three sisters

A calque from an Iroquoian language, compare Mohawk áhsen nikontatenò:sen, Oneida áshʌnaɂtekutahnú·tele, and Onondaga ahsę́ naˀdegųdęhnų́·dæ·ˀ.
First attested in 1850 in the context of Iroquoian mythology (see quote below). Use in reference to the plants themselves first attested in the 1890s (see also below).

One beautiful idea relates to the corn, beans and squashes, all indigenous plants which are called three sisters as well as their life or supporters. The thought is a happy one, for they grow together, and were always important in Indian life.

[1892, William M. Beauchamp, “Iroquois Stories”, in The Iroquois Trail, or Footprints of the Six Nations, […] , Fayetteville: H. C. Beauchamp, →LCCN, page 128:

The three sisters work together as companion plants in many ways. Growing wide-spreading pumpkin vine among vertically oriented corn and beans saves space.

2012, Gail Damerow, The Perfect Pumpkin: Growing/Cooking/Carving, Storey Publishing, →ISBN, page 56:

She gave me specifics on what to plant and the layout of the garden. Traditional Native American plants, heirloom varieties only, no GMOs allowed. Use the three sisters approach for planting corn, squash and beans, ilito onions would ring the interior of the fence and sunflowers would stand tall.

2012, Kathleen O’Dwyer, Breathing Blue: Giving my life to Spirit and Spirit to my life, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 151:

Phaseolus vulgaris
Phaseolus vulgaris#Translingual

(US, Canada, agriculture, horticulture) The combination of maize (corn), pole beans (Phaseolus vulgaris or climbing beans, string beans, etc.), and squash (i.e. pumpkin), especially when planted together in intertwined plantings.


trash fire

(slang, derogatory, chiefly Canada, US) Something which is very poorly done; a mess or fiasco.


social conservatism

(US, Canada) A conservative political philosophy, generally rooted in traditional Christian values and manifesting itself in opposition to drug use, birth control, abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and sexual permissiveness.


Scotch-Irish

(US, Canada) The descendants of Scottish settlers in the Irish province of Ulster.


butt burp

(Canada, US, slang) Synonym of bottom burp


truck nuts

(automobiles, US, Canada) plastic or metal accessories for pickup trucks and other vehicles which resemble a pair of dangling testicles


up to one's ass in alligators

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) Beset by multiple difficulties or adversaries that must be dealt with quickly.


smartassy

en-adj

smartassy (comparative more smartassy, superlative most smartassy)

more smartassy (comparative)
most smartassy (superlative)

(Canada, US, informal) Synonym of smartassed


butt virginity

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-butt virginity.wav

(Canada, US, informal) The state of never having received anal sex.


candy-assed

candy-assed (comparative more candy-assed, superlative most candy-assed)

more candy-assed (comparative)
most candy-assed (superlative)

(slang, somewhat endearing, often humorous, sometimes vulgar, Canada, US) cowardly; timid; wimpy


gaylord

A genericized trademark from the Gaylord Container Corporation, a manufacturer of packaging materials.

They come sorted according to type, in large cardboard gaylord boxes (you'll see pumpkins in these containers at supermarkets) or shrink-wrapped on a pallet.

2009 May 30, Ellen Moorhouse, “Where old computers go to die”, in Toronto Star:

(Canada, US) A large carton that fits on a pallet, used for transporting goods.


pure quill

“Have you sampled the pure quill, Tull?”

“Damn,” she said, “he was the pure quill, wasn't he? Him and you and Pardee and McKinnick come here drunk as lords and sing hymns till you passed out.”

(chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) The real thing, the genuine article.


cubic decimetre

en-noun

cubic decimetre (plural cubic decimetres)

cubic decimetres (plural)
cubic decimeter (alternative)

A unit of volume equal to that of a cube having sides each one decimetre in length, equal to 10⁻³ cubic metres and 1 litre. Commonly used in fluid measure and for engine sizes.


stepmum

(UK, Australia, Canada, New England, informal) Stepmother.


is all

All you have to do is ask it the right question is all.

2011, Helen DeWitt, Lightning Rods, And Other Stories 2013, p. 128

“Rat poison. Mmm. A nice lingering death!” added Burt with a breathy laugh. “They just taste a bit funny afterwards, is all.”

2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, colloquial) That is all; only, just and nothing more.


Triscuit

Marketing coinage, said to be from electricity and biscuit, though historical evidence is lacking; sources from around the time of its introduction interpreted the name to mean "thrice-cooked" (from tris-), like biscuit is ultimately from bis (“twice”) cuit (“cooked, baked”).

(US, Canada) A kind of wholewheat cracker.


robocaller

robocallers (plural)
robo caller (alternative)
robo-caller (alternative)

At first I thought it was some kind of robocaller, but last night I heard a TV in the background before whoever it was hung up.

(Canada, US, derogatory) The party that initiates a robocall.


red chamber

He hopes his life story – of the illiterate ex-hockey coach turned Conservative senator – can inspire others. Jacques Demers . . . is slated for a seat in the red chamber, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today.

2009 August 27, “Former NHL coach Demers headed to Senate”, in The Star, Toronto, Canada, retrieved 2016-04-20:

Harper announced Friday he will not appoint senators to a red chamber that already has 22 vacancies as long as the government can continue passing legislation.

2015 July 24, Jason Fekete, “Stephen Harper says he will not appoint any more senators to ‘unaccountable’ upper house”, in National Post, Canada, retrieved 2016-04-20:

Seven new senators will soon take their seats in the Red Chamber, appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

2016 March 18, “How might an independent Senate work?”, in Macleans, Canada, retrieved 2016-04-20:

(Canada, politics, informal, sometimes capitalized) The assembly hall in which the Senate of Canada convenes; (metonymically) the Senate of Canada itself.


buttass

At least he isn't butt-ass ugly. He was probably the shit during his time. Look at him in his multi-colored, polyester suit. He's sharper than a tack.

2015, Teresa D. Patterson, Wolf in the Pulpit, page 194:

(Canada, US, slang, mildly vulgar) Synonym of very


buttass

(Canada, US, humorous, slang, mildly vulgar) A term of abuse.


PCAT

Pharmacy College Admission Test
w:Pharmacy College Admission Test

(Canada, US, countable) Acronym of Pharmacy College Admission Test.


coproprietorship

coproprietorship (countable and uncountable, plural coproprietorships)

(Canada, Quebec, countable) A condominium.


resiliate

en-verb

resiliate (third-person singular simple present resiliates, present participle resiliating, simple past and past participle resiliated)

resiliates (present singular third-person)
resiliating (participle present)
resiliated (participle past)
resiliated (past)

From French résilier (“cancel, annul, invalidate”).

der

A lessee may resiliate the current lease if he is allocated a dwelling [...]. An employer may, where an employee ceases to be in his employ, resiliate a lease that is accessory to the contract of employment [...].

1989, Esten Kenneth Williams, F. W. Rhodes, Christopher Bentley, John McNair, Mavis Butkus, Marc Casavant, Canadian law of landlord and tenant:

One of the parties may, for a serious reason, unilaterally resiliate the contract ...

2003, Michał Seweryński, Collective Agreements and Individual Contracts of Employment, Kluwer Law International, →ISBN:

[...] Tremblay decided to give Normand notice on April 19, 2001, that it intended to resiliate the contract.

2012, John O. Haley, Fundamentals of Transnational Litigation: The United States, Canada, Japan, and The European Union, LexisNexis, →ISBN:

(Canada, law) To exit, cancel, or draw back from a lease or contract.


annual ryegrass

en-noun

annual ryegrass (countable and uncountable, plural annual ryegrasses)

Any of various species of ryegrass, including:

(US, UK, Canada) Lolium multiflorum, grown as a cover crop


bathroom bill

His goal, he emphatically clarified, was to enact “an anti-discrimination bill,” “not a bathroom bill.”

2020, Alexander K. Davis, Bathroom Battlegrounds: How Public Restrooms Shape the Gender Order, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 6:

Legislation concerning the use of public bathrooms.

(Canada, US, neologism) In particular, legislation concerning the use of public bathrooms by transgender individuals.


get one's ass handed to one

en-verb

get<,,got,gotten> one's ass handed to one

get one's ass handed to one (third-person singular simple present gets one's ass handed to one, present participle getting one's ass handed to one, simple past got one's ass handed to one, past participle gotten one's ass handed to one)

gets one's ass handed to one (present singular third-person)
getting one's ass handed to one (participle present)
got one's ass handed to one (past)
gotten one's ass handed to one (participle past)
get one's arse handed to one (alternative)

(vulgar, slang, Canada, US) To suffer an extraordinarily devastating defeat.


gotchies

It's well after midnight when the party breaks up and I return to my hotel. As I drift off to sleep there's a gentle tapping at my door. I stagger over in my gotchies and open up.

2019, Michael Mitchell, Final Fire: A Memoir:


PECA

Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island#English

(Canada) Initialism of Prince Edward Island Supreme Court, Appeal Division.


TCC

(Canada, law) Initialism of Tax Court of Canada.


Italian sausage

en-noun

Italian sausage (plural Italian sausages)

From being a common type of sausage in Italian cuisine.

(Canada, US, food, informal) A slightly spicy pork sausage flavoured with fennel and anise.


tater tot

Appellativisation of the trademark Tater Tot.

For sandwiches, you might sink your teeth into a Cape Cod reuben with crispy cod, Swiss and coleslaw with tater tots or sweet potato fries, fried chicken and waffle sandwich with maple aioli, or bacon jam burger — maple bourbon bacon jam, gorgonzola, fried egg, arugula, tomato.

2022 June 12, Lauren Daley, “How to eat through Blackstone Valley in a weekend”, in Boston Globe:

(Canada, US) A small cylindrical piece of grated potato, generally deep-fried.


continuing education

further education
further education#English

(US, Canada) Synonym of further education


alpine saxifrage

alpine saxifrage (usually uncountable, plural alpine saxifrages)

(Canada, US) Micranthes nidifica (peak saxifrage)

Any of several plant of alpine habit
Micranthes nidifica (peak saxifrage)


dine and dash

dine and dashes (plural)
dine-and-dash (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dine and dash.wav

He was also an irresponsible boozehound who habitually ran out on the check in restaurants, even though he must have known it was the waitress who had to pay the bill for such dine-and-dash customers.

2009 November 20, Stephen King, “Raymond Carver’s Life and Stories”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(Canada, US, informal) The crime of eating (up) a meal in a restaurant and leaving without paying.

eetpiraterij

leaving a restaurant without paying after eating


dine and dash

en-verb

dine and dash (third-person singular simple present dines and dashes, present participle dining and dashing, simple past and past participle dined and dashed)

dines and dashes (present singular third-person)
dining and dashing (participle present)
dined and dashed (participle past)
dined and dashed (past)
dine-and-dash (alternative)

(Canada, US, informal) To commit such an act.

吃霸王餐

to leave a restaurant without paying after eating

(étteremből) fizetés nélkül távozik/meglép/meglóg


Henson trust

After Leonard Henson of Guelph, Ontario, who set up an absolute discretionary trust that became the subject of a legal case.

(Canada, law, finance) A trust that protects the assets of a disabled person (typically an inheritance) and gives the trustee absolute discretion in how to use those assets to assist the beneficiary.


flat iron steak

en-noun

flat iron steak (plural flat iron steaks)

flat iron steaks (plural)
flat-iron steak (alternative)
flatiron steak (alternative)

(Canada, US) A tender, flavorful cut of beef from the shoulder of the steer.


Patriote

(Canada) Patriot (one of the devolution-of-power supporters in Lower Canada during the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-1838 (Patriots' War))


Loyalist

Patriot

antonym(s) of “person during the American Revolution”

republican

antonym(s) of “supporter of Irish unification”

(US, Canada, historical) A person from the 13 Colonies (of British North America from the eastern seaboard of mainland North America) who was in favor of remaining in the British Empire during the American Revolution.

United Empire Loyalist
w:United Empire Loyalist

(US, Canada, historical) Abbreviation of United Empire Loyalist.


assgasm

Many people are able to reach orgasm through anal penetration, called an “assgasm.” A female assgasm is a vaginal orgasm caused by stimulation or penetration of the anus, sometimes in combination with vaginal or clitoral stimulation.

2003 October 29, Christina Huff, “A Backdoor to Sexual Delight? Butt of Course!”, in The Daily Nexus:

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar, rare) An orgasm derived from the penetration of the anus.


CANSOFCOM

Special Operations Force
special operations force#English

(Canada, military) Abbreviation of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.


COMMARPAC

Unlike NORAD where a formally constituted bi-national command staff existed to handle emergencies, the bilateral naval organization, which was every bit as complex as that of NORAD but did not have the same history of political sensitivity, relied on liaison between the key headquarters: COMASWFORLANT in the United States and COMARLANT in Canada to deal with the Atlantic with a parallel structure on the Pacific through COMTHIRDFLT and COMMARPAC respectively.

2007, Peter T. Haydon, “Canadian Involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis Re-Reconsidered”, in The Northern Mariner, volume 17, number 2, CNRS & NASOH, →ISSN, page 62:

When I was assigned to COMMARPAC headquarters in 1973, it was for two reasons. The first was to get headquarters staff officer experience which helps your career down the road, and the second was I had some health issues and the flight surgeons wanted me out of the cockpit for a while.

2021, Lewis Allen Lambert, chapter 28, in On the 8th Day, God Created a Marine, Bloomington: AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

(Canada, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, maritime forces, Pacific.


CANMARPAC

(Canada, nautical, military) Abbreviation of Canadian maritime forces, Pacific.


CANMARCOM

(Canada, nautical, military) Abbreviation of Canadian maritime forces command.


Victor airway

From Victor (“the letter V in the ICAO spelling alphabet”), short for VOR (“VHF omnidirectional range”).

(US, Canada, aviation) Any of a set of low-altitude airways defined as line segments, each based on a straight line between either two VOR (VHF omnidirectional range) stations, or a VOR and a VOR intersection.


leisure centre

leisure centres (plural)
leisure center (alternative)

(UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada) A building or site open to the public for fitness and sporting activities.


rain barrel

rain barrels (plural)
rainbarrel (alternative)
rain-barrel (alternative)

(Canada, US) A barrel used to collect and store rainwater runoff, typically from rooftops via gutters.


Twizzler

Brand name, established in the 1920s, from twizzle + -er.

Drive-in Party. Lug the TV into the backyard, pop a couple of videos into the VCR, and serve popcorn, sodas, and Twizzlers.

1997, Kim Goad, Magic Moments: A Busy Woman's Guide to Forgotten Pleasures:

Fill cars with candy; link together with Twizzlers.

2002, Parents, volume 77, numbers 5-8, page 230:

(US, Canada) A kind of chewy candy in the form of long twists.


mangia-cake

mangia-cakes (plural)
mangia cake (alternative)

Macaronic compound of Italian mangia (“eat”, imperative of mangiare) + cake, literally “cake eater”. Compare Italian mangiapatate, mangiapolenta, mangiarane and similar.

af

imperative of <i class="Latn mention" lang="it">mangiare</i>

(Canada, Italian-Canadian slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person who does not have Italian ancestry.


COC

Coordinate term: CPC

(Canada, sports) Abbreviation of Canadian Olympic Committee.


donnybrookian

en-adj

donnybrookian (comparative more donnybrookian, superlative most donnybrookian)

more donnybrookian (comparative)
most donnybrookian (superlative)

Hereupon Ted drew forth his cudgel, hit the Turk a donnybrookian whack over the skull that laid him flat on the ground, and took to his heels.

2012, R.M. Ballantyne, The Pirate City: A Tale of the Pirates of the City of Algiers, and Their Defeat by the British Navy, The Floating Press, page 256

The favourite device of one of the Indian desert foxes here is of a donnybrookian flavour.

2016, Arthur Morrison, The Complete Works of Arthur Morrison, Delphi Classics - Series 6, (unpaginated)

All at once we find the irrepressible Count of Poitou in the thick of the fray, for no reason whatever that I can discover, except, may be, a general donnybrookian tendency to take part in any fight that is going!

1878, George Murray Smith, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Cornhill Magazine - Volume 37, Periodical Publication, page 87

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) Of or pertaining to a donnybrook; bellicose; disconcerted; raucous; clashing.


Mx.

“He takes a lot of inspiration directly from Elon Musk for better or for worse,” Mx. Morey said.

2021 May 4, Taylor Lorenz, “Mr. Beast, YouTube Star, Wants to Take Over the Business World”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

[TITLE] Mx. [PLURAL] Mxes. / Pronounced “mixes” [WHO USES IT] Nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people [IN WRITING] Mx. Riley Smith / Mx. Smith / The Mxes. Smith (relatives, or a married couple) / The Mxes. Smith, Laughlin, and Freedman (relatives or a group of individuals) / Mx. Riley Smith and Mx. Kai Laughlin (individuals or a couple) [IN CONVERSATION] “This is Mx. Riley Smith, they handle our design work.” / “The Mxes. Smith and Jones from the architecture firm Redefine Design are attending the wedding.” [NOTES] Mx. can also be used when you don’t want your gender known.

2022, Lizzie Post, Daniel Post Senning, “Greetings & Introductions”, in Emily Post’s Etiquette, centennial/20th edition, New York, N.Y.: Ten Speed Press, →ISBN, page 45:

“They’re like, we want to make it like a place where people want to meet up. But why wouldn’t people want to meet up in a gigantic ice-cream parlor?” questioned Mx. Herzog, who prefers to use a gender-neutral honorific.

2022 July 29, Dodai Stewart, “The Fight to Save New York’s Extravagantly ’80s Subway Entrance”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Mx. Silverman is a playwright and the author, most recently, of the novel “There’s Going to Be Trouble.”

2024 April 28, Jen Silverman, “Art Isn’t Supposed to Make You Comfortable”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

US and Canada standard form of Mx (“gender neutral title”).


Esperantize

en-verb

Esperantize (third-person singular simple present Esperantizes, present participle Esperantizing, simple past and past participle Esperantized)

Esperantizes (present singular third-person)
Esperantizing (participle present)
Esperantized (participle past)
Esperantized (past)
Esperantise (alternative)

Calque of Esperanto esperantigi, equivalent to Esperanto + -ize.

(US, Canada) To translate into Esperanto.

(US, Canada) To transcribe (a proper noun) into the alphabet of Esperanto.


gas boat

Round noon the gas boat’s impudent sputter ticked out across the wide face of the Naas River.

1941, Emily Carr, chapter 9, in Klee Wyck:

(Canada, US) A boat powered by a petrol engine.


snake fence

Snake fences were extravagant in land and in wood, but wood and land were cheaper in Canada in early days than were nails and hinges.

1942, Emily Carr, “Beginnings”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

A breaker of green uniforms plunges down the slope of Lime Ridge, curls around sugar bushes and thickets, cascades over stone walls and snake fences, as the Fenians come howling down on them, rifles snapping.

2011, Guy Vanderhaeghe, chapter 22, in A Good Man, McClelland & Stewart:

(US, Canada) A zigzag fence built from interlocking split logs or young trees, not secured with nails.


TV timeout

TV timeouts (plural)
TV time-out (alternative)
TV time out (alternative)
television time-out (alternative)
television time out (alternative)
television timeout (alternative)

(Canada, US, sports television) A time-out taking place during a televised sports match where the game clock is stopped for a period of time to allow for TV commercials to air before the resumption of play. The delay is usually after a whistle or other stoppage of play occurs, and not an interference with gameplay in and of itself.


monocolour

Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and UK standard spelling of monocolor.


Alcan

Nowadays the Alcan presents a true challenge to the traveler as the road surface is "variable" to say the least.

2004, Andrew Montgomery, On the Road, →ISBN, pages 136–137:

The trip had been my idea. Like a lot of travel obsessions, it began with a map and a hazy idea of what we might see and encounter. I wanted to explore parts of the 1,387-mile-long Alaska Highway, a.k.a. the Alcan, constructed in a hurry during World War II to connect the contiguous United States to Alaska.

2015 July 4, Rosemary McClure, “Wonder-filled trip of a lifetime along the Alaska Highway”, in Los Angeles Times:

(slang, US, Canada) The Alaska Highway, which connects British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska.


S.I.

Civil Procedure Rules 1998, S.I. 1998/3132 (L. 17)

statutory instrument
statutory instrument#English

(UK, Canada, Australia, law, in citation) Initialism of statutory instrument.


grandparented

Also raised were the potential challenges long-standing practitioners might face in collecting documentation of their training for the grandparented registration process: Asking for transcripts or study reports may [create] great difficulties for those old practitioners, for these schools, or professors may not exist anymore [sic]. [CM] A small number of respondents opposed the grandparented registration process outright, arguing that all registrants should be required to [W]rite an exam in order to have a legal license!…no Grandfather law. [CM] However, Chinese medicine practitioners’ most pronounced concern around grandparented registration pertained to the issue of language.

2015 September 7, Nadine Ijaz et al., “Supportive but “worried”: perceptions of naturopaths, homeopaths and Chinese medicine practitioners through a regulatory transition in Ontario, Canada”, in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, volume 15, →DOI:

(Canada, New Zealand) That satisfies older, but not current, rules or regulations


never-sweat

“If you're planning on drilling your own oil, Ms. McCullough, let me assure you there is no faster way to go bankrupt, and you'll end up living in one of those houses with the niggers and the never-sweats.”

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 281:

(slang, chiefly Canada, US, Australia) An idle or lazy person.


LIB

(politics) Abbreviation of Liberal Party.

(Canada, politics) Abbreviation of Liberal Party.

Abbreviation of Liberal Party.
Abbreviation of Liberal Party.


tylenol

en-noun

tylenol (countable and uncountable, plural tylenols)

(Canada, US, uncountable) The pharmaceutical drug acetaminophen (“paracetamol”)

(Canada, US, countable) A tablet containing this drug


GPO

(Canada, politics) Initialism of Green Party of Ontario.


major junior

(sports, Canada, US) pertaining to the top-level competition leagues of the junior age group, above junior AAA


chocolate digestive

chocolate digestive (plural chocolate digestives)

(UK, Ireland, Canada) A digestive biscuit with a chocolate coating on one side.


Bingogate

(Canada, informal) A 1990s scandal in British Columbia around the skimming of charity bingo funds to benefit the ruling New Democratic Party.


save the furniture

en-verb

save the furniture (third-person singular simple present saves the furniture, present participle saving the furniture, simple past and past participle saved the furniture)

saves the furniture (present singular third-person)
saving the furniture (participle present)
saved the furniture (participle past)
saved the furniture (past)

An allusion to rapidly removing as much furniture as possible from a building threatened by fire, flood, or a similar disaster. Compare French sauver les meubles.

[S]winging progressives were keen to consolidate the diving Labor vote and save the furniture so that a reasonably-sized progressive opposition party could live to fight another day.

2013 October 4, Christopher Drew, “Why the Greens were the real election losers”, in ABC News, Australia, retrieved 2016-12-04:

A week after a headline in a Montreal newspaper suggested the NDP Leader’s numbers are so low it is time to “save the furniture,” he is still battling aggressively.

2015 October 4, Gloria Galloway, “Mulcair touts NDP as only way for western Canadians to oust Tories”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 2016-12-04:

In other words, the PLP could unite behind an experienced figure who would take them to a dignified defeat but would save the furniture.

2016 March 9, John McTernan, “Jeremy Corbyn's days are numbered if MPs stand firm”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2016-12-04:

(idiomatic, UK, Canada, Australia) To salvage something positive from a calamitous situation, especially one involving the reputation or fate of a political party.


winnebago

en-noun

winnebago (plural winnebagoes or winnebagos)

winnebagoes (plural)
winnebagos (plural)

Genericization of the trademark Winnebago, named after Winnebago County, Iowa, where the company used to be headquartered.

The wildly entertaining trip that follows, involving a used Winnebago and an old pickup truck with ropes for seatbelts, has a profound effect on Pedro.

2023 September 13, Matt de la Peña, “‘Mexikid’ and ‘Salsa Magic’ Drive Latino Kids to Their Roots”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

recreational vehicle
recreational vehicle

(Canada, US, automotive, slang) A motorhome; a recreational vehicle (RV).


where the puck is heading

An allusion to the sport of ice hockey, attributed to famed player Wayne Gretzky who reported he was taught: “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

But he also has the uncanny ability to sense where the puck is heading. His opponents merely follow it. If team work and foresight are national characteristics of Canadians, they will be invaluable in our pursuit of victory at the global arena.

1991, David W. Conklin, Lucie Deschênes, Canada's Information Revolution, page 45:

New people are often hired because they bring ideas and skills needed to take a company where the puck is heading, not where it is today.

2014, Malachi O'Connor, Barry Dornfeld, The Moment You Can't Ignore: When Big Trouble Leads to a Great Future:

(Canada) Where things are headed; to a predicted future state of things.


land patent

(US, Canada) An exclusive grant of land made by a sovereign entity with respect to a particular tract of land.


in the worst way

I need a drink of water in the worst way.

Man, I need a life in the worst way.

2008 March 17, Kady O'Malley, “Wake me up when it’s — what’s the opposite of ‘over’?”, in Macleans, Canada, retrieved 2016-12-27:

I wanted this to work in the worst way because my reputation was on the line here. . . .

2010 February 11, T. Coraghessan Boyle, “Excerpt: Wild Child”, in New York Times, retrieved 2016-12-27:

Stern as well as assorted television executives needed a game seven in the worst way, and "the worst way" might be how they're getting one.

2012 May 25, Hunter Felt, “NBA playoffs preview”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2016-12-27:

(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) Urgently; desperately; to an extreme degree.


sketch-ass

en-adj

sketch-ass (comparative more sketch-ass, superlative most sketch-ass)

more sketch-ass (comparative)
most sketch-ass (superlative)

(slang, vulgar, Canada, US) Sketchy; dubious.


Lavallée

Lavallées (plural)
Lavallee (alternative)

(Canada) A surname from French. Alternative form of Lavallee


pump someone's tires

en-verb

pump someone's tires (third-person singular simple present pumps someone's tires, present participle pumping someone's tires, simple past and past participle pumped someone's tires)

pumps someone's tires (present singular third-person)
pumping someone's tires (participle present)
pumped someone's tires (participle past)
pumped someone's tires (past)
pump up someone's tires (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pump someone's tires.wav

"I'm sure (Toronto coach) Greg Gilbert is going to pump their tires with the fact they've beat us six times."

2009 April 14, Canadian Press, "AHL leaders in regular season, Manitoba prepares for series with Toronto," The Hockey News (Canada) (retrieved 1 Feb 2017)

Now, with Suisham enjoying a career season, those in his hometown are pumping his tires.

2012 December 8, Mike Zeisberger, “Football: Canadian kid Suisham has been money for Steelers”, in Toronto Sun, Canada, retrieved 2017-02-01:

Jonathan Toews . . . has allowed himself to come unglued emotionally during Game 4 of the Detroit series, and to fall back on the sweet sounds of teammates and coaches pumping his tires for his many wonderful qualities.

2013 June 20, Cam Cole, “Seabrook guides captain through troubled waters”, in Vancouver Sun, Canada, retrieved 2017-02-01:

His coach is pumping his tires for conference MVP and Matt Fuller is doing his best to oblige.

2013 December 4, Steve Green, “Hockey: London Nationals win 4-2 over Lambton Shores Predators”, in London Free Press, Canada, retrieved 2017-02-01:

(chiefly Canada, idiomatic) To praise, encourage, or vigorously support someone.


tire chain

tire chains (plural)
tyre chain (alternative)


meat bee

From meat + bee, so called because it resembles a bee and is known for feeding on meat and other human food left exposed outdoors.

(Canada, US, informal) The yellowjacket.


poundmaker

From pound (“animal pound”) + maker. From translation of the Plains Amerind terms.

A number of poundmakers have entered tribal history; their names are known and their deeds recounted. Such poundmakers include Loud Voice of the Plains Cree (Skinner 1914:525), and White Raven of the Assiniboin (Weekes 1948:16).

1973, Thomas F. Kehoe, The Gull Lake Site: A Prehistoric Bison Drive Site in Southwestern Saskatchewan:

Specialists known as poundmakers supervised the construction of a pound and possessed spiritual powers that enabled them to "call a herd" in for the kill.

1994, Katherine Pettipas, Severing the Ties That Bind: Government Repression of Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the Prairies:

The best poundmakers in the band have done their work.

2016, Janet Louise Swoboda Lunn, The Story of Canada:

(Canada, US, Amerind culture) One who makes buffalo pounds.


mathwise

[…] odd little Mr. Jacobs […] taught math from the perspective of a character of his own invention called “Dilcue”—the inversion of “Euclid”—who did everything wrong, mathwise […]

2007, Stacey Grenrock Woods, I, California, page 65:

Using charts to identify trends is probably the slickest of the expert liar's tricks, and this stuff can get ambitious, mathwise.

2011, Gerald Everett Jones, How to Lie with Charts, page 16:


badge of honour

en-noun

badge of honour (plural badges of honour)

Opposition to climate science has become not just the badge of honour for far-right politicians like Ukip’s Paul Nuttall. It has become the central tenet of their appeal to unreason.

2017 February 20, Paul Mason, “Climate scepticism is a far-right badge of honour – even in sweltering Australia”, in the Guardian:

(UK, Canada) Alternative form of badge of honor


trauma centre

trauma centres (plural)
trauma center (alternative)

(Canada) A type of hospital with a highly capable trauma department.


JCC

(Canada) Initialism of Jewish community centre.


cutbank

That particular day, walking along the streambed by the church, they came to a fresh cutbank where the earth had caved.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 154:

(Canada, US) The outer edge of the bend in a stream or river, where the water cuts into the bank leaving the opposite side flat.


Spocking

(Canada, slang) The practice of defacing certain editions of the Canadian five-dollar banknote, using ink to alter Sir Wilfrid Laurier's features to resemble the character Spock from Star Trek.


back-butt

back-butts (plural)
back butt (alternative)
backbutt (alternative)

The amended criminal complaint specifically alleged that Hirsch touched A.L.H.'s "front butt" or vaginal area (Count I), then her "back butt" or anal area (Count II), and then her "front butt" a second time (Count III).

1987, North western reporter. Second series:

Well I was leaning over to get something, I think it was a blanket and then I felt his hand like on my back butt.

1988, Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Montana, Volume 232:

K.R. further testified that E.H. also made her suck her “back butt.” When asked to show the court where her “back butt” was, K.R. stood up and pointed to her tailbone.

But this time Mr Butt turned his gruesome, bared back-butt to me and let fly with a hideous windripper that must have broken records.

2016, Steve Cole, Invisible Inc., →ISBN:

(Canada, US, slang, euphemistic) Buttocks.


front butt

front butts (plural)
frontbutt (alternative)
front-butt (alternative)

(Canada, US, slang, euphemistic) Synonym of front bottom


sports center

sports centers (plural)
sports centre (alternative)

(US, Canada) A building or building complex housing in which a variety of sports can be played.


all-way stop

(Canada, US, South Africa) A road intersection that traffic approaching from all directions is required to stop before proceeding through.


profit centre

British and Canada standard spelling of profit center.


entertainment centre

entertainment centre (plural entertainment centres)

entertainment center
entertainment center#English

British and Canada standard spelling of entertainment center.


power centre

British and Canada standard spelling of power center.


tonal centre

British and Canada standard spelling of tonal center.


fitness centre

British and Canada standard spelling of fitness center.


Leaf

(slang, Canada) A member of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, its organization, or its supporters.


CBJ

CBJ sign D Nutivaara to four-year extension.

2018, TSN staff, CBJ sign D Nutivaara to four-year extension, TSN

WPG 1 @ CBJ 2 (OT)

2017, Micah Blake McCurdy, WPG 1 at 2 CBJ (OT), HockeyViz:

Plenty of blame to go around after CBJ playoff collapse.

2018, Associated Press, Tortorella: Plenty of blame to go around after CBJ playoff collapse, canoe.com

Columbus Blue Jackets
w:Columbus Blue Jackets

(Canada, US, ice hockey) Abbreviation of Columbus Blue Jackets.


Bloggins

(Canada, military) A generic name placeholder


AHS

(Canada, health, medicine, government) Initialism of Alberta Health Services.


momness

I can still remember the sensation of being carried by her, what it felt like to put my face into the soft crook between her shoulder and her neck, the smell of her perfume and shampoo. I remember her momness.

2015, Gemma Burgess, The Wild One, page 106:

(informal, Canada, US) The state, quality, or condition of being a mother.


Stoney

From their supposed use of stone in making fires for cooking.

(Canada) A member of the Nakoda, a First Nation related to the Sioux living in western Canada, especially in southern Alberta.


slicktop

(US, Canada, law enforcement, informal) a police car with painted markings and decals but no external rooftop lights.


rock wren

(Canada, US) A wren native to South America and western North America (Salpinctes obsoletus),


low-residency

(Canada, US, education) Involving some amount of distance education and brief on-campus or on-site residencies.


show one's ass

en-verb

show one's ass (third-person singular simple present shows one's ass, present participle showing one's ass, simple past showed one's ass, past participle shown one's ass)

shows one's ass (present singular third-person)
showing one's ass (participle present)
showed one's ass (past)
shown one's ass (participle past)

Joe's out there again arguing with the neighbors, showing his ass like he always does.

(Canada, US, vulgar) To act or behave in a rude or obnoxious manner; to misbehave.


Hockeytown

From hockey + town, in reference to the sport.

(informal, US, Canada) A nickname for any of a number of cities, towns, or communities in the United States or Canada that have a history and reputation of participating in the sport of ice hockey.


chantoosie

chantoosies (plural)
chantoozie (alternative)

From French chanteuse (“female singer”).

The estimable drag queen Varla Jean Merman, meanwhile, treads more familiar but no less fruitful ground as the conniving chantoozie Miss Jeannie Jeannine.

2011 May 20, Eric Grode, “Varla Jean Merman and Leslie Jordan in ’Lucky Guy’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-17:

Net confirmed today that Lovato will return to judge season three of the singing competish, which launches this fall. The pop chantoosie joined the show during its second season, helping to draw younger auds to the program.

2013 March 28, AJ Marechal, “Demi Lovato Set to Return to 'X Factor'”, in Variety, Los Angeles, C.A.: Penske Media Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-09-26:

Academics play pivotal roles in everything from The Blue Angel (schoolteacher destroyed by ambitious, scantily clad chantoozie) to Goodbye, Mr Chips (lovable schoolteacher behaves lovably to lovable public school boys) to A Beautiful Mind (mentally unstable academic wins Nobel prize and the right to date Jennifer Connelly).

2015 July 9, Joe Queenan, “From Wonder Boys to Irrational Man: why Hollywood loves a hot professor”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-11-08:

(Canada) A woman employed to sing in a nightclub.


triple triple

triple triples (plural)
triple-triple (alternative)

(Canada, informal) A coffee with the equivalent of three creamers and three packets of sugar.


NBP

New Blue Party
w:New Blue Party of Ontario

(Canada, politics) Abbreviation of New Blue Party.


CPP

Canada Pension Plan
w:Canada Pension Plan

(Canada) Initialism of Canada Pension Plan.


momsplain

momsplain (third-person singular simple present momsplains, present participle momsplaining, simple past and past participle momsplained)

momsplains (present singular third-person)
momsplaining (participle present)
momsplained (participle past)
momsplained (past)

(Canada, US, informal) To explain something in a condescending manner to a childless person, presuming that childless people have a lower social status or judgement skills.


(Canada, US, telephony) Alternative form of 411


city desk

There were many human interest stories culled from the police-court news or from anything else that came to the city desk.

1940, Helen Hughes, News and the Human Interest Story, page 21:

(Canada, US, newspapers) The department or staff responsible for reporting and editing local news.


hoco

hocos (plural)
HOCO (alternative)
HoCo (alternative)

(Canada, US) Clipping of homecoming (“tradition in colleges and high schools”).


en:2006 transatlantic aircraft plot security reaction

(Canada, US, telephony) Alternative form of 311


LAC

Los Angeles Clippers
w:Los Angeles Clippers

(Canada, US, basketball) Initialism of Los Angeles Clippers.


ten-cent tour

(Canada, US, informal) A basic or makeshift tour; a quick trip around.


Indian bread

(Canada, US) Unleavened bread made and consumed by indigenous peoples of the Americas; bannock.


pony engine

en:small auxiliary engine to warm and start a larger engine

(Canada, US, dated) A small gasoline engine serving as an auxiliary to a diesel engine (mainly in older designs from the 1930s to 1950s), providing heat to warm it up and, when engaged with a clutch, providing cranking to start it up.


nature's candy

(Canada, US, informal) Any sweet-tasting fruit.


hitch one's wagon to a star

hitch one's wagon to a star (third-person singular simple present hitches one's wagon to a star, present participle hitching one's wagon to a star, simple past and past participle hitched one's wagon to a star)

hitches one's wagon to a star (present singular third-person)
hitching one's wagon to a star (participle present)
hitched one's wagon to a star (participle past)
hitched one's wagon to a star (past)

Coined by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay "Civilization" (1870).

[Emerson] was not afraid to be homely and racy in expressing thought of the highest spirituality. "Hitch your wagon to a star" is a good instance of his favorite manner.

1891, Henry Augustin Beers, “The Concord Writers 1837-1861”, in Initial Studies in American Letters:

Well, he was done, he solaced himself. He had hitched his wagon to a star and been landed in a pestiferous marsh.

1909, Jack London, chapter 41, in Martin Eden:

So if you've had enough of life as an employee and you're planning to set up your own home-based business, do the sensible thing and hitch your wagon to the fastest rising star today — the Internet.

2002, Luis S. R. Vas, Business Ideas You Can Turn Into Cash:

Pick a star, or hero, or whatever product/service/idea you are presenting, and hitch your wagon to it.

2014, Ozana Giusca, More and Better Customers - Blogging Action Plan, page 19:

(Canada, US, idiomatic) To commit to an aspirational goal or course of action that will lead to fulfillment.


Bob Lincoln

Imitative of the bird's call, like bobolink.

[…] my first impression was, "there is a Bob Lincoln."

1840, Philip Henry Gosse, The Canadian naturalist : a series of conversations on the natural history of Lower Canada, page 131:

(US, Canada) The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).


school district

en-noun

school district (plural school districts)

(Canada, US) An administrative unit responsible for public primary and secondary schools in a particular locality; the area under the jurisdiction of such an administrative unit.

skoledistrikt

governmental district for public schools


NYI

Apr 7, NYI (35-47) beat DET, 4-3 OT.

2018, unknown, 2017-18 New York Islanders Roster and Statistics, Hockey Reference

Tor 5, NYI 4

2018, Steve Dangle, LFR11 - Game 78 - Brooklyn Barbecued - Tor 5, NYI 4, Sportsnet

NYI (25-20-5) at VGK (32-12-4)

2018, unknown, “New York Islanders at Vegas Golden Knights - Box Score”, in Fox Sports:

(Canada, US, ice hockey) Abbreviation of New York Islanders.


NYR

NYR offered to move Lundqvist in February.

2018, TSN staff, NYR offered to move Lundqvist in February, TSN

Quinn informs BU he's taking NYR job.

2018, unknown, New York Rangers, Rotoworld:

Jesper Fast selected as recipient of NYR Player's Player Award for 3rd year in a row.

2018, unknown, Jesper Fast Selected as Recipient of NYR Player's Player Award for 3rd Year in a Row, KO Sports

(Canada, US, ice hockey) Abbreviation of New York Rangers.


VGK

He let VGK defenseman Shea Theodore have the passing lane that Theodore used to get the puck through a lot of bodies to an open Tomas Nosek.

2018, Alex Kushner, Eric Stephen, “The Golden Knights beat the Capitals in a dramatic Stanley Cup Game 1”, in SB Nation:

Game 1: Winnipeg 4, VGK 2

2018, TC Martin, “VGK Best in the West, Stanley Cup Finals Next”, in Las Vegas Sports Network:

NHL Playoff Appearances: 28 (WAS) vs. 1 (VGK)

2018, Cam Ellis, “2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2018 Tale of the Tape: Washington D.C. vs Las Vegas”, in NBC Sports:

Vegas Golden Knights
w:Vegas Golden Knights

(Canada, US, ice hockey) Abbreviation of Vegas Golden Knights.


NJD

Carey Price joined Jacques Plante for an incredible Canadiens record in tonight's game against NJD.

2018, BarDown staff, Carey Price joined Jacques Plante for an incredible Canadiens record in tonight's game against NJD, BarDown

Yegor Yakovlev signed a 1 year $925,000 contract with New Jersey (NJD).

2018, unknown, New Jersey Devils 2018 Salary Cap Table, Spotrac

2018, Justin Blades, 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: NJD vs. TBL, CBJ vs. WSH, TOR vs. BOS
NJD vs. TBL

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Eeli Tolvanen (NSH), Rasmus Sandin (TOR), Ty Smith (NJD), Adam Boqvist (CHI), Denis Gurianov (DAL), ...

2019 October 1, “NHL Trophy Talk: 31 Calder Candidates”, in The Hockey Writers:

(see title)

2019 October 6, “Sabres' Jack Eichel: Goal and assist vs. NJD”, in CBS Sports:

Travis Zajac – Passed Scott Niedermayer for fifth place in GP in NJD franchise history with 893 (Feb. 7, 2019 vs. NYI).

2019 October 11, “DEVILS SATURDAY: New Jersey visits Boston (MSG, 7 pm)”, in Times Herald-Record:

(Canada, US, ice hockey) Abbreviation of New Jersey Devils.


LAL

(Canada, US, basketball) Abbreviation of Los Angeles Lakers of Los Angeles, California, USA, in the National Basketball Association (NBA)


hotter than a pistol

en-adjective

hotter than a pistol (comparative form only)

"Carl Perkins and I were in Amory, Mississippi, with Elvis. Now Elvis, of course, was hotter than a pistol. He had his second record out."

1988, Steve Turner, “Interview with Johnny Cash”, in The Man Called CASH, published 2005, →ISBN:

Leasing activity is frenzied throughout Manhattan. . . . "Broadway is hotter than a pistol and you have to shoehorn your way into SoHo," reports Faith H. Consolo.

1993 September 12, Claudia H. Deutsch, “Commercial Property/Analyzing Trends”, in New York Times, retrieved 2018-01-10:

Joey Logano, who's hotter than a pistol, won the NASCAR Chase race at Kansas Sunday.

2015 October 20, Norris McDonald, “Autos: Racing Roundup”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 2018-01-10:

(idiomatic, chiefly US, Canada) Exceptionally popular, productive, or marketable.


magslip

magslips (plural)
mag-slip (alternative)
mag slip (alternative)

From "magnetic slip ring", because these replace electrical slip-rings that rely on direct contact.

Provision should be made as in GL 1 for entry of electrical supplies and for connection of telephone and magslip cables.

1981, W E K Middleton, Radar Development in Canada, →ISBN, page 130:

There are two gyroscopes. One is a vertical keeping gyroscope whose signal goes through two selective transmitter magslips to a follow through magslip which is similarly operated by a rolling velocity gyroscope. The combined selected signal is transmitted to the hunter magslip of the oil motor and pump. The mechanical movement of a gyroscope alters the rotor position of the transmitter magslip and the current flow moves the rotor of the hunter magslip to a corresponding positon (just as transmitter and receiver telemotors).

2013, Paul Anthony Russell, Leslie Jackson, Thomas D. Morton, Reeds Vol 8 General Engineering Knowledge for Marine Engineers, →ISBN:

With a single magslip as the transmitter and another as the receiver, the error of alignment is of the order of 1°.

2017, A. M. P. Brookes, P. Hammond, Basic Instrumentation for Engineers and Physicists, →ISBN:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada) Any of a variety of devices that rely on magnetic slip rings to drive a transmitter and receiver that rotate in unison.


PIPEDA

w:Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

(Canada, law) Initialism of Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.


Quebeckish

From Quebec + -ish. Compare English Quebecois.

Quebecish (alternative)
Quebequish (alternative)

There are times when the French-Canadians in the other provinces complain that the network image is too Quebeckish, and much more on television than on radio.

1970, Proceedings of the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media:

We can say that those years saw the birth of a freewheeling discussion of education, religion, and the traditional interpretation of national history. Inevitably, the critics came to attack Quebec Catholicism and those who had narrowed it and made it peculiarly “Quebeckish.”

1978, Marcel Rioux, Quebec in Question, page 68:

Finally, the article is given excellent play in the newspaper, ideally with a photograph of the unfortunate cabby. He should look as foreign and un-Quebecish as possible.

2002, Normand Lester, The Black Book of English Canada, page 22:

(rare, Canada) Of, pertaining to, or typical of Quebec.


skidoo

en-verb

skidoo (third-person singular simple present skidoos, present participle skidooing, simple past and past participle skidooed)

skidoos (present singular third-person)
skidooing (participle present)
skidooed (participle past)
skidooed (past)
skiddoo (alternative)

Uncertain. Perhaps related to skedaddle. Attested since the early twentieth century.

There goes the supper gong! Annie, you and Mary had better skidoo out of this room or you'll get so many demerits you won't be out of bounds to go home in June.

1917, Nell Speed, Back at School with the Tucker Twins:

(informal, Canada, US, intransitive) to depart, especially to depart quickly


skidoo

skidoos (present singular third-person)
skidooing (participle present)
skidooed (participle past)
skidooed (past)

On several evenings, after Glen had finished his work and returned to Resolute, we skidooed out to the Parcol and sat in wait for ‘Sea Biscuit’.

1985, Hugh Miles, Mike Salisbury, Kingdom of the Ice Bear, page 79:

Even skidooing on the farm in my younger years was not that much fun though I recall one time after a storm, I had gone skidooing and I hit some unexpected snow drifts that sent that skidoo flying into the air one minute and plummeting back down the next.

(Canada, US) To drive or ride on a snowmobile


pet store

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pet store.wav


jerkhole

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-jerkhole.wav

Blend of jerk + asshole; possibly originated as a euphemism.

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) An obnoxious person; a jerk.


dorkweed

(slang, Canada, US, derogatory) dork; idiot


way enough

weigh enough (alternative)
way 'nuff (alternative)

(Canada, US, rowing) A coxswain's order for rowers to cease rowing immediately.


way enough

way enough (third-person singular simple present way enoughs, present participle way enoughing, simple past and past participle way enoughed)

way enoughs (present singular third-person)
way enoughing (participle present)
way enoughed (participle past)
way enoughed (past)
weigh enough (alternative)
way 'nuff (alternative)

(Canada, US, rowing) To stop rowing after a "way enough" command.


twenty-five cent word

en-noun

twenty-five cent word (plural twenty-five cent words)

The old man chuckled. “Well, you can bandy twenty-five cent words all you want, but— Say! we’ve never had a talk like this before, have we? […]”

1950, Jack Kerouac, chapter 11, in The Town and the City, New York: Harcourt, published 1983, page 331:

1988, Howard Rosenthal, Not With My Life I Don’t: Preventing Your Suicide and That of Others, Muncie, Indiana: Accelerated Development, Inc., Chapter 4, p. 18,
Some of the most incredible cases I have ever worked with involve the act of pulling strands of hair from one’s own head. Psychiatrists and psychologists have a twenty-five cent word for this behavior. They call it Trichotillomania.

Remember that while the English language has lots of “twenty-five cent” words like perturb or effrontery, statuesque or decorous, it also has lots of essential short, sturdy words like of or but, say or stop or glow.

2015, Barbara Baig, Spellbinding Sentences, Blue Ash, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, Section 2, Chapter 4, p. 37:

(Canada, US, dated) Synonym of ten-dollar word.


tard guard

(Canada, US, slang, offensive) A person employed to look after people with mental disabilities, particularly involving restraint and protecting the person from harming himself or others.


butt bag

Each carried a shielded crimson dive light, invisible from the surface, which gave objects a gray, pallid distortion. They were also equipped with a knife strapped to one calf, a small P-6 pistol holstered on the other, a compact butt bag of tools, and a short bang stick armed with a twelve-gauge shotgun shell to ward off sharks.

1990, Charles Ryan, The capricorn quadrant, →ISBN, page 15:

The social worker obliged him this, after which Phael abruptly asked for the return of his butt bag and left the room.

1994, Thomas L. Kuhlman, Psychology on the Streets: Mental Health Practice with Homeless Persons, →ISBN:

"I got everything in my butt bag. No, I won't take it off during flight . . . I'll just move it around to the front.”

2010, Ann Wade, Seeing in Darkness: A True Story of Friendship and Courage, →ISBN:

“Oh, and nice butt bag, loser,” she added. “Goes great with your yoga outfit.”

2014, Todd Clark, The Ice Cream Kid: Brain Freeze!, →ISBN:


unwoke

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-unwoke.wav

Finally, there came his involvement with Markle. […] a woman of colour and a feminist whose presence in his life would soon require that he forcefully denounce racism and sexism in the British press (and, I trust, among his more un-woke friends and relations).

2018 May 5, Margo Jefferson, “No Cinderella: Margo Jefferson on the real Meghan Markle”, in The Guardian:

Today’s culture war is being waged not between religion and secularism but between groups that the Catholic writer Matthew Schmitz has described as “the woke and the unwoke.”

2022 June 2, Nate Hochman, “What Comes After the Religious Right?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(colloquial, chiefly Canada, US) Not woke, especially in social justice contexts.


starlight tour

(Canada, euphemistic) A practice in which Saskatoon police drove Aboriginal people out of the city and left them to freeze.


trash panda

From a likening of the black patches around a raccoon's eyes to similar markings on a giant panda, it being in the same superfamily as the red panda, and a reference to its tendency to forage for garbage in urban environments.

Braddock Baskett of the Orlando-area attempted to give some raccoons food. […] Maybe he should’ve taken his own warning before feeding the “trash panda”.

2016 April 30, Zach Dennis, “Florida man tries to feed ‘trash panda’ in epic fail”, in Palm Beach Post, retrieved 2018-04-13:

[T]he family baby, Jack-Jack, sees a raccoon eating from the family’s garbage can while his father, Mr. Incredible, is sleeping, and uses his superpowers […] to do battle with the trash panda.

2017 July 14, Josh Rottenberg, “All the intel on Disney and Pixar's new slate of animated films”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2018-04-13:

A video posted to Facebook on Saturday shows a trash panda breaking into a “raccoon-proof” green bin in less than 30 seconds.

2018 April 12, Alanna Rizza, “It took this raccoon 30 seconds to break into a raccoon-proof green bin”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 2018-04-13:

(US, Canada, slang, humorous) A raccoon, especially one that forages in garbage cans.


diapie

At three and a half, he was still crying, "l love my diapie!"

2007, Michele Gendelman, Ilene Graff, Donna Rosenstein, What the Other Mothers Know, page 107:


European War

From European + war. From being a war fought in Europe.

(Canada, US, obsolete, 1910s) Former name of WWI / World War One / First World War / The Great War.


tits and ass

T&A (alternative)
tits and arse (alternative)
tits and bums (alternative)

Workin for a tits and ass magazine. I don't need a tent and a rag around my head to know shit when I smell it.

1996, Michael Bigelow Dixon, Michele Volansky, By Southern Playwrights: Plays from Actors Theatre of Louisville, →ISBN:

Although the magazine featured tits and ass, it was black tits and ass.

2010, J. Ryan, Post-Jazz Poetics: A Social History, →ISBN, page 109:

Weis added, “He upgraded the dancing so that it wasn't just tits and ass.”

2013, Thomas Lisanti, Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959–1969, →ISBN:

Marilyn, she asserted, “loved being all tits and ass. She invented tits and ass. She wanted to be a movie star, not an actress.

2014, C. David Heymann, Joe and Marilyn: Legends in Love, →ISBN, page 167:

“Tits and ass, that's what the attraction is.” Just tits and ass? “No, an apache team in between for rationalization.” Well, that must be just one hotel—what's the second bit attraction? “More tits and ass.”

2016, Lenny Bruce, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography, →ISBN:

(vulgar, slang, US, Canada) Entertainment involving scantily clad women.

tieten en kont

entertainment involving scantily clad women


dance with the one that brought you

"I have had people say, ‘Oh, the landscaping business is doing OK. So, you're going to get out of tobacco farming.’ No! I would like to see my landscaping business grow. But, without the cash flow from the farm, I would not have been able to start the landscaping operation," the Bunn, N.C., farmer stresses. "As they say, you dance with the one that brought you."

1986, Cooperative Farmer, Vols 42-43, p. 77. (Google snippet view) (retrieved 9 May 2018)

Sometimes you have to dance with the one that brought you. And, ever since he won a crucial Game Four in Cleveland on 16 days rest in the 1998 ALCS, Torre has trusted Hernandez more than any of his starters.

2000 October 18, Thomas Boswell, “Unlike the Boss, Torre Recognizes the Right Stuff”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2018-05-09:

Obama’s approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent. “Dance with the one that brought you,” the saying goes, but when you are a Senate Democrat stuck with the wrong prom date, there’s only one thing to do: hide in the bathroom.

2014 February 17, John E. Sununu, “Keeping Obama at arm’s length”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 2018-05-09:

I mention this Canadian Conservative Prime Minister because he coined the political adage ‘you dance with the one that brought you’. In less colourful terms Mulroney meant that a Prime Minister should ‘never, ever ignore his party’s base’.

2016 April 30, James Allan, “Leaving the dance with the one who brought you”, in Spectator, UK, retrieved 2018-05-09:

(chiefly US and Canada, informal, colloquial) To be considerate and loyal to the person who has been supportive, attentive, or helpful.


nope out

en-verb

nope out (third-person singular simple present nopes out, present participle noping out, simple past and past participle noped out)

nopes out (present singular third-person)
noping out (participle present)
noped out (participle past)
noped out (past)

21st century. From the idea of saying nope and getting out; compare bow out (v.i.), peace out (v.i.), and laugh away (v.t.), which illustrate similar metonymic formation of a troponym.

noped outta there real quick

Van got a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, Dallas was right, he should have 'noped-out' of the whole situation. Such thoughts were simply moot at this stage however.

2016, Joshua Causer, A Slacker's Road Map of The Universe:

She felt a flash of guilt about that, but it went away when he talked about working ninety-hour weeks now that he was trying to make partner. It wasn't her job to bend her life around his. And he'd noped out of hers as soon as she'd told him she was pregnant.

2018, Zoe York, Love on the Outskirts of Town:

(intransitive, slang, Canada, US) To leave a place or abandon a situation or activity, usually quickly, because of feelings of fear or disgust.


suck and blow

suck and blow (third-person singular simple present sucks and blows, present participle sucking and blowing, simple past sucked and blew, past participle sucked and blown)

sucks and blows (present singular third-person)
sucking and blowing (participle present)
sucked and blew (past)
sucked and blown (participle past)

It is called the Liberal Democratic Party, and it beats our old cleaner, because it can suck and blow at once. They have it both ways. They are like weird hermaphroditic parrotfish, changing sex at will.

2003 September 25, Boris Johnson, “The least said about Lib Dems, the better”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2018-05-28:

Kravetsky said the hospital's position is contradictory.
"They suck and blow at the same time," Kravetsky said outside court on Tuesday.
"Their position is that he's suffering no damages because he's not cognizant, and yet … they describe torture which reflects a person having been tortured intentionally or suffering severe pain, so which is it?"

2008 June 4, “Doctor quits over dispute on whether to treat Winnipeg man”, in CBC News, Canada, retrieved 2018-05-28:

We all know that NASCAR came out in support of South Carolina’s decision (and Alabama’s) to remove the Confederate flag from the front of its legislative building. […] But in a classic case of trying to suck and blow at the same time, Daytona Speedway (which is owned by the same people who won NASCAR) will not ban the Confederate flag from its infield at this weekend’s races.

2015 July 2, Norris McDonald, “F1, IndyCar and NASCAR - more going on off the track than on”, in The Star, Toronto, Canada, retrieved 2018-05-28:

"You can't suck and blow at once, as they say, we're going to have to come out of the customs union in order to be able to do free trade deals," he said.

2018 February 27, Lizzy Buchan, “Brexit is like 'giving up a three-course meal for a packet of crisps', says former top Government trade official”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2018-05-28:

(Canada, UK, idiomatic) To perform two incompatible actions; to hold views which are in contradiction.


old wife

From Middle English ald wyf, eld wiif, olde wyffe.

The Oldvvives, be a foule that never leave tatling day or night, ſomething bigger than a Ducke.

1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 31:

Clangula hyemalis
Clangula hyemalis#Translingual

(Canada, US, now rare) The long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis.


resiliation

From French résiliation, or resiliate + -ion.

(Canada law) The act of cancelling, annulling or drawing back from (a contract).


change purse

Not having enough money in her change-purse to pay for them, she took a roll of bills from a bill-fold in her inner pocket, and, taking five dollars from the roll, returned it to its place of safety in the lining of her coat.

1919, Hildegard G. Frey, chapter 18, in The Camp Fire Girls Solve a Mystery, New York: A. L. Burt, page 198:

1921, Almira Bailey, Vignettes of San Francisco, The San Francisco Journal, “Bags or Sacks,” p. 55,
In the East a change purse is scorned by anything masculine, but here all the men carry one, I don’t know why not in the East, nor why in the West.

And off went packages and bundles and wallets and bags; they whirled around the cashier’s desk in a clutter, hands digging into pocketbooks seeking change-purses, and fingers rummaging in change-purses for coins, and down below, in a forest of alien legs and hems and overcoats, children no longer held by the hand became lost and started crying.

1963, Italo Calvino, “Marcovaldo at the supermarket”, in William Weaver, transl., Marcovaldo, or The Seasons in the City, New York: Harcourt Brace, pages 84–85:

[…] as any Commonwealth native knows just by sifting through her change purse, the Queen is the most pictured living person in history.

2013 May 10, Leah McLaren, “Portrait of a lady: The delicate art of capturing the Queen”, in Maclean’s:

(chiefly Canada, US) A small purse or pouch designed for carrying coins.


sketch out

sketch out (third-person singular simple present sketches out, present participle sketching out, simple past and past participle sketched out)

sketches out (present singular third-person)
sketching out (participle present)
sketched out (participle past)
sketched out (past)

The awkward and agitated customer began to sketch them out a bit.

(informal, Canada, US, transitive) To creep out; to give a creepy or sketchy feeling to someone.


womp womp

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-womp womp.wav

Imitative of a plaintive descending four-note trumpet or trombone sound, like G–F#–F–E, articulated with a plunger mute, played during game shows to indicate a player losing.

onom

Imitative

However, this fad quickly faded when people realized this technology (sad trombone: womp, womp) . . . well, it didn't work.

2017, Joe Clement, Matt Miles, Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber, page 227:

But in happy news, she said that even though “I have balance in all aspects of my life except for love,” (womp womp) I haven’t met my twin flame.

2019 November, Vonetta Logan, “Future Shtick”, in Luckbox, page 11:

Bread: alcoholic fermentation isn’t just for booze. When yeast, single-celled fungi, chow down on dough’s carbohydrates, they produce alcohol and carbon dioxide gas (the alcohol is evaporated during baking, womp womp).

2020, Meredith Hardie, "Back To Basics", Foodism, Summer 2020, page 39

(US, Canada, onomatopoeia, humorous) Used, sometimes mockingly, to indicate failure or disappointment.


like a chicken on a June bug

Lots of times you just have to step out on faith when you think something is the right way to go. J.D. took to the forestry stuff like a chicken on a June Bug.

2006, Richard Etheredge, A Logger's Dream, page 61:

So there I was, struggling mightily to protect my virtue with my step-father-in-law all over me like a chicken on a June bug, and I would have been shamed for sure, but the good Lord sent me a sign in the form of a hot brick.

Baz pounced quickly, like a chicken on a June bug.

2014, Allan Lawrence, Olympus and Beyond, page 340:

(Canada, US, simile, informal) Very quickly; in short order.


gas engine

internal combustion engine
internal combustion engine

(US, Canada) An internal combustion engine that runs on gasoline; especially, a reciprocating one.


cougarhood

And dating guys twenty years younger means you have officially hit cougarhood, proceed with caution.

2009, Reba Toney, The Rating Game: The Foolproof Formula for Finding Your Perfect Soul Mate, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 130:

Maybe they're still "studs" and "Lotharios", even at that age, long after the females have lost their "slut" status and moved on to cougarhood.

2009, Paul Madarasz, “How many cougars are there on the prowl?”, in alt.fan.cecil-adams (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-19:

The women that age who have taken up the cause of cougarhood, if I might call it that, seem to have no trouble flaunting it, like it's something worth crowing about.

2010, Douglas Browning, Season of Guilt, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:

C'mon, at this point even Gloria's adult daughter is too old and too ugly to be worthy of cougarhood.

2011, Ferd Berfle, “Gloria Allred”, in alt.clubs.just-for-fun (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-19:

2011, Trijcomm, “Generation X women turning 40 are learning to embrace and celebrate their cougarhood”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-19:

Are you a MILF yet, or did you move up to cougarhood? When does one become a cougar?

2018, Daniel Urban, Grow Up Already, Page Publishing Inc, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, slang, rare) The condition of being a cougar (older woman who seeks relationships with younger males).


cougarness

In my last visits I wanted to shield Bonnie from the public's probing eye, to guarantee her the company of people who knew her condition and still respected her cougarness.

I understand that once she has found a regular relationship, no matter the age difference, ,^([sic]) she's no longer a cougar. I'm not sure if a regular booty-call partner is enough of a relationship to break her cougarness. However, the best definition, I believe, is a cougar (as any wild cat) is on the prowl for fresh (young) meat!

2005, CalgaryBill, “Re: What is your definition of a Cougar?”, in calgary.general (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-22:

Then Mrs. Rock basically confessed to her own predatory cougarness: […]

2009, Chris Grabenstein, Mind Scrambler: A John Ceepak Mystery, Minotaur Books, →ISBN, page 191:

(Canada, US, slang, rare) The quality of being a cougar (older woman who seeks relationships with younger males).


blue-eyed Mary

en-noun

blue-eyed Mary (countable and uncountable, plural blue-eyed Marys)

(Canada, US) Collinsia verna, an annual plant native to the eastern and central parts of North America, having blue and white flowers.


Freedomite

Freedomites (plural)
freedomite (alternative)

From freedom + -ite (suffix forming nouns denoting adherents or followers of a specified doctrine, idea, movement, person, etc.), a calque of Russian Свободник (Svobodnik), from свобо́да (svobóda, “freedom, liberty”) + -ник (-nik, suffix creating masculine nouns, usually denoting a professional, performer, adherent, place, object, tool or a feature).

suffix

They [the Freedomites] have no deep-down objection to education, but a child who learns his lessons in English instead of Russian, and who rubs shoulders with some other race of youngsters, is liable to get some of the "Freedomite" edges rubbed smooth. The children are said to be communal, and that he is—allegedly—a wise Freedomite who knows his own father.

1945, Louisa W[atson] Peat, “Drama of the Doukhobor”, in Canada: New World Power, New York, N.Y.: Robert M[edill] McBride & Co., →OCLC, pages 77–78:

I think the house will find it interesting to know that 124 Freedomites served as volunteers during World War II.

1962, Debates of the Senate: Official Report (Hansard) (Senate of Canada), Ottawa, Ont.: Queen’s Printer, →OCLC, page 55:

The writer pointed out that of the approximately 12,500 Doukhobors in British Columbia, only about 2,500 belonged to the Freedomite group and of these only 46 families, involving 66 children, were currently refusing to send their children to school.

1979, Mary Ashworth, The Forces which Shaped Them: A History of the Education of Minority Group Children in British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.: New Star Books, →ISBN, page 166:

In certain quarters, the sentiment in relation to the Doukhobors was that the problems caused by the Freedomites were the result of zealotry and should not be confused with the aspirations and anxieties of the Doukhobor population at large, which was living in relative peace with itself and its neighbours. Freedomite resentment over and resistance to public education was no reason to undo the work of getting the rest of the Doukhobor community to buy into it.

2005, John McLaren, “The Law and Public Nudity: Prairie and West Coast Reactions to the Sons of Freedom, 1929–32”, in Louis A. Knafla, Jonathan Swainger, editors, Laws and Societies in the Canadian Prairie West, 1670–1940 (Law and Society), Vancouver, B.C.: UBC Press, →ISBN, part 2 (Adaptations to Modernity), pages 318–319:

(Canada, historical) A member of a Christian zealot sect that split off from the Doukhobors, and which was involved in protests against certain policies of the Canadian government during the early to mid 20th century; the Doukhobors were a non-Orthodox religious group which emigrated from Russia to Canada at the end of the 19th century to escape persecution.


pussydom

(derogatory, vulgar, chiefly US, Canada, rare) The quality of being a pussy (coward, weakling).


rap down

en-verb

rap down (third-person singular simple present raps down, present participle rapping down, simple past and past participle rapped down)

raps down (present singular third-person)
rapping down (participle present)
rapped down (participle past)
rapped down (past)

We built an interim anchor and Mike rapped down to Jeff.

2016, American Alpine Club, Accidents: In North American Climbing 2016:

(transitive, Canada, US, slang, mountaineering) To rappel down a mountain.


curly fries

en-noun

curly fries pl (normally plural, singular curly fry)

(chiefly Canada, US) A kind of fries characterized by their spring-like helical shape, being cut from whole potatoes using a specialized spiral slicer.


sectionman

sectionmen (plural)
section man (alternative)
section-man (alternative)

1916, Annual Report of the Public Utilities Commission, State of Maine, Sentinel Publishing Company https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hi1FAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA56&lpg=RA2-PA56&dq=%22sectionman%22&source=bl&ots=i9BCwYgdC9&sig=d72pK2gH6efsfs4_I_v6M619s-g&hl=no&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjT1uqotJ_dAhXCCMAKHfhZCTE4ChDoATAEegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=%22sectionman%22&f=false
... a sectionman was killed when his motor velocipede was struck by an extra freight on a curve; a sectionman was crushed between two cars when working on a track left unprotected; a sectionman was struck by a shifting engine; …

Sectionmen step back to admire a T&P Texas in West Texas as the 2-10-4 comes charging up bad Baird Hill.

1959, Steam's Finest Hour, edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co. (photo caption)

Being on the engine when the engineer applied the brakes I asked why he was stopping and he said "there's a sectionman fighting with a wolf". So I backed up to the spot and the fireman and I jumped off with pick and shaker bar. I hit the wolf on the head with the pick and fireman Grier hit it with the shaker bar. This finished the wolf.

2013, Canadian Folk: Portraits of Remarkable Lives, by Peter Unwin, Dundum, →ISBN:

(rail transport, US, Canada) A railroad worker who maintains and patrols the track.


nasal cannula

(medicine, more common in Canada, US) A device used to deliver supplemental oxygen or increased airflow to a patient in need of respiratory help.


unbelaboured

British and Canada standard spelling of unbelabored.


unrumoured

Thy shame unrumoured, and thy suit unscoffed

1606, John Marston, The Wonder of Women, or The Tragedy of Sophonisba:

British and Canada standard spelling of unrumored.


unsavoured

British and Canada standard spelling of unsavored.


Moon Mist

(Canada) A multicoloured Nova Scotian ice cream combining grape, banana, and bubblegum flavours.


Three Amigos

From three + amigo. From Spanish amigo (“friend”), and there being three of them.

(plural only, informal, Canada, US, politics) Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

NORAD

North American Aerospace Defense Command

(plural only, informal, Canada, US, politics) The prime minister of Canada and the presidents of Mexico and the United States.

(informal, Canada, US, politics) The North American Leaders Summit.


don't that beat all

Don't that beat all? A grown thirty-year-old with the measles!

2012, Earl Cooke, Redemption of a Dark Hero, page 26:

(Canada, US, informal) Expressing great wonder or surprise.


PGSO

In spring of 2008 I performed my poems with the PGSO in the evening concert on Saturday, and the children's concert on Sunday afternoon.

2018, A.J. Mittendorf, Carnival Of The Animals, page xii:

The Prince George Symphony Orchestra (PGSO) is a garden of sound and movement, so they are cultivating the next generations of music lovers with a set of concerts especially for the smallest of listeners.

2019 January 10, Frank Peebles, “PGSO hosting children's concert”, in Prince George Citizen:

At the event, there will be performances by the PGSO, ballet dancers, and an opera singer.

2019 March 25, Sawyer Bogdan,, “Mayor's Black & White Ball highlights community arts”, in MY PG NOW:

Prince George Symphony Orchestra
w:Prince George Symphony Orchestra

(Canada) Initialism of Prince George Symphony Orchestra.


ghost moose

He is all white lak de moon on de watair. He come not often, oh, ver' seldom." "What !" cried I, "is he a ghost moose?" "Yaas, jes' so — a ghost moose."

1905, Bret Harte, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, page 71:

In camp that evening the discussion turned to strategy for the campaign against the ghost moose. He was given to hanging out near the mouth of a sluggish stream which drained a big swamp far back in the spruce.

1958, T.S. Denison, Hunting Adventures, page 123:

Its massive head, shaggy and white, fell out of an old '78 Ford pickup, as my friends and I sat on our ten-speed bikes listening to the three Americans drinking Coca-Colas outside Sam's Place joke about how they shot the ghost moose coming out of a swamp south of Pickle Lake.

2006, Christopher Banks, The Cold Panes of Surfaces, page 49:

"A rare ghost moose."

1996, Wayne Mergler, The last new land: stories of Alaska, past and present, page 419:

(Canada) Synonym of spirit moose (“a white moose”)


general delivery

(US, Canada) The issuing of postal mail to recipients from a post office counter, rather than by delivering it to their addresses.


NWMP

North-West Mounted Police
w:North-West Mounted Police

(Canada, historical) Initialism of North-West Mounted Police, the police force in western Canada before merging with the Dominion Police to become the RCMP.


fussbutton

fussbuttons (plural)
fuss-button (alternative)

“[…] there’s old Buttercup in the big meadow, ride at her, Tom, and see her run,” proposed Dan, bent on mischief.
“No, you mustn't,” began Demi, who was learning to distrust Dan’s propositions.
“Why not, little fuss-button?” demanded Dan.

1871, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Chapter 6”, in Little Men: […], Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

Maybe I’m just an old fuss button. For undoubtedly thousands of Americans unquestioningly accept and down this insipid beverage and as far as I know there’s never been any petition presented at Washington in protest.

1941, Cornelia Otis Skinner, “In Quest of Tea”, in Soap Behind the Ears, New York: Dodd, Mead, page 149:

(Canada, US) One who complains or fusses a great deal, especially about unimportant matters.


dine-and-dasher

(Canada, US, informal) One who dines and dashes.


rosé sauce

rosé sauce (countable and uncountable, plural rosé sauces)

(Canada) A kind of tomato sauce made with cream.


all dressed

(Canada) Of potato chips: combining the flavours of barbecue, ketchup, and salt and vinegar.


CUSMA

(trade, Canada) Initialism of Canada-United States–Mexico–Agreement.

en:United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)


mompreneurship

(Canada, US) Alternative form of mumpreneurship


barcalounger

Genericization of the trademark BarcaLounger, from Barcalo (“the manufacturer”) + lounger, named after Edward J. Barcalo (1870–1963).

named-after

With a little marketing, these could easily replace barcaloungers and lazy boys.

2004, Bradley G. Richardson, Daddy Smarts: A Guide for Rookie Fathers:

(Canada, US, dated) A plush stuffed recliner armchair.


lazyboy

Genericization of the trademark La-Z-Boy, from lazy + boy.

(Canada, US, dated) A plush stuffed swivel rocking recliner armchair.


Club Fed

A pun on Club Med, a company offering luxurious holidays, and fed (“federal agent”).

(Canada, US, slang) A prison offering greater comfort and more facilities to inmates than is typical.


collect call

Hello, operator — I'd like to make a collect call.

(Canada, US) A phone call paid for by the receiver (callee), as opposed to the caller.


schneid

Clipping of schneider, from German Schneider (“tailor”).

(Canada, US, sports, slang) A losing streak.


nuisance ground

en-noun

nuisance ground (plural nuisance grounds)

(Canada, dated) landfill, waste heap, dump


bouillon cube

(Canada, US) A small cube, consisting of dry ingredients, that can be dissolved to make a broth or soup stock.


Spadina

From the Spadina Estate established in 1818 by William Warren Baldwin. From Ojibwe espadinong (“hill”).

(Canada) A placename in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

A mansion and former estate that was subdivided into the neighbourhood


darty

As Americans toast Saint Patrick on March 17 in parades and darties (day parties), Ireland will celebrate the saint day in a much more holy fashion.

2019 March 17, Alex Scimecca, “Raise a Pint of Guinness on St. Patrick's Day With These Historical Photos”, in Fortune, New York, N.Y.: Fortune Media Group Holdings, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-06:

I love drinking during the day. We've written before about the virtues of using jam to make any booze morning-appropriate, as well as how to make the perfect backyard drink. You never know when a chill outdoor hang might transition into a full-on "darty" (day + party).

2022 June 22, Meredith Dietz, “How to Day Drink Without Overdoing It”, in Lifehacker Australia, archived from the original on 2022-12-13:

Pavel Beletski, videographer for the darties, feels it's the social element that has brought about the popularity of darties.

2023 March 2, Lauren Medeiros, “The Belfort parking lot holds the wildest darty around”, in The Western Gazette, archived from the original on 2023-03-27:

As thousands of students flock to darties, parties, and parades this St. Patrick's Day, colleges in Boston are warning their students to be wary of 'BORGs.'

2023 March 16, Eli Curwin, “Boston colleges warn students against 'BORGs' as St. Patrick's Day approaches”, in Boston.com, archived from the original on 2023-04-04:

(university slang, Canada, US) A party held in the daytime.


darty

en-verb

darty (third-person singular simple present darties, present participle dartying, simple past and past participle dartied)

darties (present singular third-person)
dartying (participle present)
dartied (participle past)
dartied (past)

It's very hard to rally once the alcohol and adrenaline wears off, so the choice to darty is the choice to not party that night.

2017 April 25, Sophie G. Garrett, “Darty Season: Pros and Cons”, in The Harvard Crimson, Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard Crimson, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-10:

"We all know post-Fling Sunday is a day to darty! And in the wake of campus conversations about supporting survivors and denouncing sexual misconduct, partying is political," reads the event's description.

2019 April 29, Britton O'Daly, “Hundreds to boycott DKE Tang”, in Yale Daily News, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-25:

I heard an ominous snap as I fell. Laying on the jagged cobblestones, all I could do was take shaky breaths as I reeled from the white-hot pain. The frat bros dartying a stone's throw away paid no attention to my crumpled figure.

2022 August 15, Christine Ji, “Broken Ankles and Barriers to Accessibility: Reflections from a Skater-Turned-Scooter Girl”, in The Georgetown Voice, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-07:

(university slang, Canada, US) To participate in a darty.


yield sign

(Canada, US, Belize, Ireland, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Liberia, Namibia) a road sign which instructs road users to give right of way to other traffic


fussbudgetry

All these interested Porter, but not most New Yorker readers; and his self-indulgent operation has produced most of the time not the valuable critical writing his gifts promised but a flood of historical and musical fussbudgetry that was a waste of his attention and time and theirs.

1984, Bernard H. Haggin, Music and ballet, 1973-1983, page 202:

Romeo and Juliet refuses the audience a pause at Romeo's death; rather it switches perspective, with a welcome shock, to fussbudgetry.

1991, Kent Cartwright, Shakespearean Tragedy and Its Double:

Alas, fussbudgetry has no place in prayer, just as emotional manipulation has no place in a loving relationship.

1997, David Yount, Breaking Through God's Silence, →ISBN:

(Canada, US) The characteristics and behaviors of a fussbudget; petty complaining.


healing lodge

(Canada) an alternative to prison used in the Canadian correctional system for indigenous offenders


hydro pole

From hydroelectric, because utility poles in Canada commonly belong to hydroelectric companies.


have province

[...] (a) a substantial increase in revenue, concentrated in one province; (b) this province should be a have province already, and (c) it should have the smallest population of the have provinces.

1976, Anthony Scott, Natural Resource Revenues: A Test of Federalism, UBC Press, →ISBN, page 100:

equalization payment
equalization payment

(Canada) A province that does not receive equalization payments.


have-not province

en-noun

have-not province (plural have-not provinces)

(Canada) A province that receives equalization payments.


Six Nations of the Grand River

six nations of the Grand River (canonical)

From six + nation + Grand River.
From the six nations (Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, Tuscarora) living on the reserve located on the Grand River (of Ontario that feeds into Lake Erie).

(Canada) The largest First Nations Indian reserve in Canada; located on the Grand River of Ontario that feeds into Lake Erie.


separate school

separate school (plural separate schools)

Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories

(Canada) A publicly funded school with constitutional status in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan and statutory status in Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, and operated by a school board, headed by trustees, and separate from the public school system.

(Ontario) A publicly-funded school that falls under the constitutional definition, historically implemented only for Roman Catholics, but has been provided for Protestants since the secularization of the public school system during the 1980s.

(Alberta and Saskatchewan) A publicly funded school provided for Roman Catholics or Protestants, whichever is considered a minority in a public school jurisdiction.

Both the separate schools and the nonsectarian public schools were and are administered by either a department or ministry of education with control over curriculum, teacher training and certification, special programs and inspection.

1999, James H. Marsh, The Canadian Encyclopedia, The Canadian Encyclopedia, →ISBN, page 2141:


hallway medicine

Further west, in Winnipeg, "hallway medicine" has become so routine that hallway stretcher locations have permanent numbers.

2000 January 16, James Brooke, “Full Hospitals Make Canadians Wait and Look South”, in New York Times, retrieved 2019-03-22:

For the past month, the Regina General Hospital and the Pasqua Hospital in Regina have had more patients than beds, so hallway medicine is being practised in their emergency departments.

2011 November 2, Pamela Cowan, “Hallway medicine in congested ERs”, in Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Canada, retrieved 2019-03-22:

The premier's health platform commitments were to eliminate hallway medicine and increase long-term care beds and mental illness services.

2019 February 14, Bob Bell, “Are private home-care companies about to become more profitable?”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 2019-03-22:

(chiefly Canada, medicine) A state of affairs in which patients are assigned to and treated in beds or gurneys located in hospital hallways due to a shortage of hospital rooms.


tongue troopers

UPDATE Jacques Nadeau Levesque: Sending in 'the tongue troopers"

2001, Robert Bothwell, A Traveller's History of Canada, Interlink Publishing Group Incorporated
To enforce the law, the government established an Office de la langue française, whose inspectors were promptly dubbed "the language police" or "the tongue troopers".

(Canada, informal, derogatory, specifically) The Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Board of the French Language)


Sixties Scoop

Coined in the research paper Native Children and the Child Welfare System by Patrick Johnston in 1983.

(Canada, historical) The government practice of forcibly taking Aboriginal children away from their families to be brought up in foster care or adopted into white families, which occurred from the late 1950s until the 1980s.


bedlamer

(Canada) A young harp seal after its second moult.


north of 60

[...] Most importantly, Magnetic North suggests a politics of locations — mine, yours, voices from the past, from north of sixty, from newly arrived Canadians — because it ...

2002, Sherrill E. Grace, Canada and the Idea of North, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN, page 263:

That was before the Johnsons had gone north of Sixty. But they were wandering, and steadily upward.

2012, James Oliver Curwood, The Golden Snare, The Floating Press, →ISBN, page 4:

(Canada, informal) Northern Canada, usually including the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon, approximately above the 60th parallel north.


Colorado clipper

Colorado clipper (plural Colorado clippers)

Blend of Colorado low + Alberta clipper.
From being a class of storms originating in Colorado that move like Alberta clippers.

(Canada, meteorology) Synonym of Colorado low


idiot string

(Canada) The string that connects a pair of idiot mittens.


porter's lodge

porters' lodges (plural)
porter-lodge (alternative)
porters' lodge (alternative)

[H]e walked across Hawthorn Tree Court on his way to the porter's lodge. […] At the lodge he cleared his pigeon-hole.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 39:

(UK, Canada) An equivalent room near the gate of a college, chiefly used as a mailroom.


jayrun

en-verb

jayrun (third-person singular simple present jayruns, present participle jayrunning, simple past jayran, past participle jayrun)

jayruns (present singular third-person)
jayrunning (participle present)
jayran (past)
jayrun (participle past)

Blend of jaywalk + run. Attested since the 20th century.

Our appreciation of the manner in which the accident occurred was that plaintiff alighted from the bus on the uptown sidewalk of Canal Street, approximately sixty to one hundred feet removed from the corner of Baronne Street, walked around the front thereof and, probably because of the inclement weather, imprudently proceeded to rapidly “jaywalk” or “jayrun” through congested traffic intending to safely reach the neutral ground; […]

1955, Southern Reporter (second), West Publishing Company, page 769:

(US, Canada, transitive) To rapidly jaywalk (“violate pedestrian traffic regulations by crossing a street away from a designated crossing; to walk in the part of the street intended for vehicles”).


Government House

(Canada) The official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of certain Canadian provinces.


buckbush

(Canada, US) Shrubs of Canada and the central US, Symphoricarpos occidentalis(also known as wolfberry and Symphoricarpos orbicularis (coralberry).


bargoon

Weird Thing 1: just a dream I dreamt of being in a large bargoon shopping environment, like a Winners (a.k.a. Weiners) or a Ross's Dress for Less, pushing a shopping cart in which I had placed several outfits […]

2005, Michele Adams, Bright Objects of Desire, page 175:

[…] thereby maintaining a social tone for these pursuits which challenges, to some degree at least, the consumerist message of the signs “Sale,” “Trade,” “Bargoon,” and “Shop” that hang on some of the tipis.

2012, Eva Gruber, Thomas King: Works and Impact, page 103:


NJAC

(Canada, ice hockey) Abbreviation of national junior A championship.

(Canada, ice hockey) Abbreviation of national junior A champion.


MMIWG

(Canada, politics, crime) Abbreviation of National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.


MMIWG

(Canada, US, politics, crime) Abbreviation of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

FFADA (Enquête nationale sur les femmes et les filles autochtones disparues et assassinées)

FFADA (les femmes et les filles autochtones disparues et assassinées)


LRIP

low rate income pool
low rate income pool#English

(Canada, taxation) Abbreviation of low rate income pool.


food pantry

(Canada, US) A small front-line agency that hands out packages of food from food banks directly to people in need.


food closet

(Canada, US) Synonym of food pantry (“agency that hands out food to people in need”)


give someone the gears

give someone the gears (third-person singular simple present gives someone the gears, present participle giving someone the gears, simple past gave someone the gears, past participle given someone the gears)

gives someone the gears (present singular third-person)
giving someone the gears (participle present)
gave someone the gears (past)
given someone the gears (participle past)

Then Mr. Melnyk pointed out that we probably wouldn't have electricity. Someone else said she'd take a blanket so she could sleep and stay warm. Then a guy asked if he could share it. Mr. Melnyk gave him the gears […]

(Canada, slang) To scold or criticize someone.


ad-seg

I'm now in AdSeg because I beat those idiots in court and they are hopping mad.

1986 April 19, Gene Munnings, “Maryland Area Readers and Lawyers: N.B.!”, in Gay Community News, page 4:

administrative segregation
administrative segregation#English

solitary confinement
solitary confinement

(Canada, US) Abbreviation of administrative segregation: solitary confinement in prison.


my learned friend

(law, Australia, British, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada) A barrister on the opposing side of a dispute; a member of opposing counsel.


mommylike

en-adj

mommylike (comparative more mommylike, superlative most mommylike)

more mommylike (comparative)
most mommylike (superlative)

(Canada, US, informal) Characteristic of a mother; maternal.


Joe Blow

(US, Canada, Australia) Synonym of Joe Bloggs.


bullcrud

(Canada, US, euphemistic) Bullshit; bullcrap.


make garden

en-verb

make garden (third-person singular simple present makes garden, present participle making garden, simple past and past participle made garden)

makes garden (present singular third-person)
making garden (participle present)
made garden (participle past)
made garden (past)

As the spring advanced, and after Jacob left us, he seemed ashamed of sitting in the house doing nothing, and therefore undertook to make us a garden, or “to make garden” as the Canadians term preparing a few vegetables for the season.

1852, Susanna Moodie, chapter 8, in Roughing it in the Bush; or, Life in Canada, volume 2, London: Richard Bentley, page 142:

“Can you take care of horses?”
“Yes.”
“Make garden?”
“Yes—I always took care of mother’s.”

1877, John Habberton, chapter 3, in The Jericho Road; A Story of Western Life, Chicago: Jansen, McClurg, page 32:

[…] Ántonia and her mother were making garden, off across the pond in the draw-head.

1918, Willa Cather, chapter 18, in My Ántonia, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 146:

Crossing a ridge, he was happy to see that Miz’ Doanie and her three children were all out making garden.

1955, Julia Montgomery Street, chapter 8, in Fiddler’s Fancy, New York: Follett, page 67:

In the other century, and for a considerable number of years in this one, the solid citizenry of the town prided itself on home ownership [...]. One got a little place, planted a couple of fruit trees and a currant bush out back, made garden, seeded a lawn, and put a standing lamp on a center table in the living room.

1972, Henry W. Clune, chapter 12, in The Rochester I Know, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, page 163:

(idiomatic, dated, US, Canada) To plant or maintain a garden, especially a vegetable garden.


asslessness

(Canada, US, slang) The quality of being assless.


take a flutter

take a flutter (third-person singular simple present takes a flutter, present participle taking a flutter, simple past took a flutter, past participle taken a flutter)

takes a flutter (present singular third-person)
taking a flutter (participle present)
took a flutter (past)
taken a flutter (participle past)

Hughes takes a flutter on the nearest six, nickel bets on thirty-one to thirty-six.

Although they aspired, like all natural-born gamblers, to taking a flutter and beating that system (they all loved the idea of tips, of course), they were sufficiently cynical to know it's a mug's game and that it was largely bound to fail.

2012, David Stevenson, FT Guide to Exchange Traded Funds and Index Funds:

I was ridin' the horses then, you understand, and maybe known to take a flutter or two on the bangtails while I was about it.

You'd hardly believe how difficult it was to interest the public and make them take a flutter on the old boy.

In the next general election in 2007 the Liberals hung on to only a couple of these ridings: most of their voters took a flutter with the ADQ.

In time Getz took up the slack left by the dearth of commercial presenters and took a flutter on big-name artists in mid-career, often in the Orpheum.

2019 August 28, David Gordon Duke, “Classical music: Vancouver Recital Society celebrates 40 years going strong”, in Vancouver Sun:


tiger tail

From the resemblance to a tiger's striped coat.

Children's flavors, such as bubble gum, tiger tail (orange ice cream with black licorice, or banana ice cream with chocolate ripple), or cotton candy, can also be found in many flavor presentations.

2013, H Douglas Goff, Richard W Hartel, Ice cream, 7th edition, page 89:

"There's strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, maple walnut, and tiger tail."

2017, Jen Gilroy, Summer on Firefly Lake:

Tiger tail, the blend of orange and licorice that appears to be uniquely Canadian, isn't a big seller.

2017, Ian Austen, Canada Letter: Ice Cream Revival and Cross-border Trade Anxiety:

(Canada, US) An orange-flavoured ice cream with black licorice swirl.


tiger tiger

Originally a brand name, presumably inspired by William Blake's 1794 poem The Tyger, which begins: "Tyger Tyger, burning bright".

It was ice cream heaven. "I'd recommend Tiger, Tiger," he said. "It's the perfect taste for this kind of day."

Tommy walked alone beside the river, ate a screaming-hot burrito from a truck in the park and then cooled his mouth with a tiger-tiger ice-cream cone from a fifties-style diner on Main Street.

2009, Anita Daher, On the Trail of the Bushman, page 22:

(Canada, US) Synonym of tiger tail (“ice-cream flavor”)


do you need to use the bathroom

(chiefly US, South Africa, Canada, euphemistic, interrogative) Used to ask if one's interlocutor needs to urinate or defecate.