buttbreath

buttbreaths (plural)
butt-breath (alternative)
butt breath (alternative)

From butt (“buttocks, backside”) + breath.

No, like Reverend King, buttbreath, she said.

1994, James W. Hall, Hard Aground, Dell, published 1994, →ISBN, page 130:

"Buttbreath," said Travis, catching on.

1997, Steve Gannon, A Song for the Asking, Bantam Books, published 1997, →ISBN, page 64:

“Did you see that buttbreath I pitched out into the street?”

2002, Chris Bunch, Star Risk, LTD., Prologue Books, published 2002, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar, derogatory) Synonym of arsebreath.


Schadenford

2008, blend of schadenfreude (“malicious enjoyment of another’s misfortune”) + Ford (“surname”). Coined by Philip Preville in the title of a Toronto Life article.

blend

[title] Schadenford: The arrest of Rob Ford, city hall hoser

2008 March 28, Philip Preville, “Schadenford: The arrest of Rob Ford, city hall hoser”, in Toronto Life:

The situation prompted some Twitter users to resurrect the term “schadenford” — taking pleasure at the mayor's misfortunes — and a play on the German word schadenfreude.

2011, Colin Perkel, “Police chief backs Mayor Ford on 911 call after ‘22 minutes’ fiasco”, Canadian Press (St. Albert Gazette), October 28

In 2013, there's nothing remotely acceptable about engaging in Schadenford, a term coined by Toronto Life in 2008, when then-councillor Rob Ford was charged with assault and uttering death threats in a domestic incident involving his wife.
Already a national punchline, Rob Ford went international, with U.S. TV talk shows engaging in their own particular form of Schadenford -- sketches about a nice, polite Canadian city with a buffoon leader who does a modern-day Marion Barry impression.

2013 May 26, Bartley Kives, “When the Ford jokes stop”, in Winnipeg Free Press:

(Canada, humorous) Perverse pleasure derived from observing the foibles of Toronto mayor Rob Ford.


Robert Borden

Robert Bordens (plural)
Borden (alternative)
Sir Robert Borden (alternative)

From the depiction of Robert Borden, former Prime Minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920, on the front of the Canadian hundred-dollar note.

Short of spraying magnums of Veuve Clicquot over backbenchers while lighting cigars with Robert Bordens, Paul and Co. announced a pre-budget teaser of how he and his pals planned to spend! spend! spend! on all sorts of crazy "please have us back" projects, things like fancy new transit system improvements, hundreds of millions of dollars for struggling farmers, and a program to curb gun violence in our fair city.

2005 November 29, Jose Loureno, “Give me $50 now, and I might even vote”, in Toronto Star:

As for hopes of perhaps finding a load of gold bars or wrapped up stacks of Robert Bordens once they get inside, Quince isn’t holding his breath.

2011, Andrew Zwicker, "Wine, chocolate and chamber music aim to crack the code of the BMO safe", The Rossland Telegraph (Rossland, British Columbia), 9 February 2011

Well, well, J.D. Rockefeller, stick to our foolproof guide and you’ll be rolling in the Robert Bordens in no time.

2012, Wade Wilson & Edward Blake, "Topz (With a Z): Top Ways to Make Money", The Iron Warrior (University of Waterloo), 4 July 2012

(Canada, slang) A Canadian hundred-dollar note.


charter member

(Canada, US) An original member of an organization; a member named in an organization's charter.


poutinerie

poutineries (plural)
poutinery (alternative)

Smolkin says he's hit every expansion target since the poutinerie's launch in November 2008.

2016 July 8, Aleksandra Sagan, “Is Smoke's on the path to global domination?”, in CTV News, archived from the original on 2020-12-04:

Hana had been up until 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday preparing poutine for the Rockin' River Music Festival in Merritt, B.C., where the poutinerie is slated to be a vendor.

2019 July 31, Dominika Lirette, “Large poutine food truck stolen from owner”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 2021-07-31:

One of the poutinerie's walls bears the scrawled names of current and former staff.

2022 December 27, Eric Andrew-Gee, “How immigrants from Benin saved a Quebec town's storied poutinerie”, in The Globe and Mail, archived from the original on 2022-12-30:

(chiefly Canada) A restaurant that specializes in making poutine.


Molson muscle

From Molson, a popular Canadian beer brand, + muscle.

Molson's muscle (alternative)
Molson-muscle (alternative)

We also needed to make the message entertaining. Therefore, we associated the distribution curb [sic] with what is amusingly referred to in Canada as the "Molson Muscle".

1986, Norman Giesbrecht and Ann E. Cox eds., Prevention, alcohol and the environment: issues, constituencies, and strategies, Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario, p 180

Jim, sporting a gradually growing Molson muscle, is too tired when he gets home from work. He watches T.V. every night and keeps company with a six pack.

1996 [2004], Lee Stones and Michael Stones, Sex May be Wasted on the Young: For Boomers and Beyond, 2nd ed., Concord, Ont.: Captus Press, pp 137–38

Frank, the Molson-muscle heavyweight, was straightforward.

2004, Darlene Barriere, On My Own Terms, Bloomington, Ind.: Trafford Publishing, page 197:

Hallam took a can of Molson Export out of the lunch pail. He popped the tab and guzzled noisily, wiping his mouth with the palm of his hand. He slapped his huge gut. It sounded as if he were slapping a concrete wall. “Gotta keep up the old Molson muscle, eh? Wanna take a shot? Go ahead. I won’t feel a thing.”

2007, Michael Blair, The Dells: A Joe Shoe Mystery, Toronto: Dundurn Press, page 132:

He was in his early thirties but was as roly-poly as a middle-aged man. My dad chuckled when he referred to the grocer’s considerable belly as a “Molson’s muscle” and said that Mr. Marlton had enjoyed too much of his own fat meat.

2010, Doug Taylor, Arse Over Teakettle: An Irreverent Story of Coming of Age During the 1940s in Toronto, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, page 79:


have one's head up one's ass

en-verb

have one's head up one's ass (third-person singular simple present has one's head up one's ass, present participle having one's head up one's ass, simple past and past participle had one's head up one's ass)

has one's head up one's ass (present singular third-person)
having one's head up one's ass (participle present)
had one's head up one's ass (participle past)
had one's head up one's ass (past)

(slang, derogatory, Canada, US, vulgar) To be oblivious to the real state of things, from either stupidity or stubbornness.

olla pää perseessä (subject in adessive)

think the sun shines out of someone's arse


isolation pay

(Canada) Additional money paid to workers based in remote communities to compensate for higher living and travel costs.


PSC

Public Service of Canada
w:Public Service of Canada

(Canada) Initialism of Public Service of Canada.


OTTW

(Canada, rail transport) Abbreviation of Ottawa.


TRTO

(Canada, rail transport) Abbreviation of Toronto.


peameal

en-noun

peameal (usually uncountable, plural peameals)

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


wobbly pop

wobbly pop (countable and uncountable, plural wobbly pops)

He describes the association as a very nice informal group who periodically gets together to swap stories and share their latest elbow-grease experiences over a wobbly pop, which is Canadian for beer.

2002, Dieter Loibner, The Folkboat Story: From Cult to Classic — the Renaissance of a Legend, Sheridan House Inc., →ISBN, page 131:

An occasional wobbly pop is one thing, but the consistent use of alcohol significantly diminishes any possible real long-term spiritual connection or spiritual awareness.

2012, Paul Pacific, The Spirit Within: How We Are Connected to "God" Each Other and "All-Things", Balboa Press, →ISBN, page 45:

I'd stay with my folks and visit my probation officer, get a job— something I could do with my hands—go to the Cairncroft Lounge on Saturday nights for a wobbly pop with Sam Bovine, meet a woman who wasn't put off by histories and scars.

2013, Craig Davidson, Cataract City, Doubleday Canada, →ISBN:


pedaheh

A mondegreen of Ukrainian пироги (pyrohy).

(Canada, US) A type of Ukrainian dumpling, similar to Polish pierogi. Traditionally called pyrohy or varenyky.


spieler

spielers (plural)
shpieler (alternative)
speiler (alternative)

From German Spieler (“player, gambler”) or from spiel.

(Canada, US, broadcasting, informal) A radio or television announcer.


change the channel

en-verb

change the channel (third-person singular simple present changes the channel, present participle changing the channel, simple past and past participle changed the channel)

changes the channel (present singular third-person)
changing the channel (participle present)
changed the channel (participle past)
changed the channel (past)

Repeated attempts to "change the channel" to pocketbook issues that traditionally favor Democratic candidates have flopped.

2002 October 20, Thomas M. Defrank, “Dems Can't Cash In on Economy”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 2013-10-17:

“This is all smoke and mirrors because the issue in this campaign is taxes, which candidate is going to raise them and which candidate is going to cut them,” Harris said. “Bill McBride doesn’t want that to be the focus so he’s trying to change the channel.”

2002 October 26, Ken Thomas, “McBride Ad Reveals Praise from Bush”, in Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Sarasota, Florida, retrieved 2013-10-17, page 6B:

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper tried to change the channel on a campaign of distractions Wednesday as he deftly neutralized the Afghan mission as an election issue.

2008 September 10, “Harper’s Fresh Commitment on Afghan Pullout Neutralizes War as Election Issue”, in The Guardian (Canadian Press), Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, archived from the original on 2016-03-04:

[Big banks] have become the perfect foil for the White House as it tries to lead the Democratic Party out of its post-Massachusetts morass — and to change the channel from the seemingly unending debate over health insurance.

2010 January 22, Jackie Calmes, “With Tougher Stance, Obama Takes on Banks”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2022-12-15:

Hudema responded, “This government doesn’t want to have a public discussion on the industry’s disastrous safety record, or the toxic effects that spills from a 1,170-kilometre tarsands pipeline would have on indigenous rights, the Rocky Mountains, the B.C. coast, or the more than 1,000 rivers and streams this pipeline would cross. Instead, they try to change the channel by inventing scapegoats and bogeymen. […]”

2012 January 9, Les Whittington, “Environmentalists Hit Back Over Pipeline Hearings”, in Toronto Star, retrieved 2013-10-17:

(chiefly Canada, idiomatic) To redirect someone’s attention.


partitionist

(Canada, politics) A political partisan who favours the partition of the province of Quebec with the western, southern portions and Montreal forming a separate province or country from the rest of Quebec.


PBO

en-noun

PBO (countable and uncountable, plural PBOs)

Parliamentary Budget Officer
w:Parliamentary Budget Officer

(Canada) Initialism of Parliamentary Budget Officer.


dogfucker

dogfuckers (plural)
dog fucker (alternative)

How many of you dogfuckers does it take to keep this aisleway cleared and swept?!

(slang, derogatory, offensive, vulgar, especially Canada) A worker who is dogging it (soldiering).

Near-synonyms: goldbricker, loafer; see also Thesaurus:idler

Don't be such a dogfucker about bothering to floss your teeth. Your gums will rot if you can't be arsed.

(slang, derogatory, offensive, vulgar, by extension, especially Canada) A lazy person.


disgrossting

/dɪsˈkɹəʊstɪŋ/

/dɪsˈɡɹəʊstɪŋ/

(slang, Canada, US, uncommon) gross and disgusting


cottage cheese ass

cottage cheese ass (plural cottage cheese asses)

cottage cheese asses (plural)
cottage cheese arse (alternative)
cottage-cheese ass (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cottage cheese ass.wav

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) Buttocks of visible cellulite.


donair

(Canada) In Nova Scotia, a variant of the doner kebab, including breadcrumbs and spices, and served with a sweet sauce made from evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar, and garlic.

(Canada) In British Columbia, a variant of the doner kebab, served as a wrap and with a choice between three sauces (tzatziki, sweet garlic sauce, or hot sauce), no breadcrumbs or spices.


elevator shaft

You know when winter comes to visit these big cities and / the wind starts howling through the elevator shafts

1979, The Boomtown Rats (lyrics and music), “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing:

Any visitor to New York over the past few years will have witnessed this curious new breed of pencil-thin tower. Poking up above the Manhattan skyline like etiolated beanpoles, they seem to defy the laws of both gravity and commercial sense. They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors, raw extrusions of capital piled up until it hits the clouds.

2019 June 1, Oliver Wainwright, “Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-10-05:


Belgian endive

Belgian endive (countable and uncountable, plural Belgian endives)

Cichorium intybus
Cichorium intybus#Translingual

(Canada, US) Common chicory, Cichorium intybus, grown without sunlight to produce pale leaves.


SHU

administrative segregation

security housing unit or special handling unit

special handling unit
special handling unit#English

(Canada) Acronym of special handling unit.


slushbreaker

(Canada, derogatory, shipping) an icebreaker with poor icebreaking capabilities, unable to operate year-round in Arctic or polar conditions


beaver eater

beaver eaters (plural)
beaver-eater (alternative)

...we baled up our peltry, and on the 23d of May left Lac la Mort, with four small birch canoes richly laden with the skins of beavers, otters, martens, minx, loup serviers, beaver eaters, foxes, bears, &c.

1791, John Long, Voyages and Travels (2006 reprint), page 132:

This animal, which is known in Canada by the name of Carcajou, and the Beaver Eater, is of a clumsy appearance, about a foot and a half high ...

1819, D. B. Warden, A statistical, political, and historical account of the United States of North America, volume I, pages 200–201:


PPC

People's Party of Canada
w:People's Party of Canada

(Canada, politics) Initialism of People's Party of Canada.


Chavril

However one feels about the engagement of Canadian pop stars Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger, one thing is certain: When People magazine stunned the world with the news late Tuesday, the reaction was instantaneous. Twitter was afire with news of Canada’s answer to Brangelina. In Chavril, Canada had its own royal couple.

2012 August 23, Marsha Lederman, “Is Chavril our own Brangelina pairing?”, in The Globe and Mail:

Avril Lavigne is rumoured to have been married in her "favourite place to be."
The Here's To Never Growing Up hitmaker was set to tie the knot with Chad Kroeger in Cannes, France, on Monday.

2013, "Chavril hitched in France", The Province, 2 July 2013 (only used in title)

A three-album compilation by various adult artists, including Canuck crooners Sarah Harmer, The Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan and Canada's pre-Chavril sweethearts Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida.

2013 September 17, Lyranda Martin Evans, Fiona Stevenson, “Kids' CDs even parents will like”, in Metro, Edmonton, page 35:

(Canada, slang) The couple consisting of celebrities Chad Kroeger and Avril Lavigne, together from 2012 to 2015.


dumbassery

Speaking of savages, Bruce Cowell and his pack of jock-wannabes, who'd been kicked off every school team because of attitude problems and/or the use of illegal substances, were right on schedule for their weekly feats of dumbassery.

2008, Sara Zarr, Story of a Girl, →ISBN:

Wikileaks has always had a healthy sense of self-importance—one that seems, at least in part, well-deserved. But there's something uniquely hubristic about accusing a major newspaper (and former collaborator) of "gross negligence or malice" over the release of 251,000 unredacted top-secret cables—when the fault lies with the website itself. [see title]

2011 August 31, Max Read, “Wikileaks Freaks Out at Newspaper Over Its Own Dumbassery”, in Gawker:

“Honestly god bless the olive oil war, this is exactly the kind of ludicrous startup-brain-worms low-stakes drama that the world needs more of right now,” tweeted Helen Rosner, a New Yorker staff writer who covers food. “No villains, no victims, just top notch public ego dumbassery.”

2023 April 28, Madison Malone Kircher, Anna Grace Lee, “This Week’s Tiniest Social Media Drama Is About Olive Oil”, in The New York Times:

(slang, vulgar, Canada, US) Immature, foolish behavior; behavior typical of a dumbass.


Chilean sea bass

Chilean sea bass (plural Chilean sea bass)

Patagonian toothfish
Patagonian toothfish

Dissostichus eleginoides
Dissostichus eleginoides#Translingual

(US, Canada) Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides)


scrunchion

scrunchions (plural)
scruncheon (alternative)
scrunchin (alternative)

(Canada, Newfoundland, usually in the plural) A small piece of pork rind or fatback fried until rendered and crispy.


bachelor apartment

bachelor apartment (plural bachelor apartments)

(Canada) An apartment consisting mainly of one large room which is the living room, dining room, and bedroom combined.


correction line

correction line (plural correction lines)

(Canada) A place where a north–south grid road jogs to correct for the northward convergence of meridians.


grid road

(Canada) A road that follows the one-mile section grid established by government land survey.


front bum

[…] you had still started to notice a few changes, a metabolic slowdown that left you wondering whether, on top of being alone for the rest of your life, you were also going to end up with one of those stomachs that could only be described as a “front bum.”

2016, Marissa Stapley, Mating for Life: A Novel, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 122:

(Canada, US, slang) A bipartite mass of abdominal fat.


kick at the can

kick at the can (plural kicks at the can)

kicks at the can (plural)
kick at the cat (alternative)

"We're now in a situation where you get just one kick at the can," Mr. Elderfield said.

2005 June 17, Carol Vogel, “The Modern Buys 'Rebus'”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-02-13:

He figured that Canadian political leaders got only two kicks at the can, and he'd now had both of his.

2011, Paul Litt, Elusive Destiny: The Political Vocation of John Napier Turner, →ISBN, page 389:

How many companies get the chance to flail around for 6 years and then get a second kick at the can?

2012 January 20, Eric Jackson, “In Defense of Jerry Yang”, in Forbes, retrieved 2014-02-13:

(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) An attempt or an opportunity.


kick at the can

en-verb

kick at the can (third-person singular simple present kicks at the can, present participle kicking at the can, simple past and past participle kicked at the can)

kicks at the can (present singular third-person)
kicking at the can (participle present)
kicked at the can (participle past)
kicked at the can (past)
kick at the cat (alternative)

(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) To make an attempt; to try.


substitute teacher

en-noun

substitute teacher (plural substitute teachers)

(Canada, US, India, Ireland) A supply teacher.


pleasure centre

pleasure centre (plural pleasure centres)

UK and Canada spelling of pleasure center


stump detective

stump detective (plural stump detectives)

(Canada, US, derogatory) A forestry official charged with measuring waste in logging operations.


passport baby

Three townhouses in Richmond, B.C., are being used to house foreign nationals pregnant with “passport babies,” and are among numerous local housing destinations for birth tourists.

2012 March 7, Byron Chu, “Hotel Linked to ‘Passport Babies’”, in Toronto Sun, retrieved 2014-02-18:

(chiefly Canada) Synonym of anchor baby.


polling booth

(British, Ireland, Canada, Australia) A voting booth.


mommy brain

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

Together, this leads a new mom to have “mommy brain” where she's happy but easily distracted and unfocussed.

2010, Maryanne Fisher, Victoria Costello, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Chemistry Of Love, Alpha, →ISBN:

Whatever method of warming you use, always shake the bottle well and check the temperature every time before serving by shaking a few drops onto your wrist—you may have performed the same ritual a hundred times, but "mommy brain" can strike and cause you to make a mistake at any time.

2010, Erica Wells, Lorraine Regel, The Survival Guide for Rookie Moms: Things You Need to Know (That No One Ever Tells You), Wiley, →ISBN:

Mommy brain can cause you to do things like forget parts of the English language and being forced to watch your vocabulary dwindle, telling the same stories week after week like it's still news […] and lose your car keys twenty three times a day.

2011, Karen Savage, Instructions Not Included: The Adventures of New Motherhood, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 71:

(informal, Canada, US) A state in which a new mother is forgetful, absent-minded, or easily distracted.


weeniehead

(colloquial, derogatory, rare, Canada, US) A stupid, useless, or mean person.


fuck that noise

[…] And it's please and thank you and you gotta call the old man 'master.'”
“Fuck that noise!”

1977, Jake Logan, White Hell, Playboy Press, page 46:

“If you mean the Provincial Mental Hospital – yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about.”
“Fuck that noise. My Earl's not going anywhere near that place.”

1989, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Homesick, Emblem Editions, published 1999, →ISBN:

'You should always return calls as a courtesy.'
'Fuck that noise.'

2012, Cordelia Strube, Milosz, Coach House Books, →ISBN:

(US, Canada, slang, vulgar) Used to express rejection of or objection to something.


kick ass and take names

en-verb

kick ass and take names (third-person singular simple present kicks ass and takes names, present participle kicking ass and taking names, simple past kicked ass and took names, past participle kicked ass and taken names)

kicks ass and takes names (present singular third-person)
kicking ass and taking names (participle present)
kicked ass and took names (past)
kicked ass and taken names (participle past)

We kick ass and take names and call muster.

1987, Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline, page 394:

Hell, I thought, if I were wearing that star, I'd kick ass and take names and have this place turned upside down in a week.

1990, David H. Hackworth, Julie Sherman, About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, page 217:

“Fitz,” Assistant Director Roy McKinnon said the day he summoned me to his office at headquarters in Washington in late 1980, “we need an Irishman to go to Boston to kick ass and take names.”

2012, Robert Fitzpatrick, Betrayal, page 17:

(idiomatic, US, Canada, vulgar, colloquial) To beat someone in a competition, fight, or other situation.


cigarette boat

cigarette boats (plural)
cigarette-boat (alternative)

(Canada, US) A small fast boat with a planing hull used to smuggle cigarettes to avoid taxation.


spruce beer

en-noun

spruce beer (countable and uncountable, plural spruce beers)

German Sprossenbier. Sprosse (“sprout, shoot”) was changed into spruce because the beer came from Prussia, or because it was made from the sprouts of the spruce.

(Canada, US) A kind of beer which is flavored with parts of the spruce tree.

(Canada, US) A spruce-flavored soft drink.


Queen's cowboy

(Canada, slang) A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.


concession road

concession road (plural concession roads)

So called because the land that comprised a row of lots that spanned the entire length of a new township was conceded by the Crown for this purpose.

(Canada, historical) A road laid out by the colonial government through undeveloped Crown land to provide access to rows of newly surveyed lots intended for farming by new settlers.


mainstreeting

When fog over the British Columbia interior caused the Liberal leader to abort a campaign trip last week and repair to a shopping mall in downtown Vancouver for some "mainstreeting" among the shoppers, John C. Turner stole the show.

1988 November 12, John F. Burns, “Reporter's Notebook: A Legend Campaigns In Canada”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-05-22:

Practising in Northfield what his staff calls "mainstreeting"—pottering past shops talking to passers-by—he ducks into an artist's supply shop.

2008 June 19, David Usborne, “Al Franken's time: Can a comedian conquer the US senate?”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-05-22:

Horwath opted for mainstreeting rather than new policy announcements Tuesday. She visited a mall food court, where she glad-handed and chatted with patrons.

2014 May 13, Colin Perkel, “Horwath blasts Liberals on auto insurance”, in Hamilton Spectator, Canada, retrieved 2014-05-22:

(chiefly Canada and US, informal, of a politician or celebrity) Greeting and interacting with people in a public place.


bozo eruption

Smokin’ Tom not only teaches political “science” […] he's a rich old white guy who advises our prime minister and his underlings on how to avoid “bozo eruptions.”

2010 December 9, David J. Climenhaga, “Smokin’ Tom Flanagan! Jumpin’ Steve Harper! Bozo eruptions erupting all over!”, in rabble.ca, retrieved 2014-05-27:

But things shifted the last week with the pro-Caucasian and anti-gay “bozo eruptions” from Wildrose candidates.

2012 April 23, Graham Thomson, “Progressive appeal of Conservatives wins 2012 election”, in Edmonton Journal, Canada, retrieved 2014-05-27:

NDP MP Pat Martin, known for the odd bozo eruption, is seeking the public's help for a legal defence fund.

2012 September 11, Matt Gurney, “The NDP's hothead needs your money”, in National Post, Canada, retrieved 2014-05-27:

Rob Ford remains Mayor of Toronto. . . . [A]re some correct in saying that in our quest to prevent disastrous Ford-style "bozo eruptions" on the campaign trail, we may have gone too far?

2013 May 20, David P. Ball, “What If Political Parties Stood behind Their Bozos?”, in The Tyee, Canada, retrieved 2014-05-27:

McKay says on a recording obtained by CTV News that he thought Trudeau had a “bozo eruption” and didn’t think about what he said when he declared that anti-abortion candidates won’t be allowed to run for the Liberals.

2014 May 26, “Liberal MP criticizes Justin Trudeau over abortion edict”, in Toronto Star, Canada: The Canadian Press, retrieved 2014-05-27:

(Canada, slang) A (usually unscripted) remark by a politician or other public figure which is especially ill-considered and foolish, and which has negative repercussions for that individual and their affiliated group.


fish pound

the River St. Francis and its tributary Rivers and Streams should at all seasons remain open and unencumbered by fish pounds, so that Salmon may be left unmolested at and in ascending to their spawning places

1841, The Provincial Statutes of Canada:

(US, Canada, dialect) A net attached to stakes, for catching fish; a weir.


you're good

(colloquial, chiefly Canada, US) It's OK; it's not a big deal.


wartime house

Using funds from the sale of their wartime house in Montreal, they purchased a handsome old log house on seven acres of white sand beach in the then still-active fishing community of Port Joli.

1997, Marion Kelsey, Victory Harvest: Diary of a Canadian in the Women's Land Army, →ISBN, page xvi:

On average, a four-room wartime house cost $2,700, and a six-room $3,400. The homes were a hot commodity.

2001, John Larsen, Maurice Richard Libby, Moose Jaw: People, Places, History, →ISBN, page 150:

The house that inspired this prayer is a small wartime house in a working-class neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta.

2005, Gregory A. Scofield, Singing Home the Bones, →ISBN, page 109:

Originally, a tiny wartime house sat on the corner lot facing on Dunsmure St.

2008 December 20, Tracy Hanes, “Christmas comes early for Hamilton family”, in The Star, Toronto, Canada, retrieved 2014-06-11:

If you were driving from Saskatoon to Vanscoy early this morning, you may have seen a wartime house from Spadina Crescent rolling down the highway.

2014 June 5, Alyssa McMurtry, “Out with the old, in with the new”, in The StarPhoenix, Saskatoon, Canada, retrieved 2014-06-11:

(Canada) Any of a large number of modest, wooden frame houses, typically of Cape-Cod design, built in municipalities across Canada during the 1940s under the federal government's Wartime Housing Limited program.


butt floss

"A woman doesn't put on butt floss and hooker heels to attend a garden party," Briggs said.

2004, JoAnn Ross, Out of the Blue, Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 369:

I saw a flash of her white panties—real panties, not butt floss like Cheyenne wore […]

2013, Elana K. Arnold, Burning, Delacorte Press, →ISBN:

“That butt floss,” he snapped. “Why the fuck are you wearing a thong to work at a daycare? Are you seeing him again?”

2013, Joanna Wylde, Reaper's Property, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 83:

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) A pair of thong underpants or a swimsuit in the same style.


trash for brains

(Canada, US, derogatory, informal) A stupid person.


Jiggs dinner

Jiggs’ dinner (alternative)
jiggs dinner (alternative)
jiggs’ dinner (alternative)

Probably named after the main character in the comic strip Bringing Up Father, whose favourite meal was corned beef and cabbage.

Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador

(Canada, chiefly Newfoundland) A traditional Sunday evening meal eaten around Newfoundland and Labrador, typically consisting of salted beef boiled with vegetables.


douchebagness

(Canada, US, slang) The quality of being a douchebag.


ass crack of dawn

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-ass crack of dawn.wav

From ass crack jocularly replacing crack in the (preexisting) noun phrase crack of dawn (= "break of dawn"); although ass crack (cleft, gap) and crack (break) are cognate, the jocularity nonetheless rests on the disjunction that is cognitively close to (albeit by some standards not technically) a pun.

(Canada, US, vulgar) An intensifier, used in the same contexts as crack of dawn, but more intense.


butt crack of dawn

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-butt crack of dawn.wav

By the same jocular replacement as examined at ass crack of dawn § Etymology.

(Canada, US, informal) An intensifier, used in the same contexts as crack of dawn, but more intense.


labour law

(UK, Canada) The body of statute law that regulates the relationship between employer, employee, labour union and government.

የሰራተኞች ሕግ

yäsäratäñoč ḥəg


Native

Therefore, in 1885 Congress passed the Major Crimes Act whereby jurisdiction in the case of seven major crimes (the list of crimes was later expanded) occurring on Native lands was placed in the hands of federal courts.

2005, Native American Issues: A Reference Handbook, →ISBN, page 82:

Aboriginal to a colonized region, especially one colonized by English-speaking people. (Compare native, which is more general.)

(US, Canada) Indian: Native American or First Nation; of or relating to (North) American Indians.


Native

An aboriginal inhabitant of a colonized region, especially one colonized by English-speaking people. (Compare native, which is more general.)


whip-smart

/ˈʍɪpˌsmɑːt/

Inversion of earlier smart as a whip (compare rock solid, from solid as a rock; snow-white, from white as snow; etc.). Possibly an allusion to how quickly the tip of a whip moves when the whip is cracked.

Seeing them here in town, smart in American-style uniforms, Peru's Army looks extremely well-trained, whip-smart.

1948, Ray Josephs, Latin America: Continent in Crisis, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →OCLC:

[Reed F.] Cutler, 350-pounder from Lewistown in the strip coalmining area, was a constant thorn in the Democratic side. A whip-smart parliamentarian, he effectively filled the role of "needler" as House Republican Leader.

1949, Don E. Chamberlain, “Illinois: The ‘New Look’”, in Robert S[haron] Allen, editor, Our Sovereign State, New York, N.Y.: The Vanguard Press; Toronto, Ont.: Copp Clark Company, →OCLC, page 208:

A big hug for the whipsmart, feisty Soho Teen team: Janine Agro, Meredith Barnes, Juliet Grames, Bronwen Hruska, and Rachel Kowal—what a fascinating journey, thank you so much for all your work to make it happen.

2014, Adele Griffin, “Acknowledgements”, in The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone, New York, N.Y.: Soho Teen, →ISBN:

Like Cabin In The Woods, it manages the extraordinary balancing act of delivering actual scares (more so than Cabin) while being a whip-smart critique of how scares are manufactured.

2017 October 27, Alex McLevy, “Making a Killing: The Brief Life and Bloody Death of the Post-Scream Slasher Revival”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2018-03-05:

The singer, real name Emma Grankvist, deals in whip-smart lyrics and striking melodies that offer a refreshing perspective on the world around her, all wrapped up in a package that’s brilliantly tough to pigeonhole.

2023 June 28, Nick Reilly, “Meet eee gee, the singer who refuses to put her music in one box”, in Rolling Stone UK:

(Canada, US, informal) Very intelligent.


macaroni and cheese

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-macaroni and cheese.wav

(US, Canada) Alternative form of macaroni cheese


ornge

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(Canada, US, very rare) Pronunciation spelling of orange.


dogfennel

dogfennels (plural)
dog fennel (alternative)
dog-fennel (alternative)
dog's fennel (alternative)

From Middle English dogfynell; equivalent to dog + fennel.

“I aint been teasing him.” Luster said. “He was playing with that bottle full of dogfennel and all of a sudden he started up bellering.”

1929, William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury:

(chiefly Canada, US) Any of various similar American plants, especially Eupatorium capillifolium, a perennial plant.


red ensign

(historical, Canada) Such a flag bearing the coat of arms of Canada, formerly used as a semi-official national flag of Canada.


up the stump

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-up the stump.wav

Met him at a dance, a skinny little French-Canadian who shot her a line of bull and put her up the stump before waving goodbye from the troop train.

1976, Richard B. Wright, Farthings Fortune's, Macmillan of Canada, →ISBN, page 266:

"I'm real glad that you told me. When your mom and I got married, it was because she was up the stump, you know that, huh?"

1987, Anne Cameron, Stubby Amberchuk & The Holy Grail, Harbour Publishing, →ISBN, page 75:

You're up the stump, Edith Fulton. You're going to have a baby.

1989, David Helwig, A Postcard from Rome, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 100:


asshattish

en-adj

asshattish (comparative more asshattish, superlative most asshattish)

more asshattish (comparative)
most asshattish (superlative)

Since *this* breakup was even more public than the last *and* he's been especially asshattish about it, […]

2006 May 10, Rob Jensen, “Re: PREDICTIONS...”, in alt.tv.gilmore-girls (Usenet):

This way, others can peruse the site at their leisure (which is much more convenient than waiting for the random unattributed post from you) and you can appear slightly less asshattish. Win-win!

2010 January 5, Dunbar, “Re: Wal-Mart -- Why not be a bitch for dinner tonight?”, in rec.arts.tv (Usenet):

Btw, I read the Marco Polo assignment, and while I'm just tickled gay he was able to meet Kublai Khan, I found him otherwise unfocused and asshattish.

2013, Aiken Avery, The Disaster Tourist, unnumbered page:

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar, derogatory) Like an asshat; obnoxiously foolish, rude, etc.


Queen E

(Canada, informal) The Queen Elizabeth Way, the QEW.


RBC

Coordinate term: RBS

Royal Bank of Canada
w:Royal Bank of Canada

(Canada, finance) Initialism of Royal Bank of Canada.


cube van

(chiefly Canada) A truck with an enclosed cuboid-shaped cargo area.


assholey

assholey (comparative more assholey, superlative most assholey)

more assholey (comparative)
most assholey (superlative)

(slang, vulgar, US, Canada, derogatory) obnoxiously inconsiderate or objectionable


FPT

This November's meeting of the FPT health ministers will provide an excellent opportunity for governments to propose critical next steps in this area.

2011 November 17, Heart and Stroke Foundation: Sodium Reduction Must be a Priority for Canada:

(Canada) Initialism of federal, provincial, territorial.


gross indecency

en-noun

gross indecency (countable and uncountable, plural gross indecencies)

(UK, Canada, law) Any of various sexual criminal offences, including sex with a child and (formerly) male homosexuality.

grobe Verletzung des Anstandes f (unofficial translation)


Crown land

Crown land (countable and uncountable, plural Crown lands)

Crown lands (plural)
crown land (alternative)

Aboriginal groups could apply to jointly manage all Crown land under the most radical overhaul of native title settlement proposed in Victoria.

2009 January 6, Jewel Topsfield, “Native title reform bid”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 2014-08-26:

The Crown Estate confirmed today they would allow shooters taking part in one of two pilot culls to access Crown land in west Somerset. . . . The Crown Estate manages the Queen’s property portfolio but revenues go to the Treasury.

2013 September 21, Charlie Cooper, “Crown Estate permits badger cull on its land”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-08-26:

LINZ administers three million hectares of Crown land or eight percent of New Zealand's land area.

2014, “LINZ's Crown Property Role”, in Land Information New Zealand, Government of New Zealand, retrieved 2014-08-26:

The Province of Alberta recognizes its obligation under the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (Constitution Act 1930) to transfer provincial Crown land back to the federal government to allow the settlement of aboriginal land claims.

2014 July 10, Lorne Beloud, “Opinion: In wake of decision, who owns Canada?”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2014-08-26:

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) In Britain and some Commonwealth countries, land that is owned by the state, nominally titled to the reigning King or Queen of England, and whose use and disposition is controlled by a government within that Commonwealth country or by an official representative of the monarch.


pith and substance

In determining the “pith and substance” of the legislation, ‘it is necessary to identify the dominant or most important characteristic of the challenged law’.

c. 1985, Peter Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada, 2nd edition, page 313:

(Canada, law) The content or subject matter, the leading feature or true nature and character of a law.


underbutt

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

From under- + butt, by analogy with underboob.

Strengthens and slims your underbutt!

2009, Karon Karter, The Ultimate Body Shaping Bible, page 116:

Most of the time it's just like any other dressing room, and I try not to cry when I'm forced to confront my underbutt under the bluish fluorescent light the three-way mirror.

2010, Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way, page 92:

My struggle is with my underbutt. Not my butt, but my underbutt, that chunk between the butt and the legs.

2017, Beth Behrs, The Total ME-Tox: How to Ditch Your Diet, Move Your Body & Love Your Life, unnumbered page:

(Canada, US, informal) The lower part of the buttocks, especially as revealed by certain clothing such as skimpy shorts.


dillweed

dillweed (countable and uncountable, plural dillweeds)

Compound of dill + weed. From Old English dili (“dill”).

...they have been exchanging insults in writing: "dickhead," "dillweed," "fuzzbutt," "dorkwad," "asswipe," and so forth.

1996, Timothy Jay, What to Do When Your Students Talk Dirty, page 207:

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) A contemptible person; a fool.


eat ass

en-verb

eat ass (third-person singular simple present eats ass, present participle eating ass, simple past ate ass, past participle eaten ass)

eats ass (present singular third-person)
eating ass (participle present)
ate ass (past)
eaten ass (participle past)

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


dumbbutt

We don't need people with ambiguous agendas telling us how to deal with problematic owners/advocates of either the mucho dumbbutt or Pollyannaish variety.

1999 February 3, JFRCHRDSN, “Pit Bulls - what are they: beasts or beauties?”, in rec.pets.dogs.breeds (Usenet):

Why is Suntimes publishing Ebert's dumbbutt political opinions?

2000 November 13, MAN...an ancient race, “TRUTH ABOUT EBERT”, in talk.politics.misc (Usenet):

2002 December 28, but i'll tell ya why this LOR business is so dumbbutt., “why LOR sucks and probably Two towers too”, in rec.arts.movies.past-films (Usenet):

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory, neologism) Stupid.


dumbbutt

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) A stupid person; a fool.


sanctimommy

I'm late for pediatrician appointments. I can't make straight parts in my girls' hair. I forget to send them in the snow with hats, as the kind sanctimommies of the neighborhood are delighted to point out with their eyebrows raised as far as Botox will allow.

2009, Liz Gumbinner, “Type B Mom”, in Beth Feldman, editor, See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays from the World's Most Harried Blogging Moms, Plain White Press, →ISBN, page 140:

She even has to endure the occasional judgments from sanctimommies—women who are much, much better mothers than Kelly and who sometimes wonder aloud, "Why can't her kids swim yet?" or "Why is she drinking a glass of wine at her daughter's birthday party?" (God no!)

2010, Colin Sokolowski, The Accidental Adult: Essays and Advice for the Reluctantly Responsible and Marginally Mature, Adams Media, →ISBN, page 104:

But Waldman’s reaction spoke for any vulnerable young mother holding a bottle subjected in public to a drive-by comment from the lactation police that “breast is best,” or, who, desperate for a few consecutive hours of sleep, let her child cry for ten minutes in her crib before settling, was made to feel as though she had subjected her offspring of child abuse, by one of the Bialik-style “sanctimommies.”

2012 November 26, Allison Kaplan Sommer, “Mayim Bialik: When an attachment parent detaches from her marriage”, in Haaretz:

(Canada, US, informal, derogatory) A mother who exhibits a superior attitude and openly judges others' parenting.


dollar democracy

(politics, US, Canada) The influence of money on politics and on government

(economics, US, Canada) The ability of consumers to influence the economy and business decisions by their spending


consignment shop

en-noun

consignment shop (plural consignment shops)

(US, Canada) A shop that sells used goods for their owners (consigners) in exchange for a portion of the proceeds.


saltchucker

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

(Canada, informal, fishing) Someone who fishes in saltwater.


police village

(Canada, historical) Part of a township in Ontario, Canada, not incorporated by the provincial government, and having its own elected governing body of trustees.


allosexual

From allo- (“other”) + sexual. "Directed at or involving another rather than one's self" and "involving the other sex; heterosexual" are the most etymologically literal senses (regarding the latter sense, compare the structure of heterosexual), structural and semantic opposites of autosexual and isosexual. The sense "non-heterosexual" was influenced by (and had influence on) Canadian French allosexuel.

Yet we later learn that Diana Baring already knew the secret — whether being “half—caste" references being lower-caste with “black blood” (more than a racial marker) or being transsexual, homosexual, or allosexual.

2005, Tom Cohen, Hitchcock's Cryptonymies, volume 2, →ISBN, page 58:

Diane Bourgeois (Terrebonne—Blainville, BQ): Mr. Speaker, last month in my riding, Gaétan Lord won the jury prize at the Allostars Gala for his contribution as founding president of Canada's first centre for “allosexual” or queer youth, which offers support to gays, lesbians and young people who are unsure about their sexual orientation.

2006, House of Commons Debates, numbers 27-40, page 1595:

Throughout this time, I have been struck by the absence of racialized, ethnicized, and colonized (REC) voices in historical accounts of the local gay and lesbian community at large, and likewise the lack of allosexual representation in the narratives of the city's various ethnocultural communities.

2013, Alan Wong, “Listen and Learn”, in Oral History Off the Record: Toward an Ethnography of Practice, →ISBN:

(LGBTQ, uncommon, chiefly Canada) LGB; queer; non-heterosexual.


SERT

Special Emergency Response Team
w:Special Emergency Response Team

(law enforcement, Canada) Acronym of Special Emergency Response Team.


locatee

(Canada) A First Nations individual who is given land on a reservation.


excuse you

By analogy with excuse me, which is used to apologize. First appears in the late twentieth century.

He raised his brows, 'Excuse me, or should I say, excuse you?'

1996, Vickie Moore, This Time Forever, page 123:

Excuse you, you're in my way.

2000, Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith, Legally Blonde:

Finally, the girl managed to utter, “Well, excuse you,” and turned to leave. George fumbled for words. “Wait. Don't go,” he pleaded. “Please, allow me to apologize. Can I, uh... buy you a Coke, or something?”

2007, Gary Smiley, Seasons of Liberty, page 19:

(US, Canada, somewhat derogatory, often sarcastic) An indignant response to an individual who has behaved rudely or insolently and has failed to apologize.


asscunt

asscunts (plural)
arsecunt (alternative)

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

(Canada, US, derogatory or offensive, slang, vulgar) A term of abuse.


pay rise

pay rises (plural)
payrise (alternative)

Whelan called the offer "risible", describing it as a "land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiating over the years". He demanded a no-strings pay offer that recognises the "significant cost of living increases" since the last pay rise in 2019.

2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: New action from ASLEF to hit Bank Holiday services”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 14:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, rest of Commonwealth, sometimes Canada) An increase in salary or wages.


J-cloth

From a brand name, short for Johnson & Johnson, the name of the manufacturer.

(UK), (Canada) A kind of absorbent cloth for washing dishes, mopping up spillages, etc.


shark week

shark week (countable and uncountable, plural shark weeks)

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

A jocular reference to Shark Week, an annual week-long marathon of shark-related programming on Discovery Channel, which, like a menstrual period, is bloody.

There are several ways to green your Shark Week, ranging from bare-minimum "shucks, why not?" consciousness to Burning Man aggro hippie.

2008, Coco Tanaka, "Shark Week!", LA CityBeat, Volume 6, Number 36, 4 September 2008 - 10 September 2008, page 17

If you've booked a hotel room, STAIN, and it's shark week for the wife, or a certain former senator drops in (drops out?) when you have anal sex, there's always the option of bringing your own santorum- and/or menstrual-blood-coloured/stained towels from home.

2012, Dan Savage, "Hotel room clean-up", Now (Toronto), Volume 31, Number 29, 15 March 2012 - 21 March 2012, page 102

Imagine my shock at discovering what those little bins with the flaps in bathrooms were really for, or that when girls mentioned shark week they didn't mean there was a Jaws marathon on SBS.

2014, Michael Walsh, "Christening the backyard," Catalyst Magazine (RMIT University), Volume 70, Issue 2, April 2014, page 43

(informal, humorous, chiefly Canada, US) The week during which a woman menstruates.


honour guard

honour guards (plural)
honor guard (alternative)
guard of honour (alternative)

Princess Anne inspects the Honour Guard at Rideau Hall.

2014, “Princess Anne takes part in Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.”, in Canada.com:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK) a ceremonial assembly of uniformed military personnel performing the duty of escort or exhibition, i.e. accompany a casket during a funeral procession.


peace officer

(US, Canada, law enforcement) A civil law enforcement officer with a duty to maintain law and order, i.e., a bylaw officer, a police officer, a sheriff, etc.


bylaw officer

(Canada) An agent of municipal law enforcement responsible for ensuring obedience to the bylaws.


sanctuary city

sanctuary city (plural sanctuary cities)

Regardless of any immediate connections Koch's directive might have had to sanctuary during the 1980s, by the time Congressional representatives were discussing the 1996 immigration reforms, New York City was coming up in policy debates as an example of a sanctuary city that should be targeted for sanctions.

2012, Randy K. Lippert, Sean Rehaag, Sanctuary Practices in International Perspective, page 227:

The president is upset with congressional leaders for slow-rolling his core campaign promise, and for failing to defund sanctuary cities in their spending bill.

2018 March 21, Elaina Plott, “Trump Vents His Anger Over Border-Wall Funding”, in The Atlantic:

Since the late 19th century, when Jane Addams established Hull-House, a social settlement that drew migrants, Chicago has seen itself as an entry point for newcomers, a sanctuary city that welcomes people from the outside.

2023 May 10, Julie Bosman, “Open-Armed Chicago Feels the Strains of a Migrant Influx”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US, Canada) A city that allows undocumented immigrants to live and work without being arrested and deported by local authorities.


ugly stick

You may also find an authentic ugly stick. It's masterfully constructed with beer stoppers, duct tape, a tobacco can, and a few pieces of wood. It just is…

1988 June 17, Stephen Day, “Folk Music Revived at Bridgett’s”, in The Muse, volume 38, number 23, St. John’s, N.L.: Council of the Students Union, Memorial University of Newfoundland, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7, column 4:

Nobody's invited; everybody just comes. And there's no real planning, because the folks that come bring food and music with them. There are fiddles and squeezeboxes and ugly sticks and sometimes even drums to make the music.

2010, Penny Draper, “Bella”, in Laura Peetoom, editor, A Terrible Roar of Water (Disaster Strikes; 5), Regina, Sask.: Coteau Books, →ISBN, page 57:

A lot of you know what it is. It's an ugly stick. And you can see why. [laughter] Anyway, basically what it is is an old mop, or a new one if you're playing at the Arts and Culture Centre [prolonged laughter and clapping.] And it's an old juice can with some black tape over it. A handful of three and a half inch nails. Some felt tins, beer stoppers, wherever they came from [laughter], and that's about it, and it's supposed to make some music.

2011 December, Annie Rosalind McEwen, quoting Doug Dunne, “The Concert”, in “There Was More Strength in Singing”: Community, Identity, and the Performance of Memory in the Folk of the Sea Choir, 1994–2000 (unpublished Master of Arts thesis), St. John’s, N.L.: Department of Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-06-28, pages 64–65:

In the main room a traditional Newfoundland band was playing regional folk music. People were dancing and singing and having the best time. Everyone looked so happy as they passed around the "Ugly Stick," a traditional musical instrument made from household and tool shed items like a mop handle with bottle caps, tin cans, small bells and other items to make noise. […] I'm not sure I've ever felt happier than I did while I was banging the boot with the stick attached on the floor, the nailed on bottle caps clinking to the rhythm of the folk song the band was playing.

2017, Patti Leo Bath, “Keeping Up with the Newfies”, in Amy Newmark, Janet Matthews, compilers, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Canada: 101 Stories of Love and Gratitude, Cos Cob, Conn.: Chicken Soup for the Soul, →ISBN, part 5 (We’re All in This Together), page 172:

(Canada, music) A traditional Newfoundland musical instrument fashioned from household and toolshed items, typically a mop handle attached with bottle caps, small bells, tin cans, etc., which are struck with a drumstick while one end of the handle is hit against the floor.


spring salmon

spring salmon (plural spring salmons or spring salmon)

spring salmons (plural)
spring salmon (plural)

(Canada) A chinook salmon; especially an average-sized one (less than 13.5 kg).


mountain man

In the frost-stunted birch forests on the Siberian border, sturdy, windburned mountain men trap beaver and pan for gold.

1963, Loren Fessler, The Editors of LIFE, “An Immense and Crowded Land”, in China (LIFE World Library), New York: Time Incorporated, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 10, column 1:

(Canada, US, historical) A male trapper and explorer who lives in the wilderness.


silver alert

Introduced in 2005 by Oklahoma state representative Fred Perry, modelled on amber alert. Silver suggests the grey hair of elderly people; compare silver fox.

(US, Canada) A public notification of a missing person, especially a senior with dementia.


chartered accountant

chartered accountant (plural chartered accountants)

(Canada) A member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants


blue corn

(Canada, US) A variety of corn with dark bluish grains.


riding association

riding association (plural riding associations)

(Canada) A local wing of a federal, provincial, or (in Yukon) territorial political party, consisting of the members of the party living in one riding, legally recognized by the relevant electoral authority, and conducting local partisan actions such as nominating the party's candidate for elections.


(law, US, Canada) Initialism of name, image, and likeness.


hate-boner

hate-boners (plural)
hate boner (alternative)
hateboner (alternative)

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

Nothing makes liberals sport a hate-boner more than the word oil.

2011 September 30, Kevin Moser, “Don't fear the pipeline, trust expert's opinion”, in Daily Nebraskan, volume 111, number 30, Lincoln: University of Nebraska, page 6:

Roxy is a pretty liberal gal, and so while rape porn is kinda tacky and gross, she doesn't have a raging feminist hate-boner for it.

2012 April 23, “Roxy Heart”, in Salient, volume 75, number 6, Victoria University of Wellington, page 23:

I voted for Obama in 2008, for much the same reason I would vote for a candidate that didn't sell his soul to a core group of slobbering maniacs with hate-boners for welfare.

2012 November 8, Josh Ruffin, “The Wasteland”, in Metro Spirit, volume 23, number 44, page 6:

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) An intense and enthralling feeling of hatred for someone or something.


momzilla

momzillas (plural)
Momzilla (alternative)

From mom + -zilla (suffix forming nouns suggesting a monster or a thing of extremely large size or great destructiveness, from the fictional monster Godzilla).

suffix

suffix forming nouns suggesting a monster or a thing of extremely large size or great destructiveness, from the fictional monster <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">Godzilla</i>

"I've definitely got more boy energy going on right now," she [Sally Norvell] admits. "For one thing, I've got a four-year-old boy who I have to run around and play Godzilla with all day long." She chuckles. "I'm Momzilla."

[1996 November, Kurt B. Reighley, “Congo Norvell: Music to Disremember Him by”, in Scott Frampton, editor, CMJ New Music Monthly, number 39, Great Neck, N.Y.: College Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, column 1:

I tried to breathe, but it was too late. Momzilla had emerged. I could feel her low rumbling growl as she straightened up that last nerve. [...] Momzilla heard the children in the background promising never to be clowns again if Mommy would just come back. Momzilla took a slow deep breath, and then another. As Momzilla returned to the cage that I keep her in, I noticed how cute my little clowns were.

2002, Elisa Morgan, Carol Kuykendall, “Monster Mom: Real Moms Get Angry”, in Real Moms: Exploding the Myths of Motherhood, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, →ISBN, part 1 (Myths about Me), page 55:

It's never too early to become a Momzilla. Momzillas are mothers whose lives are defined by their children, and more specifically, by their children's accomplishments.

2005, Judith Newman, You Make Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman: The Diary of a New Mother, New York, N.Y.: Miramax Books, →ISBN, page 70:

It was embarrassing and stupid and yet, once bridezilla became momzilla, no power in the Universe could derail me from my mission of toddler birthday terror.

2006, Sheri Lynch, “The Surly Llama”, in Be Happy or I’ll Scream!: My Deranged Quest for the Perfect Husband, Family, and Life, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin, published February 2007, →ISBN, page 62:

Serena's transformation from sexy executive to momzilla had been swift and ugly. The more involved she became with the children, the more she squeezed him out of their lives.

2009, Karen Quinn, “Elliott”, in The Sister Diaries, London: Pocket Books, →ISBN:

In the past, Ali had found the term "bridezilla" mildly amusing, but when it came to dealing with an Edie who had suddenly morphed into what could only be called the bride's "momzilla"? That wasn't amusing in the least.

2014, J[udith] A[nn] Jance, “A Last Goodbye: An Ali Reynolds Novella”, in Moving Target: […], 1st Touchstone hardcover edition, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN:

But difficult clients did suck some of the joy out of her job. Everyone talked about Bridezillas, but in Anne's opinion Momzillas were ten times worse. And she was sure Seattle had ten times more Momzillas per capita than any other city in the country.

2015, Sheila Roberts, chapter 1, in A Wedding on Primrose Street, Don Mills, Ont.: Mira Books, →ISBN, page 9:

(Canada, US, humorous, informal) A controlling or overinvolved mother.


assholehood

These douchebags have reached a whole new level of assholehood.

2013, Eugene Patrick Ruisi, Polyxenburgh - Page 383:

(Canada, US, derogatory, slang, rare) The state or condition of being an asshole.


Dixie cup

Dixie cups (plural)
Dixie Cup (alternative)
dixie cup (alternative)

Originally a brand name, first used in 1919, after a line of dolls made by Alfred Schindler's Dixie Doll Company in New York.

One day I was looking at a little girl eating a Dixie cup of strawberry ice cream.

2010, Carol D. Levine, Panic Child: A Harrowing True Story of Sexual Abuse, →ISBN, page 55:

(Canada, US) A disposable paper cup, sometimes waxed, especially used for individual servings of iced desserts.


beefsteak tomato

en-noun

beefsteak tomato (plural beefsteak tomatoes)


pizza parlour

pizza parlours (plural)
pizza parlor (alternative)

(Australia, Canada, UK) a pizzeria (a pizza restaurant)


jacklight

* jack + light. Probably from jack (“a male servant of any rank”), later associated with a boy servant or any boy, and later still with a knave: a rogue, thief, or deceitful man.
* Possibly also related to Spanish jaque (“a bully”).

It was a long, low roadster, with a jacklight.

1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, published 1985, page 19:

(Canada, US) A spotlight or lamp mounted on a car, boat or pole, etc. to aid in hunting.


jacklight

en-verb

jacklight (third-person singular simple present jacklights, present participle jacklighting, simple past and past participle jacklighted or jacklit)

jacklights (present singular third-person)
jacklighting (participle present)
jacklighted (participle past)
jacklighted (past)
jacklit (participle past)
jacklit (past)

(hunting, US, Canada) To shine a jacklight or spotlight on an animal, usually a deer, to aid in hunting at night.


ass-pull

ass-pulls (plural)
ass pull (alternative)
asspull (alternative)

From ass + pull, from the phrase pull out of one's ass.

Ah, you "believe". You do not know. So you admit that it's just wishful thinking, an ass pull not based on any facts.

2009 July 9, charlesgriffman, “Re: e360 vs Spamhaus decision ?”, in news.admin.net-abuse.email (Usenet):

And there's no reason I see to believe either of these numbers is anything but an ass-pull.

2011 January 2, Matthew Russotto, “Re: OT: going green”, in comp.sys.mac.system (Usenet):

Even if we ignore the total ass-pull of super powers for Madoka, we still get a resolution that is no better than "it was all a dream".

2011 April 22, Dave Baranyi, “Re: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - 11 & 12 - final comments - no real spoilers”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) A hastily fabricated explanation or contrived plot twist.


nosebleed section

en-noun

nosebleed section (plural nosebleed sections)

A jocularly hyperbolic allusion to the tendency of high altitude to cause or aggravate nosebleeds.

Meronym: nosebleed seat

'Nor do I have a family box: it's the upper gallery for me, what we call the nosebleed section.

2001, Sara Paretsky, Total Recall, →OCLC:

(Canada, US) The seats high in the back of bleachers, stands, or the balcony at a theater or stadium, usually cheaper and with a poorer view than other seats.


mombie

A mombie is a woman who "changes" after having a baby. She's been brainwashed by motherhood, […]. She loves nothing more than joining an army of other mombies, so don't be surprised if your old friend-turned-mombie begins to spend her time primarily with other mombies who are all covered in some kind of murky baby secretion.

2013, Blair Koenig, STFU, Parents, →ISBN:

The woman who used to start the day with a Spin class with Suzanne turned into a mombie—a mom zombie who was a shadow of her former self. Showering was no longer important. Why bother?

2016, Suzanne Riss, Jill Sockwell, The Optimist's Guide to Divorce: How to Get Through Your Breakup:

(slang, sometimes derogatory) A mother who is consumed by raising her children to the point of being sleep-deprived or simply obsessed, and hence zombie-like.


recreation room

recreation room (plural recreation rooms)

The recreation room. One of the broadcast receivers which are provided at all L.M.S.R. trainmen's hostels is seen in the background.

1947 March and April, “L.M.S.R. Hostels for Trainmen”, in Railway Magazine, page 92, photo caption:

(US, Australia, Canada) A room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual use.


time bank

time banks (plural)
timebank (alternative)

In British Columbia, where an employee requests it in writing, and employer may establish a time bank for the employee and credit overtime wages to the time bank instead of paying them to the employee.

2005, Theo Anne Opie, HR for Controllers:

(Canada) A system in which an employer keeps track of overtime hours that can later be redeemed as either money or as time off with pay.


Dominion Day

(Canada, historical) Canada Day (before being renamed in 1982)


panel truck

(US, Canada) A small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body.


wemistikoshiw

From Cree, literally "he has a wooden boat", from ᒥᐢᑎᑯᓯ (mistikosi)/mistikosi (“wooden boat”).

We are crying, looking at one another. A small group of wemistikoshiw gathers and stares at us.

2005, Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road, Penguin, published 2008, page 6:

Sister Wesley said we needed the building to protect us from other wemistikoshiw men who live a long way away, who are called the Soviets.

2014, Edmund Metatawabin, Up Ghost River:

(Canada) Among the Cree, a non-Native American person; a white man.


best-by date

best before date
best before date#English

(Canada, US) Synonym of best before date


butt lover

butt lovers (plural)
buttlover (alternative)

(Canada, US, slang) A person who is physically attracted to people's buttocks.


Suckerville

(Canada, US, figurative) A location full of gullible people.


vinarterta

(Canada) A dessert of cake with layers of prune filling.


back lane

Near-synonym: bylane

(British, Canada) An alleyway that runs behind a row of houses, or between rows of houses.


fall supper

(Canada) An autumn fundraising dinner held by a community or church; fowl supper.


liquor commission

liquor commission (plural liquor commissions)

(Canada) A provincial agency that regulates the distribution and sales of alcoholic beverages.


beer bash

(Canada) An afternoon social organized by college students, typically with dancing and beer sold to raise funds.


home-and-home

The USA won the home-and-home series with the Italians, entering the World Cup through a side door

2012 January 17, Vicki Michaels, “After 'humbling' loss, U.S. women's soccer team is cautious”, in USA Today:

(Canada, US, sports) (British, obsolete) Of a series of two games: having one game played at each competitor's home ground.


home-and-home

BYU will host Mississippi State on October 15, 2016. Mississippi State will host the second half of the home-and-home on October 14, 2017.

2015 March 20, Kevin McGuire, “Dates set for BYU-Mississippi State home-and-home series”, in NBC Sports:

(Canada, US, sports) A home-and-home series.


Duo-Tang

Duo-Tangs (plural)
duotang (alternative)
duo-tang (alternative)

From the trademark Duo-Tang, registered in 1962 by the Duo-Tang company.

genericized trademark
genericized trademark

(Canada, genericized trademark) A folder with flexible metal fasteners.


gas and dash

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

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

Everyone in Ontario who owns a 2002 to 2006 Nissan Altima will be contacted under an intense police investigation now under way to find the driver responsible for a deadly gas-and-dash theft.

2011 June 8, Bob Mitchell, “‘We will find you,’ police warn driver in gas-and-dash death”, in Toronto Star, Canada:

[A] private member’s bill . . . would compel drivers to prepay for all gas purchases. . . . [S]ince British Columbia put a similar law in place, gas-and-dashes have ceased.

2012 October 16, Timothy Appleby, “Crime Stoppers launches ‘gas and dash’ awareness campaign”, in Globe and Mail, Canada:

In the late evening of March 27, 2014 RCMP Innisfail received a complaint of theft of fuel (gas and dash) from the Penhold Fas Gas.

2014 March 28, “Innisfail RCMP Investigate Gas and Dash”, in www.albertapolicereport.ca, Canada, archived from the original on 2016-03-07:

(informal, Canada, US) The criminal act of driving away from a gasoline station without paying after filling one's gas tank.


gas and dash

en-verb

gas and dash (third-person singular simple present gasses and dashes or gases and dashes, present participle gassing and dashing, simple past and past participle gassed and dashed)

gasses and dashes (present singular third-person)
gases and dashes (present singular third-person)
gassing and dashing (participle present)
gassed and dashed (participle past)
gassed and dashed (past)
gas-and-dash (alternative)

Starting July 1, Kansas motorists who repeatedly gas and dash could lose their driver's licenses.

2000 June 23, “Gas-and-dash thefts rise with high fuel prices”, in Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, US: Associated Press:

With the price of gas up 26% over the past year . . . too many Americans are filling up without paying up.

2005 August 16, Logan Orlando, “Don't Try to Gas and Dash”, in Time, US:

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


matrimonial cake

en-noun

matrimonial cake (plural matrimonial cakes)

(Canada) A cake made with cooked dates and an oatmeal crumb topping.


go underground

en-verb

go underground (third-person singular simple present goes underground, present participle going underground, simple past went underground, past participle gone underground)

goes underground (present singular third-person)
going underground (participle present)
went underground (past)
gone underground (participle past)

(intransitive, especially of an animal, chiefly Canada, US) To escape into a burrow, hole, etc. when being hunted.

(figurative, by extension, chiefly Canada, US) To hide from public view or sequester oneself, especially when authorities, members of the news media, or others are looking for one.


butt-huggers

She left a note on Ray's butt-huggers saying, 'Buy new underwear.'

2002, Bryan Richards, Triopia and the Burden of Excess, →ISBN, page 112:

If you're wondering who to thank for the sight of Will Ferrell struggling through a psychotic episode on a speedway wearing only his butt huggers, wonder no more.

2010, Todd Aaron Jensen, On Gratitude, →ISBN, page 139:

(slang, vulgar) Men's briefs; underwear.


ass in a sling

en-noun

ass in a sling (usually uncountable, plural asses in slings or asses in a sling)

asses in slings (plural)
asses in a sling (plural)
arse in a sling (alternative)
butt in a sling (alternative)

I see our asses in a sling if we get caught, that's what I see.

1977, Smokey and the Bandit (film), screenplay, 10:21 (retrieved 24 July 2015)

Dempsey briefed senior HUD officials on federal ethics rules in early 1981, he said, "and most of those who later got their ass in a sling sat there and ignored it."

1986 April 27, Howard Kurtz, “Reagan's People: Issues of Propriety”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2015-07-24:

I think that kind of breathless egotism deserves little more than to limp home with its arse in a sling.

1995 December 19, Alex Sharkey, “Dear Roger Mear”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2015-07-24:

[T]he bullpen's continued ineffectiveness has to fall on John Mozeliak. . . . If it ends up with Johnny Mo's ass in a sling, so be it.

2011 June 15, Aaron Schafer, “Cardinals Still Struggling to Spell Relief”, in Riverfront Times, retrieved 2015-07-24:

[Frank Sinatra] asked me what I was doing. I said, "The usual. Making pictures. You?" He said, "The usual. Getting my ass in a sling."

2013 July, Ava Gardner, Peter Evans, “Three Men and a Goddess”, in Vanity Fair, retrieved 2015-07-24:

(Canada, US, informal, vulgar) An uncomfortable personal state of affairs involving injury, defeat, or other trouble, especially a state of affairs resulting from one's own ill-considered actions.


North Van

(Canada, informal) Synonym of North Vancouver (a city in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada, north of Vancouver, east of West Vancouver, on the north shore of the Fraser River delta)


grey power

The outstanding example of grey power in action is the AARP—once known as the American Association of Retired Persons. This is probably the most influential lobbying set-up in the world.

2002 September 15, Luke Johnson, “The silver revolution is here”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2015-07-28:

Grey power is increasing its influence over the world's tourism industry—and with a new nickname. If you're over 60 and have the time, the inclination and the funds to travel, you're now a "bloomer", according to a British holiday company.

2004 March 20, “Late 'bloomers' catch travel bug”, in Illawarra Mercury, Australia, retrieved 2015-07-28:

If you needed any proof that grey power rules Maritime politics, check out the party platforms in the Nova Scotia provincial election. . . . Sure, dead people don’t vote, the party reasons. But pensioners do.

2009 May 21, “It’s 1 a.m. Do you know where your kids are?”, in Macleans magazine, Canada, retrieved 2015-07-28:

(chiefly UK, Canada, Australia, idiomatic) The collective political, economic, and social influence of senior citizens, especially when they are mobilized by a common interest.


go to the washroom

en-verb

go to the washroom (third-person singular simple present goes to the washroom, present participle going to the washroom, simple past went to the washroom, past participle gone to the washroom)

goes to the washroom (present singular third-person)
going to the washroom (participle present)
went to the washroom (past)
gone to the washroom (participle past)

(Canada, euphemistic) Synonym of use the toilet: to urinate or defecate, especially (but not exclusively) while visiting a washroom.


use the washroom

use the washroom (third-person singular simple present uses the washroom, present participle using the washroom, simple past and past participle used the washroom)

uses the washroom (present singular third-person)
using the washroom (participle present)
used the washroom (participle past)
used the washroom (past)


stick up one's ass

have a stick up one's ass

My parents […] had been decently off at some time in the past, but all that remained by the time I came along was a certain New Englandy Puritan sense of respectability. […] I've inherited it. As much as I've tried to fight it, when you're born with a stick up your ass, you die with a stick up your ass.

2009, Don Nigro, Gorgons and Other Plays, →ISBN, page 47:

President Adrian Kantor, whom […] Sandy often referred to as a "prissy do-gooder with a stick up his ass," credited Sanderson & Dunn with his swift ascent from the House to the Senate to the White House.

2014, Jay Giles, chapter 1, in Moneymoon's End, →ISBN:

He was too straight-laced to appreciate piercings and tattoos. If he could manage to keep future comments to himself, she wouldn't have any reason to mention the stick up his ass.

2015, Tara Mills, chapter 2, in Going Solo, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, vulgar, derogatory, figuratively) A stiff, stern, uptight, or humorless manner.


pickle up one's ass

stick up one's ass
stick up one's ass#English

(Canada, US, vulgar, figuratively) Synonym of stick up one's ass


penny tray

(Canada, US) A tray or dish found in small stores for convenience in cash transactions, allowing customers to discard unwanted pennies received in their change, or to take a penny for a transaction.


on the road

(US, Canada, sports) At the venue of an opposing team or competitor.


talk out of one's ass

talk out of one's ass (third-person singular simple present talks out of one's ass, present participle talking out of one's ass, simple past and past participle talked out of one's ass)

talks out of one's ass (present singular third-person)
talking out of one's ass (participle present)
talked out of one's ass (participle past)
talked out of one's ass (past)
talk out of one's arse (alternative)

"We looked it up," Colbert said. "And the Department of Environmental does not exist, meaning Trump is either talking out of his ass or he's already eliminated it."

2016 April 7, Brendan Gauthier, “‘Talking out of his ass’: Stephen Colbert loses patience with Donald Trump’s ignorance”, in salon.com, retrieved 2017-12-06:

(Canada, US, idiomatic, vulgar) To exaggerate, lie, or speak nonsense.


derouine

derouines (plural)
derouin (alternative)
drouine (alternative)

St Germain &co returned from a Derouine L.L.P. [Rainy Lake] & R.L. [Red Lake] The Indians [arrived] with Two hundred Skins all good Furs, and the best Derouine ever made at the Panbian River.

a. 1824, The Publications of the Champlain Society:

From this view of the case it will appear that the surest plan by which to draw from the Chilcotins all the benefit of which their country is susceptible will be by attending to them by the means of Derouins and by endeavouring to make them resume the intercourse which they formerly held with Alexandria […]

1830, William Connolly, Letter to George Simpson:

Arrived at Sunsett at Alexandria, where find Mr. Fisher and all his people safe and well […] three derouines were made to the Chilcotins, and produced about 3 Packs […]

At present the bulk of the returns ostensibly yielded by the Chilcotins are procured at Tluz-cuz by drouine parties sent thither […]

1843, A. C. Anderson, Letter to George Simpson:

Two of my men returned from derouine well loaded with furs. I had the curiosity to count the Assiniboine dog travailles, and found no fewer than 230.

1897, Alexander Henry, New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest: The Manuscript Journals of Alexander Henry ..., page 579:

(fur trade, Canada, historical) An expedition made to First Nations camps or villages for trade rather than waiting for the natives to come to the forts, often involving wintering in the camps.


garbage day

(Canada, US) The day of the week when people place their rubbish outside to be collected by garbagemen.


fish cop

(US, Canada, slang) An officer of a fish and wildlife conservation commission.


gravel road cop

en-noun

gravel road cop (plural gravel road cops)

Humorous reinterpretation of French GRC (Gendarmerie Royale du Canada), in reference to the remote rural areas where such people often work.

(Canada, slang) An officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.


Armistice Day

From being the day on which the armistice of World War I was signed.

Ημέρα Ανακωχής

11th November, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice agreement to end World War I, commemorating the fallen of that war.

(Canada) Former name of Remembrance Day.


two cents' worth

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-two cents' worth.wav

two pennies' worth
two pennies' worth#English

(chiefly US and Canada) Synonym of two pennies' worth.


code black

code black • code blue • code brown • code grey • code orange • code pink • code red • code silver • code white • code yellow

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a patient death.

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a security threat to medical facility infrastructure.


code blue

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition of the occurrence of a medical emergency.

code

to experience a code blue situation in a patient


code pink

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a neonatal medical emergency.

(Canada, US, medicine, more generally) The condition on the occurrence of a pediatric medical emergency.


code red

code red (countable and uncountable, plural code reds)

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a fire at the medical facility.

(Canada, US) An extrajudicial punishment.


code brown

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition of the occurrence of a hazmat situation at a medical facility.


buy when it snows, sell when it goes

buy when it snows and sell when it goes (alternative)

There is a phenomenon in stock market investment known as "seasonality." In Canada we sometimes summarize it with the epithet "Buy when it snows, sell when it goes."

2007 May 10, Peter McKenzie-Brown, “Sell in May and Stay Away!”, in Language Matters, retrieved 2015-10-13:

Most years, he says, investors can make money by simply holding broad indices, such as the S&P 500 and Canada's S&P/TSX Composite, from Oct. 28 to May 5, when they tend to make most of their gains, and then selling. If that's too hard to remember, Vialoux has a handy catch phrase: “Buy when it snows! Sell when it goes!”

2010 October 21, Paul Marshman, “Buy when it snows, sell when it goes!”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-13:

According to Carlo R. Besenius, CEO of Creative Global Investments in Luxembourg, the trade, known as "buy when it snows, sell when it goes," was profitable in 53 of the past 61 periods. In a recent note, he pointed out that Munich, Geneva, Luxembourg, and Calgary had their first snowfall on Sunday, Oct. 28. He credits annual recurring events such as transactions for tax purposes and the holidays, among others.

2012 November 3, Robin Goodwin Blumenthal, “Season for Stocks: Let It Snow, Let It Snow?”, in Barron's, retrieved 2015-10-13:

(business, stock market, chiefly northern US and Canada) Stock market securities can be expected to increase in value to a greater degree in the cold winter months from November through April than in the warm months from May through October, and profit-minded investors should manage their portfolios accordingly.


CCAA

(Canada, law, finance) Initialism of Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. (bankruptcy in Canada)

LACC (loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies)


cawk

(slang, Canada, US) Pronunciation spelling of cock (in the sense of penis).


break ass

en-verb

break ass (third-person singular simple present breaks ass, present participle breaking ass, simple past broke ass, past participle broken ass)

breaks ass (present singular third-person)
breaking ass (participle present)
broke ass (past)
broken ass (participle past)

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) To flatulate; to fart.


new normal

The new normal for this country is simply to survive economically.

However, the abnormal condition may last for a few years, and the tendency to return to the former balance may never be more than partially realized. That is to say, the abnormal situation may persist until it becomes a new normal.

1922 August, B. H. Hibbard, “Effect of Change of Price of Produce on Intensity of Cultivation”, in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, volume XXXVI, number 4, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 659:

Well, it is a fact that in most of the food businesses your sales have increased very greatly in the past few years. Whether this is a permanent new level, and whether we are some day going back to what we call a normal level or did call a normal level, I do not know. Maybe this is a new normal and, of course, there is a lag between the time farm products go down, and the time that a processed food product goes down, and the length of that time lag is dependent upon the complexity of the processes through which the basic commodity goes, until it reaches the form in which it gets to the consumer.

1949 December 14, George H. Coppers (witness), “Statement of George H. Coppers, President, National Biscuit Co.; Accompanied by George A. Mitchell, Vice President, and E. W. Barto, General Counsel”, in Utilization of Farm Crops: Price Spreads: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, United States Senate, Eighty-first Congress, First Session […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published 1950, →OCLC, page 1107:

Clothing styles lead us quickest into new normals and out of old ones, as we can see quite readily by looking over the pictures in old magazines and books.

1954 February 26, Thomas G. Walters (witness), “Statement of Thomas G. Walters, Operations Director, Government Employees’ Council”, in Fringe Benefits for Federal Employees: Hearings before the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, United States Senate, Eighty-third Congress, Second Session on S. 2665 […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 105:

I hope you will comply willingly; it will speed the day when I can bow out and life can get back to normal—a new normal, free of the Authority, free of guards, free of troops stationed on us, free of passports and searches and arbitrary arrests.

1966 June 2, Robert A[nson] Heinlein, chapter 14, in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, book 2 (A Rabble in Arms), page 152:

After nine months of pregnancy, I'm sure you're ready to call your body your own and return to normal. The truth is, you probably won't feel "normal" for a while, especially if you're nursing. Even then, your new normal may turn out to be somewhat different from your old normal. […] Your body deserves time and attention during the weeks and months after your baby's birth so it can create the new normal as quickly and comfortably as possible.

2000, Sheryl Gurrentz, “Section 3: Dealing with Physical Changes”, in The Guilt-free Guide to Your New Life As a Mom: Practical Ways to Take Care of Yourself, Your Life & Your Baby—All at the Same Time, Glendale, Calif.: Perspective Publishing, →ISBN, page 35:

But scientists involved in the effort warned that squabbling among teams and government representatives from more than 100 countries – over how to portray the probable amount of sea-level rise during the 21st century – could distract from the basic finding that a warming world will be one in which shrinking coastlines are the new normal for centuries to come.

2007 January 30, James Kanter, Andrew C. Revkin, “World scientists near consensus on warming”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-22:

The exhibit concluded with the statement about what the modern world owes to the Age of Revolution. It claims that the Age of Revolution “created several ‘new normals’,” among them that “slavery was fundamentally inhuman and had to be abolished”; […] But of course, these were not “normals” for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and are still not “normals” in much of the world today.

2018, Alan J. Singer, “Politics of Historical Memory”, in New York’s Grand Emancipation Jubilee: Essays on Slavery, Resistance, Abolition, Teaching, and Historical Memory, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 165:

How should we respond to the new normal? China's economic development is now in the new normal. This conclusion is drawn from analyzing the world economic cycle, China's development stage, and the interaction between the two. This conclusion has been widely recognized by the rest of the world. According to the IMF [International Monetary Fund], China's economic development is in the new normal, so is global economic development.

2018, Xi Jinping, “The New Normal: How to Respond and Adapt”, in [anonymous], transl., The Governance of China, volume II, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, →ISBN, section I, page 261:

For a while, therefore, it looked like the great heat wave would be like mass shootings in the United States—mourned by all, deplored by all, and then immediately forgotten or superseded by the next one, until they came in a daily drumbeat and became the new normal.

2020, Kim Stanley Robinson, chapter 6, in The Ministry for the Future, London: Little, Brown Book Group, →ISBN:

Representative Joe Neguse of Colorado said mass shootings could not be the "new normal."

2021 March 23, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Jenny Gross, “Suspect charged with 10 counts of murder in Boulder, Colo., shooting”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-23:

Extreme heat in the world's oceans passed the "point of no return" in 2014 and has become the new normal, according to research.

2022 February 1, Damian Carrington, “Extreme heat in oceans ‘passed point of no return’ in 2014”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-01-30:

It's becoming the new normal on a network with far too many trains being cancelled, and too many cancelled at short notice causing chaos for commuters and local communities.

2022 November 16, Philip Haigh, “Network news: TPE under fire over ‘unacceptable’ cancellations”, in Rail, number 970, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6:

(originally chiefly Canada, US, idiomatic) A current prevailing situation which has emerged recently, that differs dramatically from the previous one and is expected to remain.


equalization payment

en-noun

equalization payment (plural equalization payments)

Ontario may soon be classed as a "have-not" province and receive equalization payments for the first time in its history.

2008 February 26, “Opinion: Ontario to join "have-nots"?”, in National Post, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-21:

Six “have-not” provinces are splitting $15.4 billion in equalization payments in 2012-13.

2012 October 10, Jason Fekete, “‘Controversial’ overhaul of transfer payments under study by federal government”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-21:

People whose provinces receive equalization payments are largely in denial about living in have-not regions, a poll suggests.

2015 April 22, Brian Daly, “Most have-not provinces in denial about getting equalization: Poll”, in Toronto Sun, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-21:

(Canada, government) Extra money transferred from the federal government to a province, drawn from general tax revenue and intended to redistribute some wealth from relatively prosperous provinces to relatively poor provinces.

transfer payment

(Canada) money transferred from the federal government to a province

The court set aside a trial judge's decision from 2007 that required Harold Serra to make an "equalization payment" of $3.3 million to his former wife.

2009 February 5, Tracey Tyler, “Hard times alter rules on divorce, court says”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-21:

In places like Manitoba and Ontario, where the distribution of family assets upon marriage breakdown is done through an equalization payment based on the value of what both spouses’ own, the claim can be extinguished through a discharge from bankruptcy.

2011 July 14, Christine Dobby, “Divorce payment unenforceable after bankruptcy: SCC”, in Financial Post, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-21:

[T]he impact of income taxes shapes the size and type of assets that are transferred between spouses. So, carefully consider them when splitting assets as part of an equalization payment.

2013 January 23, Frank Di Pietro, “Minimize tax on marriage breakdown”, in advisor.ca, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-21:

(Canada, law) In a divorce agreement, a payment made by one spouse to the other in order to create an equal division of assets.


for $500, Alex

From the US game show Jeopardy!, formerly hosted by Alex Trebek.

I'll take things that never happened for $500, Alex. (Meaning you are guessing the event the speaker is referencing never actually happened.)

(humorous, Canada, US) This is my guess.


captain save a hoe

Either coined in, or popularized by, the 1993 song of the same name by American rapper E-40 (Earl Stevens).

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) A man who spends an excessive amount of effort and money trying to please a woman, usually a promiscuous one, who doesn't really appreciate this, or doesn't particularly care about him.


rubbing alcohol

rubbing alcohol (usually uncountable, plural rubbing alcohols)


welfare bum

The program also can shatter once and for all that "welfare bum" myth that has served as an excuse to avoid obligation and sacrifice to aid unfortunate people.

1971 June 22, “New Welfare Plan”, in Palm Beach Post, US, retrieved 2015-11-09, page A14:

Welfare has long been scorned by those who see only the "welfare bum," able to work but preferring to sit home and collect a government check.

1982 May 25, “Making Welfare Work”, in Schenectady Gazette, US, retrieved 2015-11-09, page 26:

Marin, who receives $576 a month in family benefits, says she has to get groceries from a food bank every month to survive. . . . "The other kids tell my kid: ‘Your mother's a welfare bum.’"

1986 November 14, Jacquie Miller, “Single mothers use song, skit to plead for higher family benefits”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2015-11-09, page 26:

He also told Sewap to “get a job and stop being a welfare bum.”

2014 December 1, Larissa Burnouf, “Saskatoon landlord tells First Nations woman to kill herself when applying for apartment”, in APTN News, Canada, retrieved 2015-11-09:

(informal, Canada and US, derogatory) A person whose source of income is government public assistance payments, especially one who is lazy and unwilling to work.


corporate welfare bum

corporate welfare bum (plural corporate welfare bums)

Coined in 1972 by Canadian labor leader and politician David Lewis (1909-1981).

[A]nother $8 million went to keep alive Quebecair, a corporate welfare bum if ever there was one.

1983 April 29, "End welfare dithering," Montreal Gazette (Canada), p. B-2 (retrieved 9 Nov 2015)

Meanwhile: every telecomm company is as big a corporate welfare bum as you could ask for.

2011, Cory Doctorow, Context, →ISBN, page 113:

Elon Musk . . . is also — and this you read less about — a serial, almost kleptomaniacal, corporate welfare bum whose greatest talent seems to be sucking at the U.S. government’s teat for personal gain and glory.

2015 May 11, David Booth, “The Tesla secret Elon Musk doesn’t want you to know”, in Driving, Canada, retrieved 2015-11-09:

Corporate welfare bum Bombardier is already demanding a billion more dollars in corporate bailouts from Trudeau’s Liberals.

2015 Nov. 4, Ezra Levant, "Liberal conundrum: Side with their anti-airport Toronto MPs? Or “corporate welfare bum” Bombardier?," ezralevant.com (Canada), (retrieved 9 Nov 2015)

(chiefly Canada, idiomatic, derogatory) A business corporation or business executive receiving significant financial assistance from government sources.

David Lewis (politician)
Peter Desbarats


person of interest

person of interest (plural persons of interest or people of interest)

persons of interest (plural)
people of interest (plural)

Tice denies involvement in any conspiracy. . . . Still, Morgan says Tice and "three or four other people" remain "persons of interest" in the investigation.

2009 August 22, Tim Padgett, “The Pensacola Adoptive Couple's Murder: A Hit?”, in Time, retrieved 2015-11-19:

Abdellatif has been interviewed five times by Australian security services since the dropping of the charges and remains a "person of interest" to the federal police.

2013 September 26, “Sayed Abdellatif inquiry will report to Tony Abbott, who called him a 'jihadist'”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2015-11-19:

The 19-year-old man from a Phoenix suburb who was detained on Friday at a convenience store near Interstate 10 is a person of interest, but Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, declined to say what had led the police to question the man.

2015 September 12, “Police Rule Out Detained Man, 19, as Prime Suspect in Phoenix Freeway Shootings”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-11-19:

(law enforcement, chiefly Canada, US) Someone who police have reason to believe may have a connection to a crime, or to possess important information relating to that crime, but who has not been accused or charged by authorities nor been officially deemed to be a suspect.

persoa de interese

someone believed to have a connection to a crime or to possess important information relating to that crime

bűncselekménnyel összefüggésbe hozható személy


PMQs

(Canada) Initialism of permanent married quarters.


Vansterdam

Blend of Vancouver + Amsterdam from the cannabis drug culture found in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, being comparable to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

(US, Canada, slang) Synonym of Vancouver (“city in British Columbia”)


Vamsterdam

(Canada, US, slang) Alternative form of Vansterdam


West Van

(Canada, informal) West Vancouver (a city in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada, north of Vancouver, west of North Vancouver, on the north shore of the Fraser River delta)


South Van

(Canada, informal) Synonym of South Vancouver (the districts of the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, which lie in the south of the city, next to the city of Richmond)


comajor

Instead, in addition to my molecular biology major, I was enrolled in a scientific philosophy comajor along with all other members of the honours program, leaving me with time to also do a psychology minor.

2015, Bryan Grieg Fry, Doctor Venom, →ISBN:

Dr. Gönen also received an MS in industrial engineering (1973) and a PhD comajor in industrial engineering (1978) from Iowa State University, as well as an MBA from the University of Oklahoma (1980).

2014, Turan Gonen, Electrical Power Transmission System Engineering, →ISBN:

(US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) One of multiple main areas of study of a student working toward a degree at an institute of tertiary education.


comajor

en-verb

comajor (third-person singular simple present comajors, present participle comajoring, simple past and past participle comajored)

comajors (present singular third-person)
comajoring (participle present)
comajored (participle past)
comajored (past)

(US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, intransitive) To concentrate on one of multiple areas of study as a student in a college or university.


mommyish

en-adj

mommyish (comparative more mommyish, superlative most mommyish)

more mommyish (comparative)
most mommyish (superlative)

(Canada, US, informal) motherly; maternal


arse is gone right out of 'er

We are about to leave the relative security of 2008. And about to enter what will be a desolate end to this decade. The arse has indeed gone clean out of 'er.

2008 Dec. 27, Ed Smith, "The arse is gone right out of 'er," The Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) (retrieved 20 Dec 2015)

Tracker: I got the lens working from 17 to 85mm, but aperture control and AF gave up the ghost. Just bought a replacement 17-85mm at Futureshop in St John's.
Oldguywithacamera: Yikes! Like the Newfs say, "The arse is gone right out of 'er" warranty?

2009 July 14, "So, gear failure (discussion in 'Photography')," at www.reality-check.ca (retrieved 20 Dec 2015)

Wayne: “The financial situation is so depressing I think we’re headed for total economic collapse.”
Kevin: “Da arse is gone right out of ‘er.”

2011 May 14, Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers, "Newfunese" (song lyrics) (retrieved 20 Dec 2015)

A vessel flying before the wind. That can be kind of a warm fuzzy metaphor, until the wind blows a gale and suddenly, "Now luh, da arse is gone right out of er."

2011 July 1, David Webber, "Who's in the back of the boat?," at thefreelibrary.com (retrieved 20 Dec 2015)

(Canada, Newfoundland English) Matters, especially economic matters, have gone very wrong; things are out of control.


Brazilian butt

(Canada, US, slang) Curvaceous, attractive female buttocks.