Supercalifradgalisticexpialidocious Canadian words & sayings
by Bill Casselman
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from the preface by the author, Bill Casselman
from the preface. . .
As its title proclaims, this is a book full of wholesome Canadian word stories and family-friendly Canadian sayings: words first, sayings second. 550 expressions are inside and 156 are brand-new, never before published in any of my collections. Other books of mine have contained racy, raunchy and off-colour items but not this one. Uncle Billy promises purity and swears on a stack of rusty Paul Martin campaign buttons!
THE WORDS
This word collection highlights my own favourite Canadian word stories, especially chosen for the enjoyment of the whole family. For example...
Just How did the Maple Leaf Become the Emblem of Canada ?
Long symbolic of Canada, the leaf of a sugar maple has been the heraldic device on our flag since 1965. The Québec and Ontario coats-of-arms granted in 1868 have maple leaves; so does the 1921 Canadian coat-of-arms.
But did one event begin this Canada-maple leaf association?
Well, some say the maple leaf symbolism began with its use as camouflage!
An intriguing suggestion, in the form of a folktale, is repeated in Frank Quance’s The Canadian Speller: Grade 6 (3 rd. ed., Gage, 1950): “During the war of 1812-1814, the scarlet jacket of Canadian and British soldiers made a perfect target for the enemies. Therefore, when fighting in the woods, each soldier cut slips in his blouse and inserted a twig of maple leaves to bluff the enemy. This was the first time the maple leaf had been specifically identified with Canadians or with Canada .”
The Maple Leaf Forever!
One day in the fall of 1867 a Toronto school teacher named Alexander Muir was traipsing a street in the city, all squelchy underfoot from the soft felt of falling leaves, when a maple leaf alighted on his coat sleeve and stuck there. After it resisted several brushings-off, Muir joked to his walking companion that this would be “the maple leaf for ever!” At home that evening, he wrote a poem and set it to music, in celebration of Canada ’s Confederation earlier that year. Muir’s song, “The Maple Leaf Forever,” was wildly popular and helped fasten the symbol firmly to Canada and things Canadian.
These stories from Canadian history and from last night’s news headlines are entertaining and surprising. You’ll find out in the first section of my newthe book why some terms that we use everyday are not what they seem.
Did you know that Lake Huron is a vicious, nasty insult to our First Peoples?
Canada has a fish that ignites. On our Pacific coast, the oolichan or candlefish is so full of oil it can be lighted at one end and used as a candle. British Columbia pioneers did just that.
PIPSISSEWA?
• Have you tasted pipsissewa? It’s a First Nations word that is 100% Canadian. If you’ve ever taken a swig of good, home made, tongue-startling, palate-corrugating root beer (not the homogenized, limp-bubbled suds of commercial root beers), then you know the refreshing, wintergreen-like taste of Pipsissewa. Taste more Canadian words for our food and drink inside Canadian Words & Sayings!
Are You A Cheechako?
Ever thought of heading to northern Alberta’s tomorrow country, the tar sands. When you arrive, you’ll be a cheechako.Prospectors heading north to the Klondike gold rush of 1898 brought this Pacific coast word for ‘greenhorn’ or ‘newcomer’ with them and it is still is wide use throughout Canada’s far north. Cheechako is Chinook Jargon, chee ‘new’ + chako ‘come.’ The term was introduced into Canadian English by the popularity of Robert W. Service’s books of frontier poetry, especially Songs of a Sourdough (1907) and Ballads of a Cheechako (1909).
Canadian Words & Sayings features Weather Rhymes from all across Canada, like these two from Ontario:
1
When the woods murmur, and the Great Lakes roar,
Then close your windows, and stay on shore.
2
When poplar shows its underwear,
The clouds do rain and thunder bear.
Enjoy more Canuck words plus 550 Canadian folk sayings (including 156 expressions newly collected), waiting inside Bill Casselman's newest book.
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Supercalifradgalisticexpialidocious Canadian words & sayings
2006, McArthur & Co.
in English
1552785696 9781552785690
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Book Details
Published in
Toronto
Edition Notes
Includes index. Here is entire table of contents supplied by author:
Here are all the main word topics as listed on the contents page of the book:
Agincourt , Ontario
Alberta Chuckwagon Slang
Alberta ’s Fort Whoop-Up
Arctic Char & The Origin of the Word Arctic
Alder Trees, Canadian Beavers & Venice , Italy
Apples of Canada
Arborvitae: The Canadian Origin of This Cedar’s Name
Arctic Willow Tea
Athabasca
Bafflegab & Gobbledygook of Canada CD
Bakeapple
Baked Wind Pills
Balsamroot
Balsam & Balm: Word Lore Galore
Bangbelly
Bear Foot
Bear’s Butter
Bedlunch
Bellybusters
Birch Bark Moose Calls
“Birdcages” of Victoria , B.C.
Blé d’Inde (Indian Corn)
Blue-Blood Alley in Vancouver
Bluff on the Canadian Prairies
Boil-Up & A Pipe
Boss Ribs of Prairie Buffalo
Boucanière (Acadian Smokehouse) & Pirates
Bouillon d’Habitant (Farmer’s Stew)
Bourassa & Borage & Burro
Brewis
Brollywood , British Columbia
Bryan Adams
Buffalo Berry
Bungee of Manitoba
Butte
Butter Tart
Cabot: Famous Name in Canadian History
Cadillac: Automobile Takes Fur Trader’s Name
Calgary Redeye
Callaghan: A Literary Surname of Canada
Canola
Camas of British Columbia
Canada Bloodroot or Puccoon
Canadian Prison Slang: Benny, Billy & Dunker
Canadian Wild Ginger: A Pioneer Toothpaste
Cape Breton Pork Pies
Caribou
Catskinner
Charlottetown
Cheechako
Chiard
Cipaille or Sea Pie?
Ciselette (Pork & Molasses Dessert Sauce)
Coteaux of Canada
Colcannon Night in Newfoundland
Coulee
Cow Chips & Bodewash
Cushion Cactus Fruit of Alberta
Damper Dogs & Flacoons in Newfoundland
Digby Chicken
“Dog Patch” in Edmonton
Dollar Bill: A Canuck Buck
Dolly Varden Trout
Dough Gods
Douglas Fir of British Columbia
Duck Potato & Wapatoo: Canadian Terms for Arrowhead Plant
Dulse
Dumb Cake
Eau Claire in Calgary
Edmonton ’s Neighbourhoods
Eel Pie
Eh? Did Canucks Invent Eh?
Figgy Duff
Firewater
Fireweed Tea in the Yukon
First Meridian of Manitoba
Flipper Pie of Newfoundland
Foule : It Might Fool You.
Fredericton , New Brunswick
Fricot (Acadian Stew)
Frolic in New Brunswick Has Jumpy Origin.
Fungy
Geoduck a.k.a. Gooeyduck
Gin Pole
Gorbies all over Muskoka!
Gow in B.C. Waters
Grid Roads
Grunt
Halifax
Hallelujah Point in Vancouver
Ofra Harnoy: Meanings of A Cellist’s Name
Haw Eaters or Manitoulin Islanders
Hébert: Famous Surname of Québec
Hepatica
Here’s A Ho!
Herring-Choker in New Brunswick
Hewitt of Hockey Shoots & Scores.
High Muckamuck
Hoodoo
Hootch
Hurt Pie
Intervale of our Maritimes
Irish Moss Pudding
Jigg’s Dinner
Jill-Poke
Jollop
Juniper Tea
Kahahoosa or Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Kartoshnik — Doukhobors’ Potatoes
Kiack
Kinnikinnick
Kitsilano in Vancouver
Krall as in “Diana of the Keyboards”
Labrador Tea
Lake Winnipeg Goldeye
Lassy Mogs
Logging Jargon of British Columbia
Lucivee
Lumber: Origin of a Word in Canadian Economic History
Lunenburg Pudding
Malpeque Oysters of P.E.I.
Mangeurs De Lard or Porkeaters
Manitoulin
Manitowaning
Maple — The Totally Awesome Super Entry of this Entire Book
Marquis Wheat
Medicare
Mi’kmaq Potato or Groundnut
Mina : The Cree Word for ‘ Berry ’
Mooseberry
Moose Muffle Soup
Mug Up
Nanaimo Bar
Nettle Soup
Newfoundland Changes Its Name
Nuisance Grounds
Nunavik & Nunavut: Different Words for Different Places
Ontario Hydro
Oolichan: A Fish That Ignites
Ottawa
“Packingtown” In Edmonton
Peavey
Pembina Berry
Pemmican
Pickerel Weed
Pikelets
Pipsissewa
Pitcher Plant
Ponnukokur
Pork & Jerk
Potlatch
Pouding du Chômeur
Poutine: The Complete & Factual Story
Prairie: Origin of the Word
Prairie Chicken
Prickly Pear Cactus
Prince Edward Island of Many Names
Real Mccoy of Ontario : An African-Canadian Invention
Red River Bannock
Richibucto Goose
Rips
Robin Hood™ Flour
Rock Tripe or Tripe De Roche
Rouleauville in Calgary
Rubbaboo
St. John’s
Salal
Salmonberry or Olallie
Saskatoonberry
Saw-Off
Saw-Whet Owl
Scarborough
Scotchman’s Hill in Calgary
Scripture Cord
Scrunchins
Scut on Prince Edward Island
Shediacs
Skidroad in Vancouver
Skunk Cabbage & Me
Skyr
Sloven
Smelt Storm
Soapolallie, Soapberry or Hooshum
Sockeye Salmon: A British Columbia Word
Son-Of-A-Gun-In-A-Sack
Sonsy
Sounds
Squatum
Stog Your Face
Tar Sands of Fort Mcmurray , Alberta
Teddy of Shine
Tooney: Birth of a Canadian Money Word
Toronto Words & Place Names
Toronto Street Slang
Tourtière
Toutin
Tree Nails of New Brunswick
Trillium, a.k.a. Moose-Flower of Nova Scotia
Vent-View
Wangan & Wanigan
Weather Rhymes of Canada
Whore’s Egg
Why I’m Not a Word Cop: A Personal Essay
Winnipeg
Winnipeg Jambuster
- 550 Folk Sayings Used by Canadians
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| November 26, 2019 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
| November 18, 2018 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| December 3, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Added subjects from MARC records. |
| April 28, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the work. |
| December 8, 2009 | Created by ImportBot | add works page |