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, archived from the original on 2025-06-25:

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) Initialism 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) Acronym 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 the 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, kenning, 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 abbreviation)
tits and arse (alternative British)
tits and bums (alternative British)

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

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-dance with the one that brought you.wav

"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

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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.

(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.

NORAD

North American Aerospace Defense Command


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)

Convention security! A gutter-mouthy fuss-button is harassing me and my booth-mates!

“[…] 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 telephone 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).


cat's ass

en-noun

cat's ass (plural cat's asses or cats' asses)

cat's asses (plural)
cats' asses (plural)

"We thought we were the cat's ass. I see kids that age now and I think: Brats!"

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar, derogatory) Synonym of cat's meow.


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

en-verb

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.


B-town

just hanging out with @22wiggins in #Brampton at #policarobmwgrandopening. Just another day in B-Town #nbacanada

2016 June 14, @Haz_Pundaz, Twitter, archived from the original on 2025-03-13:

Hey #Brampton, thanks for all the love so many of you showed today.
I meant to tweet this earlier but got busy. Many of u know I grew up in B-town so anytime I get a chance to report there, it really feels special.

2020 June 11, @brandongonez, Twitter, archived from the original on 2025-03-13:

The Baddies are coming to B-town?

2024 April 5, Osobe Waberi, “Baddies in Brampton? A major reality TV series is coming to Canada and people have so many questions”, in Now Toronto, archived from the original on 2024-04-11:

(Canada, colloquial) Brampton (city in Ontario).


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.


Wexit

Blend of west + exit. Modeled on Brexit and Grexit.

It's impressive that Jay Hill, the former Reform and Tory MP and former cabinet member, was at this weekend's "Wexit" (Western exit) conference in Calgary.

2019 August 12, Lorne Gunter, “Alberta separatism at this point a non-viable movement”, in Edmonton Sun:

The Alberta government has issued pointed criticism at a Toronto tech company that chose Halifax over Calgary over converns about provincial tax policy and Wexit.

2019 December 11, Zane Schwartz, “Alberta government critical of Wattpad's concerns”, in Calgary Herald:

The poll found that 74 per cent of Albertans had heard of the "Wexit" movement and that number rose to 86 per cent when the term was explained to the respondent.

2020 February 13, Stuart Thomson, “Nearly 80 per cent of Albertans think the country is in the midst of a unity crisis: poll”, in Windsor Star:

(Canada, politics) The secession of the provinces of Western Canada, particularly Alberta, from Canada (generally excludes British Columbia).


Quexit

Blend of Quebec + exit. Modeled after Brexit and Grexit.

But a Quexit's threat to Canada would be existential, in itself.

2016 June 29, Andrew Coyne, “Brexit no model for Quexit”, in National Post:

Britain is living out the nightmare we Canadians dodged. We spent decades debating our country’s future, but somehow avoided Quexit.

2017 July 1, Josh Freed, “Oh Canada, let's show some national pride”, in Montreal Gazette:

Separatism is in again, Quexit edition: In recent years the Parti Quebecois has downplayed separatist messaging but after the Bloc’s big federal election win the PQ is getting back to its independence roots.

2019 November 11, Jason Kirby, “Alberta likes what Quebec's been cooking on the independence front”, in Macleans:

(Canada, politics) The secession of the province of Quebec from Canada.


Canado-American

Canado-American central districts have, to a large extent, been built after the advent of motorized transportation.

2019, Urban World History: An Economic and Geographical Perspective, Luc-Normand Tellier, →ISBN, page 382:

Following an Canado-American agreement, the CFS Mont-Apica changed vocation in 1958 to join to the air defence of North America (N.O.R.A.D.).

2016; H-Diplo Roundtable XVIII, 8 on Ethnic Diasporas and the Canada-United States Security Community, H-Diplo, Roundtable Review, Volume XVIII, No. 8 (2016); 31 October 2016

The question as to whether the Anglo-American (and Canado-American) alliance delayed by the diasporas’ activism is an issue only if we assume that a security community leads necessarily to an alliance between its members -- otherwise, there is no reason to expect the U.S. and the British Empire to have allied before the First World War, and therefore to conclude that this ‘delay’ was caused by diasporas’ activism.

2012; Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry: 08-01-39708; Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (Government of Canada)

The Canado-American Association handled the situation in New Hampshire.

2004, Franco-Americans of New England: Dreams and Realities, Yves Roby, →ISBN, page 228:

The three markets concerned include Québec, the Canado-American market and the foreign countries market.

2000; 2000-2005 Tourism Marketing Strategy; Tourism Québec (Government of Québec); page 38

United States of America
United States of America

(Canada) Pertaining to the United States of America and Canada


rag on

rag on (third-person singular simple present rags on, present participle ragging on, simple past and past participle ragged on)

rags on (present singular third-person)
ragging on (participle present)
ragged on (participle past)
ragged on (past)

Spencer knew his second homer—a two-run drive in the Yankee’s five-run eighth—was gone well before it landed in the second deck in left field.[…] “They were ragging on me because the first one was close,” Spencer said.

1998, Rafael Hermoso, “Spencer leads subs’ assault”, in New York Daily News, editor, Yankees ’98: Best Ever, →ISBN, page 93:

They was saying the jawn freaked out and called the cops cause all her sorority sistahs started ragging on her and calling her a stank ho for fucking half the basketball team.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 204:

From back at the mill came the sounds of men laughing and joking about how dumb Joe Reese had been. ¶ Their humor disgusted him. Reese had been careless, and it had cost him his life. There wasn’t any call for them to rag on him now.

2013, Jake Logan, Slocum and the Yellowstone Scoundrel:

(chiefly US, Canada, transitive) To ridicule, to make fun of (someone).


code silver

en-noun

code silver (countable and uncountable, plural code silvers)

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition when a weapon is seen and law enforcement are to be contacted.

code blue • code brown • code red • code silver • code white • code yellow


bust one's hump

en-verb

bust one's hump (third-person singular simple present busts one's hump, present participle busting one's hump, simple past and past participle busted one's hump or bust one's hump)

busts one's hump (present singular third-person)
busting one's hump (participle present)
busted one's hump (participle past)
busted one's hump (past)
bust one's hump (participle past)
bust one's hump (past)

That poor guy is already busting his hump, learning his job, working sixteen or eighteen hours a day for some fruitloop who throws pens when he gets mad.

2005, Jacey Eckhart, The Homefront Club:

(Canada, US, slang) To work very hard; to put in strenuous effort.


city limit

(especially Canada, US, in the plural) The boundaries of a city.


suck butt

suck butt (third-person singular simple present sucks butt, present participle sucking butt, simple past and past participle sucked butt)

sucks butt (present singular third-person)
sucking butt (participle present)
sucked butt (participle past)
sucked butt (past)

(Canada, US, stative, vulgar, slang) To be terrible; be of extremely poor quality.


no tickee, no washee

A phrase stereotypically attributed to Chinese laundry workers in centuries past, who would only return a customer's washing when the ticket (receipt) was presented.

Dr. Weiss said that what he had said was, "No grant, no research, no tickee, no washee."

1974, New York (State). Office of Employee Relations, Grievance and Disciplinary Arbitrations (volume 2, page 118)

'I don't need money. I need information.'
'And if I don't proffer this information you'll take your business elsewhere?' Buzz nodded toward the tram car. 'No tickee, no washee. […]

1999, James Ellroy, The Dudley Smith Trio, page 191:

It was really important to keep the slip of paper, given as a receipt because No tickee, no washee!

2002, Barbara Ann Lambert, Rusty Nails & Ration Books, page 326:

(Canada, US, slang) Something is not to be had without an exchange; there will be no deal without the required consideration or recompense.


pussy tickler

From pussy + tickler. A reference to cunnilingus.


apple-knocker

From apple + knocker, suggesting a person who knocks apples from the trees to harvest them.


English toffee

(Canada, US) A kind of buttery toffee, either chewy or hard, often made with almonds.


garbage pail

(Canada, US) Synonym of garbage can (“waste receptacle”).


on the block

go on the block

put on the block

(chiefly US and Canada) Available or for sale at an auction.


rug ranking

An allusion to the carpets in the offices of prestigious officials.

But it was found during the course of this study that many middle-sized and small corporations had never heard of rug-ranking (while practicing it) or were convinced that it was strictly a Public Service concern.

1977, Louise Dulude, The status of women in Federal crown corporations, page 20:

It created an impression among staff members that they were not trusted. In assigning individual offices, “rug-ranking” was fairly obvious.

1999, Barbara Wake Carroll, David Siegel, Service in the Field: The World of Front-line Public Servants, Canada: Institute of Public Administration, page 114:

(Canada, colloquial) The practice of setting a secretary's pay in proportion to the status of the person the secretary works for.


(Canada, physical fitness) Initialism of Five Basic Exercises, a popular mid-20th-century exercise regime in Canada.


XBX

(Canada, physical fitness) Initialism of Ten Basic Exercises (A popular mid-20th-century exercise regime in Canada.)


Irving the Explainer

(Canada, US, film, informal) Any character who serves to provide exposition, such as explaining how an elaborate murder was committed, sparing the writers from having to convey it indirectly.


pissedness

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, colloquial) Drunkenness.

(US, Canada, mildly vulgar, colloquial) Annoyance; anger.


laneway house

(Canada) A detached secondary suite typically built into a pre-existing lot, usually in the backyard and opening onto the back lane.


in back

We were sitting in back.


X station

From the initial letter X of Mexican radio stations' call signs.

Not long after the feds started regulating radio, Mexico's megawatt border blasters—high-powered stations planted just south of Texas and California—started beckoning. The FCC couldn't control them […] That same year, the Mexican government revised its radio licensing law, drastically reducing the X stations' autonomy.

2004, Jesse Walker, Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America, page 197:

X-station broadcasts could be heard occasionally in every region of the United States and in Canada, though it is difficult to know who listened to them.

2015, Bill C. Malone, David Stricklin, Southern Music/American Music, page 73:

(Canada, US) A Mexican broadcast station whose signal overpowers those of stations in the United States.


living tree doctrine

(Canada, law) A doctrine of constitutional interpretation according to which the constitution must be read in a broad and progressive way so as to adapt it to the changing times.


Luba

From Slavic
* (English-language female given name found in Canada): From Ukrainian Люба (Ljuba)

sense

(Canada) A female given name from Ukrainian [in turn from Slavic].


Trépanier

Trépaniers (plural)
Trepanier (alternative)


star-sixty-nine (alternative)
star sixty-nine (alternative)
star 69 (alternative)

(US, Canada, telephony) The telephone number used for last-call return services.


en-verb

*69 (third-person singular simple present *69s, present participle *69ing, simple past and past participle *69ed)

(Canada, US, telephony, transitive, intransitive) To use the last-call return service


wait staff

en-noun

wait staff (usually uncountable, plural wait staffs)

(US, Canada) Alternative form of waitstaff.


take ten

en-verb

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

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

(US, Canada, informal) To take a short, typically ten-minute, break from some activity.


bust one's neck

bust one's neck (third-person singular simple present busts one's neck, present participle busting one's neck, simple past and past participle busted one's neck or bust one's neck)

busts one's neck (present singular third-person)
busting one's neck (participle present)
busted one's neck (participle past)
busted one's neck (past)
bust one's neck (participle past)
bust one's neck (past)

Liz, I busted my neck getting you those votes!

(slang, Canada, US) To work exceptionally hard.


CRA

Canada Revenue Agency
Canada Revenue Agency#English

(Canada, finance) Initialism of Canada Revenue Agency (“the national taxation authority in Canada”).


star 69

star 69 (third-person singular simple present star 69s, present participle star 69ing, simple past and past participle star 69ed)

star 69s (present singular third-person)
star 69ing (participle present)
star 69ed (participle past)
star 69ed (past)

He rushed to the phone to star 69 before anyone else called.

(US, Canada) To press the keys *69 in succession on the keypad of a telephone, usually after a missed call, which results in a last-call return by automatically dialling the telephone number of the last caller.


Macdonaldism

From Macdonald + -ism, from Donald Stovel Macdonald, the chair of the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada (the Macdonald Commission).

The second development revolved around the growth of a radical alternative to Macdonaldism.

1994, Neville Kirk, Labour and Society in Britain and the USA, page 75:

And over and above this blatant injustice, through an ever-expanding global network the dehumanizing consequences of a certain uniform model of culture (call it cultural Macdonaldism) are spreading to the whole of the planet and eroding away the original local cultures.

2004, Luiz Carlos Susin, Jon Sobrino, Felix Wilfred, A different world is possible, page 71:

And since 1993, the Liberals have practiced “Macdonaldism” with a vengeance.

2015, Richard Roman, Edur Velasco Arregui, Mel Watkins, Continental Crucible, page 27:

(chiefly Canada) The policies recommended by the Macdonald Commission, especially the neoliberal economic policies and emphasis on free trade.

Donald Stovel Macdonald
Macdonald Commission


leadhand

The Conservation sub-committee of the LMPC at Canadian Car & Foundry Limited's automotive division, Fort William, Ont., is holding a series of meetings with foremen and leadhands in a campaign to reduce waste and conserve tools.

1951, The Labour Gazette, Canada Department of Labour, page 671:

To make this clear, let us assume that the leadhand premium is 25 cents per hour. The issue is whether the leadhand gets this sum for each hour worked, including each overtime hour, or whether he is to receive time and one-half the hourly wage rate for overtime increased by the 25 cents per hour premium.

1979, John P. Sanderson, The art of collective bargaining, page 116:

He takes up twice as much of your time as both the other leadhands, and he really does need the help.

1996, Raymond L. Hilgert, Cases and Experiential Exercises in Human Resource Management:


biballs

There was a naked, uncomplicated honesty in what he said as he stood there talking with his hands jammed deep into the pockets of his biballs that was impossible not to believe.

(US, Canada, informal) Loose-fitting pants (trousers) with supporting cross-straps and a panel of material in the chest (called a bib), often associated with farm work.


does a bear poop in the woods

does a bear shit in the woods?
does a bear shit in the woods#English

(Canada, US, euphemistic, rhetorical question) Synonym of does a bear shit in the woods?.


thrift store

thrift stores (plural)
thriftstore (alternative)


MIS-C

multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children#English

(pathology, Canada, US) Initialism of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

PMIS

pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome

post-infectious inflammatory response syndrome


napkin math

Based on my napkin math—and keep in mind I am terrible at math—if you made every conscious choice to do right, your highest potential “life grade” is a D once your bad habits are subtracted.

2018, Levi Lusko, I Declare War: Four Keys to Winning the Battle with Yourself, page 124:

(Canada, US) The act of performing quick mathematics often as a means of estimation, as if done on the back of a napkin (or in one's head).


scante

methamphetamine hydrochloride
methamphetamine hydrochloride

(Canada, US, slang) The drug methamphetamine hydrochloride, crystal meth.


confessing Sam

The first potentially believable confessing Sam, Daniel Voorhees, arrived at police headquarters on the same day as the second note from The Avenger. During an interview with LAPD Consulting Psychiatrist Dr. Paul De River, Voorhess ^([sic]) claimed that he "couldn't stand [keeping such a dark secret] any longer." The police knew that Voorhees was not The Avenger […]

2017, Jon Lewis, Hard-Boiled Hollywood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angeles, page 27:

(Canada, US, law enforcement slang) A person who falsely confesses to a crime.


opinions are like assholes

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-opinions are like assholes.wav

Shortened from "Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one"; "Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one and they usually stink"; "Opinions are like assholes: everybody's got one, and everybody thinks theirs smells nicer than everyone else's"; or some variant of the three.

“Opinions are like assholes,” Tipsy began again. “That would be correct,” Few confirmed acidly. “It's an understatement, too.” “Some people have more than one asshole?” Tipsy asked naively. “Okay. Okay.” Quentin placed both his hands ...

2010, Jim Nisbet, Windward Passage: A Novel, Abrams, →ISBN:

Opinions are like assholes and that's all I see. Ya you're so picture perfect. How's it feel to be perfect. Ya you're perfect. Picture perfect to me. What you got comes in a small pill. Pretty sure I've had my fill.

2011, Michelle Hutchinson, O for the Love of God, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 25:

Opinions are like assholes, and there are way too many assholes out there. Call me what you will, but I'll call you what you are. The best way to live is to deserve each day. A born loser isn't just someone who's been desperate for some ...

2018, Colin Honert, MindSpring, Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 391:

“The shit just got so stupid, and of course Gil kept saying the same thing he always says about this kind of thing: “'Opinions are like assholes...'” “You never know what you're gonna get?” This time they all laughed a little.

[2019, Mathew Klickstein, Selling Nostalgia: A Neurotic Novel, Permuted Press+ORM, →ISBN:

“Don't you mean, 'Opinions are like assholes'?” “No, 'shit'. They run too freely from careless openings.” “That's...not a saying.” “No?” Monty chuckled. “You sure?” He sighed. “Anyway, Hitler had opinions. That guy in Wolf Creek had ...

[2020, Jason Parent, The Apocalypse Strain, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, idiomatic, usually derogatory, vulgar) Everyone has opinions, and most people's opinions are of exceedingly poor quality.


(LGBTQ, chiefly Canada) Alternative form of LGBTQ2.


en-adj

LGBTQI2 (comparative more LGBTQI2, superlative most LGBTQI2)

more LGBTQI2 (comparative)
most LGBTQI2 (superlative)

(LGBTQ, chiefly Canada) Abbreviation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (or: transsexual), questioning (or: queer), intersex, two-spirited.


premajor

(Canada, US) An academic course that must be taken as a prerequisite for a major.

(Canada, US) A student taking such a course.


gnat's ass

He is so short he could stand flat-footed and kiss a gnat's ass without bending his knees.

1951, Herbert Halpert, “A Pattern of Proverbial Exaggeration from West Kentucky”, in Midwest Folklore:

(slang, vulgar, Canada, US) Synonym of gnat's (“very tiny thing or distance”).


train order

(rail transport, US, Canada) Formerly, a telegraphed or written instruction issued by a dispatcher to train crews and other railroad employees, concerning changes in operation of a particular train.


CERB

(Canada, politics, employment, COVID-19) Initialism of Canada emergency response benefit Income supplement for self-employed and employees, who are those directly affected by the COVID-19 shutdown.


didy

(Canada, US, childish) Alternative form of didie (“diaper”).


half joe

[M]y father's draft […] was paid in the Portuguese coin of half-Joes, or six-and-thirty shilling pieces, at that time made current in Great Britain.

1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 59

(chiefly Canada, US, now historical) A Portuguese gold coin, worth 3,200 reis, formerly current in North America.


Jordan rule

From the defendant, Barrett Richard Jordan, in the Canadian criminal court case, known as R v Jordan, whose resolution, the ruling decision, that established the rule.

(Canada, crime, law, politics, constitution, human rights) A rule regarding the length of a criminal court case, usually limited to eighteen or thirty months from filing charges to trial.

crime; constitution; human rights; crime; constitution; human rights


crudball

(slang, Canada, US) Synonym of scumball (“sleazy or despicable person”).


mommy-and-me

Ashalay did not have many friends, but Lauren's mother joined a mommy-and-me group so that Ashalay would have someone her size to interact with, so they would invite some of the toddlers from the playgroup.

2013, Raisa Brown, Murder or Marriage, page 125:

How would it be if we sisters offered a Mommy and Me Bible study? Knowing how much Jeremiah loved to read his little children's bible, I decided to bring the suggestion to Father Jason and to Jeremiah's entire family at their weekly meeting.

2014, Linda Porras, Jeremiah, Great but Small, page 107:

I quickly scanned through the list: cleaning and maintaining the studio, rehearsals and recital, and the fundraising options — parents' night out, dance-a-thon, and a mommy-and-me spa day.

(Canada, US) Of an activity or event: to be attended by a mother with her young child.


in bad

to be in bad with someone

to get in bad with someone

to put someone in bad with someone

(Canada, US, informal) out of favour, in (someone's) bad books [with with ‘someone’]


stroad

Blend of street + road, so named because the widths and speeds of such roads make them dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, while their excessive number of intersections and driveways prevent them from being able to move vehicles safely and efficiently. Coined by American engineer and author Charles Marohn in 2011.

coin

While Marohn came up with the neologism partly in a spirit of fun, he considers stroads a deadly serious problem. Not only are they dangerous and aesthetically repugnant, he argues that they are economically destructive as well.

2014 January 7, Sarah Goodyear, “Defining the Worst Type of Street Design”, in CityLab, Bloomberg:

The federal government pitched in $11.5 million for this stroad, so it requires this step before construction begins.

2017 June 30, David Sachs, “DPW Moves Forward With Making Quebec Street a Wide, Dangerous Stroad Instead of Prioritizing People Over Cars”, in Streetsblog Denver:

Roads I ride on: […] Very frequently, a four lane suburban stroad with 30,000 to 40,000 cars per day. 12 foot lanes. That's a tough one, because it's sort of sharable with a tiny car (Fiat 500, VW Beetle) if the driver is careful. But anyone else will be passing too close.

2019 January 27, Frank Krygowski, “AG: Lit Crit wanted”, in rec.bicycles.misc (Usenet), message-ID <q2lvot$tda$1@dont-email.me>:

A stroad has the driveways, intersections, and crosswalks (sometimes!) of a street, but the higher speed-limit of a road, perhaps 45 mph (70 kph) or more. Oh, and one more thing. The stroad has the multiple lanes of travel one might associate with an avenue (in Manhattan, say) or a limited access highway.

2024, Jonathan Maskit, Bicycle, Bloomsbury, →ISBN:

Whether or not it includes light rail, Graham appears to agree with the mayors that Parramatta Road’s future should involve turning it from a “stroad” – a confused mix between road and street design for cars with big shop fronts, common in the US – to a tree-lined boulevard that supports the Sydney growth plan for medium rise housing centred around public transport stations.

2024 July 26, Elias Visontay, “‘Boulevard of broken dreams’: could Parramatta Road really become Sydney’s Champs-Élysées?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(urban studies, derogatory, chiefly US and Canada) A wide, fast road with a large number of intersections and driveways attached.


groceteria

/ˌɡɹəʊ.səˈtɪə̯.ɹi.ə/

/ˌɡɹoʊ.səˈtɪɹ.i.ə/

In a groceteria, the bacon is already stripped of its rind, the steaks are boned and cut to the size of the family, and even six-pennyworth of marrow bones is wrapped up securely enough to be posted home.

1954, Ernest Watkins, Prospect of Canada, page 42:

(Canada, US, dated) A self-service grocery store.


defibre

en-verb

defibre (third-person singular simple present defibres, present participle defibring, simple past and past participle defibred)

defibres (present singular third-person)
defibring (participle present)
defibred (participle past)
defibred (past)

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative spelling of defiber.


Medicine Line

First known attestation from 1880 where the term was described as being used "because no matter what [the Indians] have done [committed crimes] upon one side they feel perfectly secure after having arrived upon the other". A synonymous term which was attested earlier is medicine road from 1869 and ostensibly a calque of a Sioux term transcribed as "pejuta canku". Unrecorded use of the term or a similar one may date back more than a century earlier than the first attestation. See also medicine (“protective charm among the Native Americans”).

(informal, Canada, US) The Canada-United States border; the 49th parallel north: a circle of latitude that is 49° north of Earth's equator.


sweet as candy

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sweet as candy.wav

Cora Dell was from the South. She wasn't very sharp, but she was sweet as candy. A precious little doll. Boys fell all over themselves when she marched by.

(Canada, US, simile) Synonym of sweet as pie.


two-forty on a plank road

The passion of young New York is for horses — fast horses — two-forty on a plank road.

1852, G. Henry Howard Paul, Dashes of American humour, page 206:

[…] some that remained, running to and fro, with white rags suspended on broom-handles, and an old darky had a bleached salt-sack tied to a limb of a tree, waving it at the rate of two-forty on a plank-road.

1862, Frank Moore, The Rebellion Record, a Diary of American Events, page 474:

(Canada, US, slang, obsolete) A very fast speed.

In Canada, where trotting is also a very favourite amusement, and whence came the famous trotting mare Flora Temple, a very “fast” young lady is generally spoken of as “two forty on a plank road.”

(Canada, US, slang, obsolete, by extension) The quality of being "fast", i.e. immoral in one's habits.


southwest salad

en-noun

southwest salad (countable and uncountable, plural southwest salads)

(Canada, US) A salad with grilled chicken, beans, cheese, etc.


skoden

You really think you can take me in a scrap? Alright, skoden.

(Canada, First Nations) Contraction of let's go then.


sexpresso

It also boasts dress-up days such as Military Mondays, Cowgirl Tuesdays, Bikini Wednesdays, Schoolgirl Thursdays and Fantasy Fridays. Other coffeehouses in the area are also trying to capitalize on the “sexpresso” concept.

For instance, in February 2007 the Los Angeles Times ran an article that described the appearance of a new variety of coffee shop in the suburbs of Seattle, the “sexpresso” bar. Noting that “coffee, the famed Seattle obsession,” is now being combined “with sex, the fabled human obsession,” the paper discussed the success of establishments like the “Natte Latte and Bikini Espresso,” whose full-figured barristas^([sic]) serve customers while wearing baby doll nighties, halter tops, or negligees.

2012, Mark Walia, A Tale of Two Cultures:

(Canada, US, attributive, informal) The marketing trend of coffee shops staffed by scantily-clad female baristas.


cocktail peanut

cocktail peanut (plural cocktail peanuts)

They may be served at cocktail bars and similar establishments to encourage the purchase of drinks.


cross up

en-verb

cross up (third-person singular simple present crosses up, present participle crossing up, simple past and past participle crossed up)

crosses up (present singular third-person)
crossing up (participle present)
crossed up (participle past)
crossed up (past)

(Canada, US, informal) To double-cross or betray (someone).


Finndian

(Canada, US) A person of mixed Finnish and Native American heritage.


Finndian

Being Indian isn't easy for a kid. Not being fully Indian is even worse. I wasn't Finnish, and I wasn't Indian. Half-breed. Finndian.

2011 April, Arne Vainio, “My Ojibwe and Finnish Heritage”, in Ojibwe Inaajimowin, volume 13, number 4, Mille Lacs Band, →OCLC, page 7, column 4:

Seppälä stayed in the U.S. from July to October that year and even went to Canada to meet some Finndian people in Toronto.

2016 November 5, Jana Peterson, “Finnish writers, photographer spotlight ‘Finndians’ in new book”, in The Pine Journal, Cloquet, Minnesota: Forum Communications Company, archived from the original on 2020-11-15:

(Canada, US) Of mixed Finnish and Native American heritage.


(Canada, US, journalism) Indicates the end of a story, article, or press release that is submitted for editing and typesetting.


NRST

(Canada, taxation) Abbreviation of non-resident speculation tax.


douchehole

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

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

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


caliber

en-noun

caliber (countable and uncountable, plural calibers)

tlb

(British spelling, Australia, Canada, New Zealand)

→ Irish: calabra

→ Welsh: calibr

From French calibre (“bore of a gun, size, capacity (literally, and figuratively), also weight”), from Italian calibro.

der

A nominal name for a cartridge type, which may not exactly indicate its true size and may include other measurements such as cartridge length or black powder capacity. Eg 7.62×39 or 38.40.


Evil Questions Attacking Ontario

en-noun

Evil Questions Attacking Ontario pl (plural only)

Evil Questions Attack Ontario (alternative)

The admittedly 'nervous’ Maneesha Johal, top, and classmates Lee-Anna Maharaj, right, and Amanda Ibe, left, prepare for ‘Evil Questions Attacking Ontario.’

Caroline Alphonso (2013 May 31) “The debate over standardized testing in schools is as divisive as ever”, in The Globe and Mail, archived from the original on 2020-12-17

School boards have said that without the co-operation of teachers, there’s no way they can administer the tests, which teachers have dubbed “evil questions attacking Ontario.”

Kristin Rushowy (2015 May 14) “EQAO standardized testing cancelled over teacher job action”, in Toronto Star, Torstar, archived from the original on 2020-12-17

(Canada, informal, education, derogatory) Standardized tests conducted by the Education Quality and Accountability Office in the province of Ontario.


jacklighting

A Pennsylvania man was charged with jacklighting, allegedly shining his truck headlights onto a police deer decoy.

2019 December 12, Maryland Department of Natural Resources press releasehttps://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2019/12/12/police-deer-decoy-struck-by-suspect/

(hunting, US, Canada) The action of the verb to jacklight; the act of illuminating an animal for the purpose of hunting.


chow mein bun

From chow mein + bun. Coined in the 1930s, having been invented in Massachusetts, and then spread throughout North America's Americanized Chinese cuisine culture, and Americanized Jewish culture.

(US, Canada, cooking) A Chinese-American food, a hamburger bun filled with chow mein and slathered with a brown sauce.


fine and dandy like sour candy

en-adj

fine and dandy like sour candy (not comparable)

GEORGE BUSH: Well, howdily doodily yourself, there, Ned. This is my wife Barbara. I call her Bar. Would you like some lemonade?
NED: Tip top notch!
GEORGE BUSH: Okily dokily!
NED: Thankily dankily!
GEORGE BUSH: Scrump-diddley-eriffic!
BOTH: Fine and dandy like sour candy!

1996, The Simpsons (animated TV series), "Two Bad Neighbors" (season 7 episode 13)

We had a nice chat, yes we did, and I think they're fine and dandy like sour candy,” she said, giving them a knowing smile, “Did you find out much from your computa-ma-web?”

2014, Jeremy Tyrrell, Adaptation (part 3, page 114)

Then, with my consent, they politely show me their scars/scabs and we do the hug and the photo and everything is fine and dandy like sour candy.

2016, Hannah Hart, Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded:

(Canada, US, informal, simile) Synonym of fine and dandy.


sophomore slump

en-noun

sophomore slump (plural sophomore slumps)

(Canada, US) The situation where a second effort fails to live up to the relatively high standards of the first.


assholishness

(vulgar, Canada, US, informal) The quality of being assholish.


Rejeanne

(Canada, Louisiana) A female given name from French; feminine of Rejean


Rejean

(Canada, Louisiana) A male given name from French; masculine of Rejeanne


expansion team

(sports, chiefly Canada, US) A new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the local population's demand for a local team.


lamewad

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) A lame or uncool person.


So called after these areas being often assigned the area code 905 in their telephone numbers. Compare with 416 (“Toronto”), which has a similar etymology.

The part of the urban region outside the City of Toronto is often referred to locally as "the 905", the telephone area code that distinguishes it from the 416 area code of the City. Because the 905 has mostly been built up since the 1970s it is also common to regard everything there as "the outer suburbs", a useful name that implies that while this recently developed area is an extension of the inner suburbs it is nevertheless different from them.

2013, Edward Relph, Toronto: Transformations in a City and Its Region (Metropolitan Portraits), University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, retrieved 2021-01-10, page 77:

Essentially, Toronto had higher commercial property taxes than the 905 area and relatively lower residential property taxes.

2001, Allen J. Scott, Global City-Regions: Trends, Theory, Policy, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, retrieved 2021-01-10, page 178:

(Canada, geography) Suburban areas in the province of Ontario closely surrounding the city of Toronto.


pharmacare

As well, the pharmacare and general practitioner studies showed fairly similar distributions by age.

1993, Philippe Cappeliez, Depression and the Social Environment: Research and Intervention with Neglected Populations:

The Canada Health Act does not mandate provincial nonhospital (pharmacare) programs. Each province has the discretion to develop its own pharmacare, and so coverage varies widely, as does the approach to subsidizing and monitoring the delivery of pharmaceuticals for patiens in hospitals, long-term care, and home care.

2013, Louise Potvin, Shaping Academia for the Public Good: Critical Reflections on the CHSRF/CIHR Chair Program:

But there are big things that remain to be explained, such as how much new funding the Liberals might be willing to provide to the provinces for health care — an issue that could involve specific commitments for pharmacare and long-term care.

2020 December 1, Aaron Wherry, “On the edge of a bleak pandemic winter, Freeland offers a vague plan for recovery”, in CBC:

(Canada, medicine) Public insurance covering all or some of the cost of pharmaceuticals.


impaired driving

(law, automotive, chiefly Canada) A criminal offense; the act of driving while impaired (such as by alcohol or drugs).


Browntown

(Canada, colloquial, derogatory or humorous) Brampton (city in Ontario)


beaver tail

beaver tails (plural)
beaver-tail (alternative)
beavertail (alternative)

(Canada) A snack consisting of a piece of fried dough.


rug joint

(Canada, US, slang) Synonym of carpet joint.


carpet joint

Most of the carpet joints were run by the mobsters and local henchmen associated with the Mayfield Road Gang, but Peter Schmidt's Playtorium and Glenn Rendezvous were also included.

2014, Paul A. Tenkotte, James C. Claypool, The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky, page 385:

(Canada, US, slang) An attractive casino with decorative carpets, etc.


lumberwood

(Canada, US, chiefly in the plural) A forest from which wood is cut.


VPD

V.P.D. (alternative)
V. P. D. (alternative)

Police Department
police department#English

(law enforcement) Initialism of Vancouver Police Department.

(Canada) The police service of the city of Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada.


lameass

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) An uncool person; a dork.


lameass

en-adj

lameass (comparative more lameass, superlative most lameass)

more lameass (comparative)
most lameass (superlative)

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) Uncool; dorky.


coonshit

If your brains was coonshit, you couldn't find a hackberry seed.

It was utter banal coonshit, and we loved to read it aloud.

2001, Judy H. Tucker, Charline R. McCord, Christmas Stories from Mississippi, page 94:

(slang, vulgar, Canada, US) Synonym of bullshit (“nonsense; rubbish”).


short pants

You can be young enough to wear short pants or old enough to hide your opponents' shoes with your beard over a disputed point.


in short pants

From an early 20th century practice of reserving short pants only for small children.

Near-synonym: in diapers

Look, honey, this ain't my first rodeo, OK? I was doing this when you were in short pants.

Dr. Smith said a moment ago that we are scientifically adult but spiritually in short pants.

1948, Albert Craig Baird, Lester Thonssen, Waldo Warder Braden, Owen Peterson, Representative American Speeches:

in short trousers
in short trousers#English

(Canada, US, idiomatic) Synonym of in short trousers (“quite young”).


garbage patch

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia) A piece of land used for dumping rubbish.


vo-tech

(Canada, US) A high school offering vocational and technical training.


stagger soup

(Canada, US, slang) whisky (the alcoholic drink)


infantier

infantiers (plural)
infanteer (alternative)

(Canada, military) A soldier in the infantry; an infantryman.


union station

The Burlington had built a union station at the junction, but the Union Pacific refused to stop its trains there until it received an interest in the townsite.

1978 May, Alice Howell, “Railroads in Buffalo County”, in Buffalo Tales [a newsletter of the Buffalo County Historical Society, Buffalo County, Nebraska], volume 1, number 5, archived from the original on 2016-06-24:

(rail transport, US, Canada) A railroad station shared by more than one railroad company, usually to spread the costs and ease the logistics of serving a particular town by rail.


dandy as candy

(simile, informal, Canada, US) Perfectly fine or good.


minor in

en-verb

minor in (third-person singular simple present minors in, present participle minoring in, simple past and past participle minored in)

minors in (present singular third-person)
minoring in (participle present)
minored in (participle past)
minored in (past)

(Canada, US, education) To study as or qualify in a subsidiary subject at college or university.


NACI

(Canada, medicine) Acronym of National Advisory Committee on Immunization.


stick it to

stick it to (third-person singular simple present sticks it to, present participle sticking it to, simple past and past participle stuck it to)

sticks it to (present singular third-person)
sticking it to (participle present)
stuck it to (participle past)
stuck it to (past)

(Canada, US, informal, idiomatic) To assert one's power in an attempt to get revenge or prove a point; to show who's boss.