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.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
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.
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