, 23 Killock ... a small anchor, partly of stone and partly of wood, still used by fishermen, but going out of use in favor of iron grapnels.
1937 DEVINE 30 Killock. A home made anchor, consisting of a frame of witherods enclosing one or two oblong stones, settled on a base of four wooden claws: used to moor small boats and nets.
[1952] 1965 PEACOCK (ed) i, 125 "The Fisherman's Alphabet": "K" stands for killick, wood, rock and nails. T 47-64 You'd put your mooring around the claws of the killick and then take a turn around the back end of the killick so as 'twill be layin' on the bottom.
1969 HORWOOD 81 Cod traps are set to moorings, in rather shallow water ... The traps are ... often moored to the bottom with killicks. 2 Proverb lose your killick, and [you'll] find it in the fall. C 71-102 ~ If you lose your boat anchor, you'll find it [charged on the merchant's bill in the fall]. 3 Phr have a rock in one's killick: of a woman, to be pregnant (P 148-75). 4 Attrib killick-claw: one of the four arms formed by the two cross-pieces of a killick.
[1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 32 Four hands ... cut some killick-claws.
[1952] 1965 PEACOCK (ed) i, 130 "For the Fish We Must Prepare": Oh traps and trawls and fingerstalls, / Rubber boots and killick claws. killick-rod: one of the pliable sticks encasing the 'killick stone'; RUNG.
[1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 29 Having filled up the boat with whitings, pryor-poles and killick-rods, at high water we sailed home. killick-stone: elongated stone suitable for providing the ballast of home-made anchor.
[1776] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 178 Five hands were at work on the shalloway, and the rest were gathering killick stones, cutting longers, and rinding birch.
1953 Nfld & Lab Pilot ii, 211 Killick Stone islands [are located] 6 cables northwestward ... of Bridgeport Harbour head.
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Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
killick n also cillick, kellick, killock, etc [phonetics unavailable]. OED ~ naut (N E: 1630-); DAE killock (N E: 1649-); DC (Nfld: 1774-); cp EDD kelk sb2 'a large detached stone' for sense 1.
1 An anchor made up of an elongated stone encased in pliable sticks bound at the top and fixed in two curved cross-pieces, used in mooring nets and small boats; GRANNY 2. 1760 CO 194: 15 To 1 Small Anchor of 40 lb & 1 Cillick.
[1785] 1792 CARTWRIGHT iii, 96 Mr Collingham and two hands finished the shortest seal-net, and the people then carried them both, as also the killicks, &c. to the yawl; but the wind being too high to put them out, they left them there.
1792 ibid Gloss i, xii ~ A wooden anchor, made by nailing a pair of claws across each other, and fixing three rods to each claw; within which a large stone is placed to give it weight, and the ends of all the rods are tied together above the stone to secure it in its place.
[1802] 1895 PROWSE 419 The [seal net] is extended at the bottom by a mooring and killock fixed to each end.
1857 MOUNTAIN 7 Arrived on the Spot, they cast out a home-made anchor called a 'killock,' composed of a long shaped stone encircled with pliant strips of wood, bound tightly at one end.
1878 TOCQUE 192 He lets go his grapnel, or more commonly his kellick, and commences fishing in from 80 to 120 fathoms of water.
1896 J A Folklore ix, 23 Killock ... a small anchor, partly of stone and partly of wood, still used by fishermen, but going out of use in favor of iron grapnels.
1937 DEVINE 30 Killock. A home made anchor, consisting of a frame of witherods enclosing one or two oblong stones, settled on a base of four wooden claws: used to moor small boats and nets.
[1952] 1965 PEACOCK (ed) i, 125 "The Fisherman's Alphabet": "K" stands for killick, wood, rock and nails. T 47-64 You'd put your mooring around the claws of the killick and then take a turn around the back end of the killick so as 'twill be layin' on the bottom.
1969 HORWOOD 81 Cod traps are set to moorings, in rather shallow water ... The traps are ... often moored to the bottom with killicks. 2 Proverb lose your killick, and [you'll] find it in the fall. C 71-102 ~ If you lose your boat anchor, you'll find it [charged on the merchant's bill in the fall]. 3 Phr have a rock in one's killick: of a woman, to be pregnant (P 148-75). 4 Attrib killick-claw: one of the four arms formed by the two cross-pieces of a killick.
[1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 32 Four hands ... cut some killick-claws.
[1952] 1965 PEACOCK (ed) i, 130 "For the Fish We Must Prepare": Oh traps and trawls and fingerstalls, / Rubber boots and killick claws. killick-rod: one of the pliable sticks encasing the 'killick stone'; RUNG.
[1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 29 Having filled up the boat with whitings, pryor-poles and killick-rods, at high water we sailed home. killick-stone: elongated stone suitable for providing the ballast of home-made anchor.
[1776] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 178 Five hands were at work on the shalloway, and the rest were gathering killick stones, cutting longers, and rinding birch.
1953 Nfld & Lab Pilot ii, 211 Killick Stone islands [are located] 6 cables northwestward ... of Bridgeport Harbour head.
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
Word of the Week (January 25- February 1): spudgel
Word of the Week: January 25- February 1
spudgel
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
spudgel n also spudget*, spudgin*, spudgy* [phonetics unavailable]. EDD ~ sb 1 'a wooden bowl with a long handle used for bailing' Gl IW Do So; DC Nfld (1775, 1937) for sense 1.
1 Small wooden bucket with a long handle, used to bail water from a deep-keeled boat; PIGGIN.
[1775] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 73 The boat proved so leaky, that the spudgel was scarce ever out of hand.
1792 ibid Gloss i, xv ~ A small bucket fixed to the end of a pole, to throw the water out of a boat, which has no pump.
1897 J A Folklore x, 210 ~ a small bucket used for dipping the water out of the dill and bailing their boats.
[c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 26 ~ a boat bailer consisting of a bucket with a long handle through it.
1937 DEVINE 47 Spudgell. A bailing bucket. It is different from a piggin in being tub shaped and having a long handle—somewhat like a corn-cob pipe.
1951 Nfld & Lab Pilot i, 208 Otter Rub point, with Spudgell cove close north-eastward of it, lies 1¼ miles east-northeastward of the entrance to Pays cove; Spudgell Cove rocks extend three-quarters of a cable southward. P 102-60 If a man was a bit of a cooper [he would go] to the coopershop and make piggins and spudgils out of pork barrel staves. The difference between a piggin and a spudgil: one was about 10 or 12 inches high with one stave about 5 or 6 inches longer than the others to use as a handle; the spudgil was about the same size but through the handle stave was bored a hole about one inch in size through which was passed a round stick from the top and fastened to the bottom and about 4 or 5 feet long so as the man using it did not have to stoop down to bail out water from the dill in the after part of the boat. T 43/7-64 A piggin got the handle attached, an' the spudgel is the one with [the handle] on an angle. T 90-64 The spudgel [is] the little tub with a long stick in it for the larger boats, to throw the water over the gunnel.
1971 NOSEWORTHY 248 ~, spudgin, spudgy. A ten-pound tub with a long wooden handle, 5 or 6 ft. long, nailed on. It is used for bailing out deep, keeled boats. P 209-73 Spuggal. A large wooden container with a long handle used to bail water from a boat.
1975 BUTLER 38-9 1 had two big long-handled spudgels aboard. I said 'Jack, here, take one of those and,' I said, 'if you ever worked in your life, work now, if you don't want to drown.'
2 Metal or wooden container with a long handle, often larger than a boat bailer, used to dip water from a well, hot bark in the tanning of nets, and for other purposes. T 14/19-64 You'll take your spudgel and you'll dip out your tan out of the boiler and throw it on your twine and let it remain there all night. T 94/5-64 An' in the summer when [the well would] go a bit low they'd have a spudgel, a big can on a wooden machine they made—a long stick went right through from side to side so it wouldn't come off-and you'd fill up your buckets with that. C 71-103 The kind of spudgel that was used to draw water from a well consisted of a large can and a long wooden handle [that] went through a hole in the side and on down to the bottom.
1973 BARBOUR 51-2 ~ It is made of wood, shaped like a bucket, and has a long handle which goes through the bucket slantwise, or, as a fisherman would say, 'scow ways.' At Blanc Sablon the spudgel was used to dip water from over the side of the wharf in order to wash down the troughs and wharf. In lots of places the spudgel is used mainly to dip fresh water from deep wells.
1979 TIZZARD 55 This water was usually drawn up or taken from the well by a spudgel, a small tub or can made fast to the end of a long pole.
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spudgel
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
spudgel n also spudget*, spudgin*, spudgy* [phonetics unavailable]. EDD ~ sb 1 'a wooden bowl with a long handle used for bailing' Gl IW Do So; DC Nfld (1775, 1937) for sense 1.
1 Small wooden bucket with a long handle, used to bail water from a deep-keeled boat; PIGGIN.
[1775] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 73 The boat proved so leaky, that the spudgel was scarce ever out of hand.
1792 ibid Gloss i, xv ~ A small bucket fixed to the end of a pole, to throw the water out of a boat, which has no pump.
1897 J A Folklore x, 210 ~ a small bucket used for dipping the water out of the dill and bailing their boats.
[c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 26 ~ a boat bailer consisting of a bucket with a long handle through it.
1937 DEVINE 47 Spudgell. A bailing bucket. It is different from a piggin in being tub shaped and having a long handle—somewhat like a corn-cob pipe.
1951 Nfld & Lab Pilot i, 208 Otter Rub point, with Spudgell cove close north-eastward of it, lies 1¼ miles east-northeastward of the entrance to Pays cove; Spudgell Cove rocks extend three-quarters of a cable southward. P 102-60 If a man was a bit of a cooper [he would go] to the coopershop and make piggins and spudgils out of pork barrel staves. The difference between a piggin and a spudgil: one was about 10 or 12 inches high with one stave about 5 or 6 inches longer than the others to use as a handle; the spudgil was about the same size but through the handle stave was bored a hole about one inch in size through which was passed a round stick from the top and fastened to the bottom and about 4 or 5 feet long so as the man using it did not have to stoop down to bail out water from the dill in the after part of the boat. T 43/7-64 A piggin got the handle attached, an' the spudgel is the one with [the handle] on an angle. T 90-64 The spudgel [is] the little tub with a long stick in it for the larger boats, to throw the water over the gunnel.
1971 NOSEWORTHY 248 ~, spudgin, spudgy. A ten-pound tub with a long wooden handle, 5 or 6 ft. long, nailed on. It is used for bailing out deep, keeled boats. P 209-73 Spuggal. A large wooden container with a long handle used to bail water from a boat.
1975 BUTLER 38-9 1 had two big long-handled spudgels aboard. I said 'Jack, here, take one of those and,' I said, 'if you ever worked in your life, work now, if you don't want to drown.'
2 Metal or wooden container with a long handle, often larger than a boat bailer, used to dip water from a well, hot bark in the tanning of nets, and for other purposes. T 14/19-64 You'll take your spudgel and you'll dip out your tan out of the boiler and throw it on your twine and let it remain there all night. T 94/5-64 An' in the summer when [the well would] go a bit low they'd have a spudgel, a big can on a wooden machine they made—a long stick went right through from side to side so it wouldn't come off-and you'd fill up your buckets with that. C 71-103 The kind of spudgel that was used to draw water from a well consisted of a large can and a long wooden handle [that] went through a hole in the side and on down to the bottom.
1973 BARBOUR 51-2 ~ It is made of wood, shaped like a bucket, and has a long handle which goes through the bucket slantwise, or, as a fisherman would say, 'scow ways.' At Blanc Sablon the spudgel was used to dip water from over the side of the wharf in order to wash down the troughs and wharf. In lots of places the spudgel is used mainly to dip fresh water from deep wells.
1979 TIZZARD 55 This water was usually drawn up or taken from the well by a spudgel, a small tub or can made fast to the end of a long pole.
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Sunday, January 18, 2009
Word of the Week (January 18 - 24) black
black
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
black n
See also BLACK a. Roman Catholic term for a Protestant; freq in phr brazen as a black, saucy as a black, etc. P 245-56 ~ term of opprobrium applied by Roman Catholics to Protestants, but sometimes now used humorously rather than insultingly. P 52-62 Brazen as the black: used in reference to a saucy person. 1964 Evening Telegram 4 May, p. 7 Some of the young ones though is as saucy as blacks. M 65-1 It is common to refer to Protestants as blacks and the Roman Catholics as micks. C 66-4 The younger generation call all Protestants blacks.
black n
1985 JOHNSTON 101 Whenever it started raining, Dola would say, 'Here comes a bath for de blacks.' Her way of saying that it had been raining for some time was, 'De Prodestins must be down to last year's dirt by now.' 1985 Nfld LifeStyle 3 (1), p. 26 'You're marrying one of them Mainlanders and he's a black, too?' black a DC ~ ice 1 for sense 1; EDD ~ a 5 'extreme' Sh I Ir, JOYCE 215 ~ man 'surly, vindictive, implacable fellow,' for senses 2, 3; NID ~ fish 2, DC ~ fly (1821-) for sense 4; DAE ~ spruce (1765-) for sense 5; Fisheries of U S, p. 176 ~ ball, OED ~ book 5 (1842), O Sup2 ~ man 2 (1591- Nfld: 1969), EDD sb 1 for combs. in sense 6.
1 Of ice, thin and newly-formed on river, lake or sea; cp YOUNG: young ice. 1909 BERNIER 7 Black ice is thin dark looking ice with no snow on it; usually found between pans of older ice. At night or at a distance looks like open water. 1920 GRENFELL & SPALDING 143 The ice in the middle, however, which had looked so sure from the landwash, proved to be 'black'-that is, very, very thin, though being salt-water ice, it was elastic. 1924 ENGLAND 160 We was to de nardenmost flags, on de far end o' where we knocked off yesterday. I got out on de black stuff, sir, meself, an' den cut back agin. 1933 MERRICK 21 The river was covered with new black ice. Slewing around a bend, the komatik went through and they all fell in. P 245-67 Black ice [is] thin ice.
2 In designations of Protestants (cp BLACK n): atrocious, disliked (as belonging to an opposing or conflicting group); in phr black stranger: not of or 'belonging to' a community. 1892 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 4 Poor Petrie died last month. He was a jolly whitty Irishman from the Black North. 1930 BARNES 229 If I wasn't praying at a time like that, I'd be swearing. Now, mind, I hope nobody that reads this will think I'm a black blackguard. P 148-63 Black wop (bayman). 1966 PADDOCK 121 Black Protestant: derogatory name for Protestant. 1972 Evening Telegram 29 Feb, p. 3 Some of those rural districts are so small in population that everybody knows everybody else and the electorate would rather go for a black stranger any day than one of their own blackguarding neighbors. 1974 CAHILL 10 We [Roman Catholics] might have changed and got broadminded, but they're still as bad as ever they were, the black bastards!
3 Touchy; moody; dangerously quarrelsome or pugnacious. 1964 Can Journ Ling x, 45 He's some black! 1966 FARIS 245-6 Men are, very significantly, said to be 'getting black' if they become personal and serious in their argument. Any real quarrel between persons is labelled 'black' and to be avoided in Cat Harbour at all costs. 1975 Lore & Language ii (3), p. 16 Looked black, he was always black you know, but he looked a little blacker this morning.
4 In names of animals, birds, fish, insects with black colouring: ~ and white diver; ~ back; ~ bawk [see BAWK]; blackbird; ~ cap; ~ diver; ~ fish; ~ fly; ~ hagdown [see HAGDOWN]; ~ patch. 1959 MCATEE 15 Black and white diver. Barrow's goldeneye (Nfld., 'Labr.') 1792 CARTWRIGHT Gloss 1, xi Harp. An old seal of that kind called by Pennant, 'Blackback.' 1861 DE BOILIEU 92-3 The principal seal of the coast is termed the Voyage Seal, while the males are distinctively called Harps, or Blackbacks. 1925 Dial Notes v, 326 Black back, a harp seal in the fourth year. 1951 PETERS & BURLEIGH 53 Sooty Shearwater. Puffinus griseus. Local Names: Black Bawk, Hagdown, Hag. 1840 GOSSE 96 The American Robin is a species of thrush. In Newfoundland, where it is very common, it is always called the Blackbird. 1959 MCATEE 32 Black-cap. Knot (The crown is dark streaked) (Nfld). 1708 OLDMIXON 14 A great Flock of small black Divers, about the bigness of a Feldyfare, came about the Ship a little before, but all of'em left it, and betook themselves to the Island [of ice]. [1775] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 74 John Hayes, the boatsmaster, killed four ducks, a goose, a black-diver and a lord. 1959 MCATEE 18 Black diver. Black Scoter (Nfld). 1846 TOCQUE 71 Great numbers of what some call Black-fish, and others Pot-heads, are killed during the month of September along the shores of Newfoundland. 1964 Evening Telegram 19 Feb, p. 2 Among fishermen there is a widespread opinion that the 'black-fish' or pothead whale, which is slaughtered in large numbers for mink meat, is a very stupid animal. [1822] 1915 HOWLEY 137 Myriads of moschetos, with black and sand flies, annoyed us. 1872 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 5 I have had my eyes almost closed many a time, and streams of blood coursing down my neck and face and clotting my beard and moustache, caused by the black fly. The torment was all but unendurable. 1975 HOLMES 41 Twenty-three species of black flies have been recorded near St John's, and of these Simulium venustum Say and S. vittatus Zetterstedt are the commonest species that bite man. 1883 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 4 With these Hagdowns are several of a rusty black colour, only the under parts of the wings being of a dirty white... The fishermen call them Black Hagdown... This is probably the Sooty Shearwater. 1967 Bk of Nfld iii, 282 Black Bawk or Black Hag-down. [1766] 1971 BANKS 146 The Furrs taken here are Black Patch [etc] [Black Patch is a colour phase of the Red Fox]. 5 In names of plants and shrubs: blackberry [see BLACKBERRY]; ~ hurt [see HURT]; ~ pear; ~ spruce; ~ whort [see HURT]. 1956 ROULEAU 26 Black Hurts: Gaylussacia baccata. 1898 J A Folklore xi, 226 Black pear. Pyrus arbutifolia. 1967 BEARNS 44 Because of its high wood density, black spruce is the most valuable pulpwood species in the Province. 1898 J A Folklore xi, 273 Black whorts. Gaylussacia (sp).
6 Comb black (art) book: book believed to contain secrets enabling a person to perform supernatural acts. C 68-40 People believed [him] to have a black-art book or to be possessed with the Devil. He could tell you your fortune just by looking into your hand. C 68-16 The black book is supposed to be a book given by the devil to someone who has given himself over to the devil. In it is information or knowledge of how to do things which ordinary men cannot do.
black ball: marker attached to trawl buoy for identification. 1921 Nat Geog July, p. 13 [caption:] Flying sets on the Bank / the dories are being towed by the schooner. The black disks are 'highflyers,' or 'black balls,' which are affixed to the buoys attached to the fishing lines, as markers. 1938 MACDERMOTT 170 The trawl is ... attached to a buoy which is known as a black ball, and which marks the place where the trawl is set. The black ball is a keg strapped with rope, and with a stick as stout as a shovel handle, from four to six feet long, passed through it; the stick bears a hooped canvas about eighteen inches in diameter on which is marked the dory's number. C 71-87 ~ This flag was homemade from calico, with a hoop sewed around the edge of it. it was then painted and the number of the dory was written on it so that each fisherman would be able to keep track of his own buoys.
black boy: (a) man with blackened face, hands and clothing, accompanying Christmas mummers; (b) charred tree remaining after a forest fire: also black-burn, blacky-boy. P 133-58 ~ , black burn: a stick of wood that has been seared in a forest fire. 1965 Evening Telegram 24 Dec The blackboys, so called because of their blackened hands and faces, were dressed in black clothes and tall hats and carried a staff. It was traditional that the blackboys should be well ahead of the mummers, for the mummers would have to try and catch them (which they always did), and having caught, would throw them in the snow and maul them about. C 70-15 Trees which had been burned over in a forest fire were much in demand [for firewood] because they were partly dry. However they were very sooty and called blacky-boys.
black jack: (a) variety of molasses from West Indies; (b) type of felt or tar paper used for waterproofing, insulation, etc. 1909 BROWNE 81 One firm did an extensive trade in 'Black Jack' (St Kitts' molasses). P 148-64 [The] roof [is] covered with black jack. 1971 NOSEWORTHY 174 ~ Black felt for placing on roofs and [in] fish boxes to hold the water. black man: a figure invoked to terrify children into good behaviour; the devil (P 148-60). T 301-66 They would say when children were naughty, 'Here's the bully-boo' or 'a black man.' 1961 Christmas Mumming in Nfld 138 The archetype stranger, the Devil, is the 'Black Man' or 'Blackie.'
black-man's bread, ~ cap: possibly harmful mushroom; FAIRY CAP (P 148-61). Q 67-25 Black-man's caps [are] mushrooms. 1971 NOSEWORTHY 174 Black-man's bread: inedible mushrooms.
black psalm: text thought to have sinister power. M 68-17 She believed that she could put a curse on anyone by reading a certain psalm, 'the black psalm,' she called it, 'on' the person she wished to curse. The number of the psalm was secret to her.
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Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
black n
See also BLACK a. Roman Catholic term for a Protestant; freq in phr brazen as a black, saucy as a black, etc. P 245-56 ~ term of opprobrium applied by Roman Catholics to Protestants, but sometimes now used humorously rather than insultingly. P 52-62 Brazen as the black: used in reference to a saucy person. 1964 Evening Telegram 4 May, p. 7 Some of the young ones though is as saucy as blacks. M 65-1 It is common to refer to Protestants as blacks and the Roman Catholics as micks. C 66-4 The younger generation call all Protestants blacks.
black n
1985 JOHNSTON 101 Whenever it started raining, Dola would say, 'Here comes a bath for de blacks.' Her way of saying that it had been raining for some time was, 'De Prodestins must be down to last year's dirt by now.' 1985 Nfld LifeStyle 3 (1), p. 26 'You're marrying one of them Mainlanders and he's a black, too?' black a DC ~ ice 1 for sense 1; EDD ~ a 5 'extreme' Sh I Ir, JOYCE 215 ~ man 'surly, vindictive, implacable fellow,' for senses 2, 3; NID ~ fish 2, DC ~ fly (1821-) for sense 4; DAE ~ spruce (1765-) for sense 5; Fisheries of U S, p. 176 ~ ball, OED ~ book 5 (1842), O Sup2 ~ man 2 (1591- Nfld: 1969), EDD sb 1 for combs. in sense 6.
1 Of ice, thin and newly-formed on river, lake or sea; cp YOUNG: young ice. 1909 BERNIER 7 Black ice is thin dark looking ice with no snow on it; usually found between pans of older ice. At night or at a distance looks like open water. 1920 GRENFELL & SPALDING 143 The ice in the middle, however, which had looked so sure from the landwash, proved to be 'black'-that is, very, very thin, though being salt-water ice, it was elastic. 1924 ENGLAND 160 We was to de nardenmost flags, on de far end o' where we knocked off yesterday. I got out on de black stuff, sir, meself, an' den cut back agin. 1933 MERRICK 21 The river was covered with new black ice. Slewing around a bend, the komatik went through and they all fell in. P 245-67 Black ice [is] thin ice.
2 In designations of Protestants (cp BLACK n): atrocious, disliked (as belonging to an opposing or conflicting group); in phr black stranger: not of or 'belonging to' a community. 1892 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 4 Poor Petrie died last month. He was a jolly whitty Irishman from the Black North. 1930 BARNES 229 If I wasn't praying at a time like that, I'd be swearing. Now, mind, I hope nobody that reads this will think I'm a black blackguard. P 148-63 Black wop (bayman). 1966 PADDOCK 121 Black Protestant: derogatory name for Protestant. 1972 Evening Telegram 29 Feb, p. 3 Some of those rural districts are so small in population that everybody knows everybody else and the electorate would rather go for a black stranger any day than one of their own blackguarding neighbors. 1974 CAHILL 10 We [Roman Catholics] might have changed and got broadminded, but they're still as bad as ever they were, the black bastards!
3 Touchy; moody; dangerously quarrelsome or pugnacious. 1964 Can Journ Ling x, 45 He's some black! 1966 FARIS 245-6 Men are, very significantly, said to be 'getting black' if they become personal and serious in their argument. Any real quarrel between persons is labelled 'black' and to be avoided in Cat Harbour at all costs. 1975 Lore & Language ii (3), p. 16 Looked black, he was always black you know, but he looked a little blacker this morning.
4 In names of animals, birds, fish, insects with black colouring: ~ and white diver; ~ back; ~ bawk [see BAWK]; blackbird; ~ cap; ~ diver; ~ fish; ~ fly; ~ hagdown [see HAGDOWN]; ~ patch. 1959 MCATEE 15 Black and white diver. Barrow's goldeneye (Nfld., 'Labr.') 1792 CARTWRIGHT Gloss 1, xi Harp. An old seal of that kind called by Pennant, 'Blackback.' 1861 DE BOILIEU 92-3 The principal seal of the coast is termed the Voyage Seal, while the males are distinctively called Harps, or Blackbacks. 1925 Dial Notes v, 326 Black back, a harp seal in the fourth year. 1951 PETERS & BURLEIGH 53 Sooty Shearwater. Puffinus griseus. Local Names: Black Bawk, Hagdown, Hag. 1840 GOSSE 96 The American Robin is a species of thrush. In Newfoundland, where it is very common, it is always called the Blackbird. 1959 MCATEE 32 Black-cap. Knot (The crown is dark streaked) (Nfld). 1708 OLDMIXON 14 A great Flock of small black Divers, about the bigness of a Feldyfare, came about the Ship a little before, but all of'em left it, and betook themselves to the Island [of ice]. [1775] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 74 John Hayes, the boatsmaster, killed four ducks, a goose, a black-diver and a lord. 1959 MCATEE 18 Black diver. Black Scoter (Nfld). 1846 TOCQUE 71 Great numbers of what some call Black-fish, and others Pot-heads, are killed during the month of September along the shores of Newfoundland. 1964 Evening Telegram 19 Feb, p. 2 Among fishermen there is a widespread opinion that the 'black-fish' or pothead whale, which is slaughtered in large numbers for mink meat, is a very stupid animal. [1822] 1915 HOWLEY 137 Myriads of moschetos, with black and sand flies, annoyed us. 1872 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 5 I have had my eyes almost closed many a time, and streams of blood coursing down my neck and face and clotting my beard and moustache, caused by the black fly. The torment was all but unendurable. 1975 HOLMES 41 Twenty-three species of black flies have been recorded near St John's, and of these Simulium venustum Say and S. vittatus Zetterstedt are the commonest species that bite man. 1883 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 4 With these Hagdowns are several of a rusty black colour, only the under parts of the wings being of a dirty white... The fishermen call them Black Hagdown... This is probably the Sooty Shearwater. 1967 Bk of Nfld iii, 282 Black Bawk or Black Hag-down. [1766] 1971 BANKS 146 The Furrs taken here are Black Patch [etc] [Black Patch is a colour phase of the Red Fox]. 5 In names of plants and shrubs: blackberry [see BLACKBERRY]; ~ hurt [see HURT]; ~ pear; ~ spruce; ~ whort [see HURT]. 1956 ROULEAU 26 Black Hurts: Gaylussacia baccata. 1898 J A Folklore xi, 226 Black pear. Pyrus arbutifolia. 1967 BEARNS 44 Because of its high wood density, black spruce is the most valuable pulpwood species in the Province. 1898 J A Folklore xi, 273 Black whorts. Gaylussacia (sp).
6 Comb black (art) book: book believed to contain secrets enabling a person to perform supernatural acts. C 68-40 People believed [him] to have a black-art book or to be possessed with the Devil. He could tell you your fortune just by looking into your hand. C 68-16 The black book is supposed to be a book given by the devil to someone who has given himself over to the devil. In it is information or knowledge of how to do things which ordinary men cannot do.
black ball: marker attached to trawl buoy for identification. 1921 Nat Geog July, p. 13 [caption:] Flying sets on the Bank / the dories are being towed by the schooner. The black disks are 'highflyers,' or 'black balls,' which are affixed to the buoys attached to the fishing lines, as markers. 1938 MACDERMOTT 170 The trawl is ... attached to a buoy which is known as a black ball, and which marks the place where the trawl is set. The black ball is a keg strapped with rope, and with a stick as stout as a shovel handle, from four to six feet long, passed through it; the stick bears a hooped canvas about eighteen inches in diameter on which is marked the dory's number. C 71-87 ~ This flag was homemade from calico, with a hoop sewed around the edge of it. it was then painted and the number of the dory was written on it so that each fisherman would be able to keep track of his own buoys.
black boy: (a) man with blackened face, hands and clothing, accompanying Christmas mummers; (b) charred tree remaining after a forest fire: also black-burn, blacky-boy. P 133-58 ~ , black burn: a stick of wood that has been seared in a forest fire. 1965 Evening Telegram 24 Dec The blackboys, so called because of their blackened hands and faces, were dressed in black clothes and tall hats and carried a staff. It was traditional that the blackboys should be well ahead of the mummers, for the mummers would have to try and catch them (which they always did), and having caught, would throw them in the snow and maul them about. C 70-15 Trees which had been burned over in a forest fire were much in demand [for firewood] because they were partly dry. However they were very sooty and called blacky-boys.
black jack: (a) variety of molasses from West Indies; (b) type of felt or tar paper used for waterproofing, insulation, etc. 1909 BROWNE 81 One firm did an extensive trade in 'Black Jack' (St Kitts' molasses). P 148-64 [The] roof [is] covered with black jack. 1971 NOSEWORTHY 174 ~ Black felt for placing on roofs and [in] fish boxes to hold the water. black man: a figure invoked to terrify children into good behaviour; the devil (P 148-60). T 301-66 They would say when children were naughty, 'Here's the bully-boo' or 'a black man.' 1961 Christmas Mumming in Nfld 138 The archetype stranger, the Devil, is the 'Black Man' or 'Blackie.'
black-man's bread, ~ cap: possibly harmful mushroom; FAIRY CAP (P 148-61). Q 67-25 Black-man's caps [are] mushrooms. 1971 NOSEWORTHY 174 Black-man's bread: inedible mushrooms.
black psalm: text thought to have sinister power. M 68-17 She believed that she could put a curse on anyone by reading a certain psalm, 'the black psalm,' she called it, 'on' the person she wished to curse. The number of the psalm was secret to her.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also invite you to visit our sister Facebook group.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books and released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Word of the Week (January 11-17): scuddling
Word of the Week: January 11 - 17
scuddling
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
scuddling vbl n Comb scuddling hole: hole at stern of boat through which oar is worked to steer or propel craft (Q 67-33); SCORE-HOLE, SCULLING HOLE. scuddling oar, scuddle ~ : scull; SCULLING OAR. 0 67-1 Scuddle oar—the oar used to steer the punt with. One person sits or stands in the stern of the punt and steers it with a scuddle oar. P 209-73 ~ an oar used to propel a punt through a hole in the stern.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also invite you to visit our sister Facebook group.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books and released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.
scuddling
Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
scuddling vbl n Comb scuddling hole: hole at stern of boat through which oar is worked to steer or propel craft (Q 67-33); SCORE-HOLE, SCULLING HOLE. scuddling oar, scuddle ~ : scull; SCULLING OAR. 0 67-1 Scuddle oar—the oar used to steer the punt with. One person sits or stands in the stern of the punt and steers it with a scuddle oar. P 209-73 ~ an oar used to propel a punt through a hole in the stern.
Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.
We also invite you to visit our sister Facebook group.
The word of the week is brought to you each week by Rattling Books and released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Revisiting Last Year's New Year's Resolutions: Don McKay
This time last year Rattling Books ran a New Year's Resolution Contest here at REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English.
Among the winners was this one from Don McKay.
January 2nd and your head still feels like a waddock that's been bashed up and down the field by size thirteen spaugs, and no wonder, you're after being a slinger randying all Christmas, guzzling the screech and stuffing your gob, telling your old cuffers filled with all that pishogue, how you were forever grassing in the bawn like the rawny merrybegot you are, how you'd marl up the droke with a joke and a bottle and all the girls waiting to kiss you in the drung behind the church hall, way back when you were but a lewardly nuzzle tripe of a angishore before the blue drop got in your blood and you were out jiggering for cod with the bawks and guds whirling overhead, the gillies, turrs and tickleaces skimming the surface, the swiles sculling and diving, now here you are so hung over you can hardly stand to shive the goowiddy off your fousty face, yes my son, you say to the boo in the mirror, you've been a jeezly seeny-sawny long enough, it's time for a whole yaffle of resolutions, if only you could figure out where to start.
*********************************************************
Don McKay is a poet whose most recent book Strike/Slip was awarded the Griffin Prize. In 2008 he selected and read poems of his on the themes of birds, birding and flight which he recorded with Rattling Books. The result was Songs for the Songs of Birds.
Most recently Don McKay has been honoured by the Government of Canada as a new member of the Order of Canada.
Among the winners was this one from Don McKay.
January 2nd and your head still feels like a waddock that's been bashed up and down the field by size thirteen spaugs, and no wonder, you're after being a slinger randying all Christmas, guzzling the screech and stuffing your gob, telling your old cuffers filled with all that pishogue, how you were forever grassing in the bawn like the rawny merrybegot you are, how you'd marl up the droke with a joke and a bottle and all the girls waiting to kiss you in the drung behind the church hall, way back when you were but a lewardly nuzzle tripe of a angishore before the blue drop got in your blood and you were out jiggering for cod with the bawks and guds whirling overhead, the gillies, turrs and tickleaces skimming the surface, the swiles sculling and diving, now here you are so hung over you can hardly stand to shive the goowiddy off your fousty face, yes my son, you say to the boo in the mirror, you've been a jeezly seeny-sawny long enough, it's time for a whole yaffle of resolutions, if only you could figure out where to start.
*********************************************************
Don McKay is a poet whose most recent book Strike/Slip was awarded the Griffin Prize. In 2008 he selected and read poems of his on the themes of birds, birding and flight which he recorded with Rattling Books. The result was Songs for the Songs of Birds.
Most recently Don McKay has been honoured by the Government of Canada as a new member of the Order of Canada.
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