remuda

‘Don’t die!’ You can bet your Red River remuda on that.

1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 157:

To one side of the barn was a remuda of work-horses, perhaps twenty in all.

2003, Stephen King, Wolves of the Calla:

Buddy did not know what his mother was going to do, but he was sure that whatever she did would be right; so he hoisted his saddle on the handiest fresh horse, and loped off to drive in the remuda, feeling certain that his father would move swiftly to save his cattle that ranged back in the foothills, and that the saddle horses would be wanted at a moment's notice.

A big remuda had been driven up, Cayuse ponies mixed with larger American horses.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 29:

(Canada, US) A herd of horses from which the horses to be used for a particular purpose are selected.


specialty

specialties (plural)
speciality (alternative UK)

From Middle English specialte, Old French specialte, especialte, from Latin specialitas.

Let specialties be therefore drawne betweene vs,
That couenants may be kept on either hand.

c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

1812, Joseph Chitty, A Treatise on Pleading, with a Collection of Practical Precedents, and Notes Thereon, 2nd American edition, edited by Thomas Day, New York, Volume 2, section 456, note c,
[…] in a plea to an action of debt on specialty, it is still necessary to show that the debt on which the judgment was recovered was a specialty, or to aver that the judgment was recovered before the defendant had notice of the plaintiff’s demand.

(law) A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified.


polling station

en-noun

polling station (plural polling stations)

Dastis defended the Spanish police’s actions as they tried to halt the referendum, even though other members of the government have apologised for the violent scenes when officers raided polling stations, charged the crowds with batons and fired rubber bullets.

2017 October 22, Sam Jones, “Catalonia weighs up declaration of independence”, in the Guardian:

(British, Canada, Australia) a place where voters go to cast their ballot in an election or referendum; a voting station


tightass

tightasses (plural)
tight-arse (alternative)

Back-formation from tight-assed; equivalent to tight + ass.

(slang, mildly vulgar) Someone who does not know how to have fun, or who is so worried about insignificant things as to ruin any fun that anyone around them may be having.

Spaßtöter

person that does not know how to have fun

jitterbug

person worried about insignificant things


Eddie

(Canada, informal) A member of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.


sepulcher

(Canada, US) Alternative form of sepulchre.


sepulcher

en-verb

sepulcher (third-person singular simple present sepulchers, present participle sepulchering, simple past and past participle sepulchered)

sepulchers (present singular third-person)
sepulchering (participle present)
sepulchered (participle past)
sepulchered (past)


eggplant

en-noun

eggplant (countable and uncountable, plural eggplants)

eggplants (plural)
egg-plant (alternative)

From egg + plant, originally applied only to the white-colored, egg-shaped variety.

Solanum melongena
Solanum melongena#Translingual

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The plant Solanum melongena.

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The edible fruit of the Solanum melongena: an aubergine.

(Canada, US) A dark purple color, like that of the skin of this fruit.


dainty

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-dainty.wav

From Middle English deynte (as noun), from Old French deintié, from Latin dignitātem. Doublet of dignity.


s'more

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

A contraction of some more, so called because they are meant to be so tasty that you always want some more.

1990, Margaret Kenda, Cooking Wizardry for Kids
S’Mores are a traditional favorite cook-out food with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

2003, Sheri Joseph, Bear Me Safely Over
She bit into the s’more, and the melted marshmallow goo fell over her lip, onto her chin.

2003, Cynthia Kaplan, I’m Like This
I’d had too many s’mores.

(US, Canada) A snack food made by combining graham crackers, marshmallows (frequently toasted) and chocolate, a typical camping fireside treat.


downtown

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

(chiefly US, Canada) The main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center.

middestad

either the lower, or the business center of a city or town


cooler

They served wine coolers in the afternoon.

(Canada, South Africa, countable or uncountable) A type of drink made with alcohol, especially wine, mixed with fruit juice.


ardour

ardour (countable and uncountable, plural ardours)

I rushed towards her, and embraced her with ardour; but the deathly languor and coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished.

1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VI, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 120:

The purpose of my visit, and the frightful abnormalities it postulated struck at me all at once with a chill sensation that nearly over-balanced my ardour for strange delvings.

1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 6, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

British, Canada, and Australia spelling of ardor.


EA

EA (countable and uncountable, plural EAs)

educational assistant
educational assistant#English

(Canada) Initialism of educational assistant.


blue box

gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)

(chiefly British and Canada) A blue container used for the collection of household waste (such as tin cans and newspapers) for recycling by a municipal authority.


babushka

babushkas (plural)
babushki (plural)
babooshka (alternative)
baboushka (alternative)

Borrowed from Russian ба́бушка (bábuška, “grandmother”), from Old East Slavic бабушка (babuška, “grandmother, midwife”). First attested in the 1830s.

der

White Parian bust of smiling Russian peasant woman - with babushka covering head, lovely detail work, 21½″ tall

1959 September 10, HOBBIES—The Magazine for Collectors, volume 64, number 7, Chicago: Lightner Publishing Corporation, page 80:

“Say hello to old Stanley,” he called as she pattered down the steps into the street, flung a babushka over her license plate and screeched away down Telegraph.

1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 5, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 79:

The crowd falls silent, momentarily stunned, while a heavyset woman in a babushka pushes her way through, broadcasting the news […].

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 78:

(originally Canada, US) A traditional floral headscarf worn by an Eastern European woman, tied under the chin.


masters

masters meet

(sports, US, Canada) Of or pertaining to a league or competition limited to players above a certain age or level of experience.


open house

We′re holding an open house this weekend at 77 Parkway Road.

I took my sign out of the boot and put it up that morning, then arranged the advertising and open house viewings as soon as I returned to my office.

2009, Peter Yong Huang, The Australian Dream and $1 Properties, page 133:

Avoid boredom. Avoid starvation. Why hang around a homeowner′s refrigerator all day while sitting at a deadbeat open house? Do what they have done in Australia for years. Hold multiple open houses in one day.

2011, Danielle Kennedy, Warren Jamison, How to List and Sell Real Estate, 4th edition, page 155:

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia) A period of time, usually several hours in a day, during which a house which is for sale is open for inspection or tour by interested parties.

näyttö

(chiefly US, Australian) time when a house for sale is open for inspection


centre of gravity

en-noun

centre of gravity (plural centres of gravity)

center of gravity
center of gravity#English

(physics) British and Canada standard spelling of center of gravity.


homecoming

From Middle English hom-comyng, home komyng, home-cumyng, home-commynge, equivalent to home + coming. Probably an alteration of earlier Middle English hom-come, homkome, hame-come, ham-cume, from Old English hāmcyme (“homecoming; return”).

der

Many alumni come back for homecoming, and many freshmen are advised to flee.

homecoming ball

homecoming game

homecoming party

homecoming rave

(Canada, US, also attributive) In colleges and high schools, a tradition centred around a football game, a parade and the "coronation" of a Homecoming Queen.

harvest homecoming
harvest homecoming#English

Ellipsis of harvest homecoming, a traditional (street) party and/or dance near the start of the school year, at around fall mid-terms. It traditionally marks the start of harvest break, where students go home in autumn to harvest the crops on the family farms.


privateer

/ˌpɹaɪ.vəˈtɪə/

/ˌpɹaɪ.vəˈtɪɚ/

From private + -eer, probably after volunteer.

(motor racing, chiefly Canada, US) A private individual entrant into a race or competition who does not have the backing of a large, professional team.

yksityiskuski

motor racing: private individual entrant


take five

en-verb

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

takes five (present singular third-person)
taking five (participle present)
took five (past)
taken five (participle past)
take a five (alternative)

Hey, stop fighting! Take five, people!

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


meths

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, informal) methylated spirits.


centered

en-adj

centered (comparative more centered, superlative most centered)

more centered (comparative)
most centered (superlative)
centred (alternative Commonwealth Ireland)

(especially Canada, US) emotionally stable, calm, serene; having a balanced mind


stat

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-stat.wav

(Canada, informal) A statutory public holiday (also as stat holiday).


stampede

→ German: Stampede

The noun is derived from Mexican Spanish estampida (“a stampede”), from Spanish estampida, estampido (“a bang, a crack (sound)”), from Old Occitan estampida, from Gothic *𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌼𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (*stampjan), from Proto-Germanic *stampōną (“to compress, squeeze; to stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *stembʰ- (“to trample down”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(Canada, US) An event at which cowboy skills are displayed; a rodeo.


Beaver

* As an English surname, capitalization of beaver. This sense is also translated from several Native American names such as Cheyenne homa'e and Creek Echaswvlke of the same meaning. Doublet of Bieber and Bever.
* Also as an English surname, from the placename Belvoir in Leicestershire.

en:member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement

(originally Canada) A member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement, composed of groups for children, traditionally boys, of approximately five to seven years of age.


Bell

(US, Canada) a telephone utility; a Baby Bell.


Brown

en-adj

Brown (comparative more Brown, superlative most Brown)

more Brown (comparative)
most Brown (superlative)

From Middle English Broun, originally a nickname for someone with brown hair or a dark complexion. In the United States, sometimes an anglicization and translation of German Braun. Doublet of Bruno and Braun.

(chiefly US, often Canada and UK) Alternative letter-case form of brown (“of a dark complexion”).


Brownie

From brownie (“helpful elf”). Specifically, inspired by the story "The Brownies" by Juliana Horatia Ewing (published in 1870, The Brownies and Other Tales), in which two children, Tommy and Betty, learn that children can be helpful brownies or lazy boggarts.

1958 July 14, Boot by a Brash Brownie, LIFE, page 124,
In Toronto young Brownies of the Girl Guides, the Canadian girl scouts, stood in parade formation with full-fledged Guides.

The ideal Brownie pack, according to the 1960 Guide Commissioner′s Handbook, would contain Brownies who were ‘alert, clean, tidy and punctual. Their uniform should be correct.’

1997, Doug Owram, Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby-Boom Generation, page 102:

Another Guide group that persevered through internment was the 1st Chefoo (which had Brownies, Guides and Rangers) in Shandong province, China.[…]The November 2, 1942, entry in the Brownie logbook pleads for cheerfulness in the face of adversity: “We are in need of smiles. Have you got them ready, Brownies?”

2009, Tammy M. Proctor, Scouting for Girls: A Century of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, page 85:

(British, Canada, Australia) A junior Girl Guide.


Canadien

(Canada) A French Canadian (male or of unspecified sex).


Chuck

Shortening of Edmonchuk. So named because of the large Ukrainian population; -чук (-čuk) is common suffix in Ukrainian surnames.


D

From the position (4) of the letter D in the English alphabet.

(education, chiefly Canada, US) A grade awarded for a class, better than outright failure (which can be F or E depending on the institution) and worse than a C.


Genesis

From Ancient Greek γένεσις (génesis, “creation, beginning, origin”).

der

(Canada, US, video games) A video game console, the Sega Genesis, also marketed as the Mega Drive outside North America.


Hill

* As an English surname, from the noun hill, shortened from Hilary, and from Old English hild (“battle”).
* As a German surname, shortened from Hildebrand, related to the last sense above.
* As a Finnish surname, calque of Finnish Mäki (“hill”).

(Canada, with "the") Parliament Hill; the Parliament of Canada; the parliamentary precinct in Ottawa as opposed to parliamentary functions elsewhere in the country


Inc

after nouns
Inc. (alternative)
inc (alternative)
inc. (alternative)

(chiefly Canada, US) Incorporated, corporation, an adjective describing a type of (business) company that carries certain legal obligations.


Lab

(Canada) Alternative form of Lab., Abbreviation of Labrador: a region of Canada.


Labour

(UK, Canada) Misspelling of Labor, an Australian political party.


Mac

(US, Canada) A diminutive for a person with a surname that starts with "Mac" or "Mc".


Molly

en-noun

Molly (countable and uncountable, plural Mollies)

From Moll, diminutive lambdacism of Mary + -y.

(Canada, US, slang, uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of molly: the crystalline or powdered form of MDMA.


Mommy

I wish Mommy and Daddy didn't argue so much.

(Canada, US, chiefly used by young children) One's mother


Mr.

Messrs. (plural)
Mr (alternative)
MR (alternative)

Mr. John Doe

Mr. Doe

But only if one forgets that Mr. Tester is 50 years old, he’s seasoned in state politics, he ran a canny, gloves-off campaign, and he’s the kind of charismatic, hard-to-peg, Western neopopulist (like his friend, Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana) who might be, even now, redefining in certain far-reaching ways what it means to be a Democrat.

2007 January 7, Deirdre Mcnamer, “They Came From Montana”, in The New York Times:

(Canada, US, Philippines, formerly or traditionally UK) Abbreviation of Mister.


Mr.

(US, Canada) Abbreviation of March (month).


Mrs.

Mrs. (plural Mmes. or Mesdames or (rare) Mrses.)

Mmes. (plural)
Mesdames (plural)
Mrses. (plural rare)

That left me an orphan and folks were at their wits’ end, so Mrs. Thomas said, what to do with me. […] Finally Mrs. Thomas said she’d take me, though she was poor and had a drunken husband. She brought me up by hand. Do you know if there is anything in being brought up by hand that ought to make people who are brought up that way better than other people? Because whenever I was naughty Mrs. Thomas would ask me how I could be such a bad girl when she had brought me up by hand--reproachful-like.

1908, L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables:


Ms.

To protest the sandwich chain’s use of azodicarbonamide in its bread, Ms. Hari posted a video of herself chewing another item in which the chemical is found: a yoga mat.

2015 March 13, Courtney Rubin, “Taking On the Food Industry, One Blog Post at a Time”, in The New York Times:


Muppet

Diane Sawyer
Elmo
Jim Henson
Kevin Clash
Muppet

Coined by Jim Henson as an alteration of puppet. Henson had claimed the word was a blend of marionette + puppet, but later recanted.

'I'll come, if you like,' Paul says. 'I'm not asking you, Muppet,' Kit snaps.

English version: I'm A Cockney Geezer, You Muppet. No, you are an upper middle class, public school educated wanker (it takes one to know one) and I feel I must apologize to everyone on behalf of the land of my birth for the many crimes to cinema committed in the wake of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

2011, Julian Hoxter, Write What You Don't Know, page 45:

She tilts her head towards him, and whispers in his ear, “Of course I do, you Muppet. I keep telling you to trust The Source and our guides; don't I?"

2013, Guy Dance, Soul Brigade: The Mission of Light, page 245:

What's your fucking name you Muppet? I won't ask you again.

2018, Peter D. Bull, Undercover, page 13:

Not that kind of atmosphere, you Muppet. A cut it with a knife atmosphere.

2021, Margaret de Rohan, The Icarus Affair:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Eastern US, South Africa, slang, derogatory) Alternative form of muppet (fool).


Patriot

(Canada, historical) Synonym of Patriote (A devolution-of-power supporter in Lower Canada during the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-1838 (Patriots' War).)

Patriote

(Canada, historical) A devolution-of-power supporter in Upper Canada during the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-1838 (Patriot War).


Peg

I just got back from the Peg.

(Canada, slang) Clipping of Winnipeg (city), usually preceded by "the".


Pez

Derived from the letters at the start, the middle and the end of German Pfefferminz (“candy with peppermint flavor”), the first Pez flavor.

(Canada, US) A kind of candy in the form of small blocks that is sold in small plastic dispensers.


Rock

* As an English surname, from the noun rock. Compare Roach.
* Also as an English surname, misdivision of Middle English atter oke (“at the oak”). Compare Nock.
* As an English occupational surname, from Old Norse rokkr (“distaff”). Compare Rocker.
* As an Irish surname, translated from names like Mac Conchairge (“son of the hound of the rock”), from cú + carraig, see also McHarg.
* As a German surname Röck, variant of the personal name Rocco, see Roche.
* Also as a German surname, from the noun Rock (“skirt gown”).
* As a French surname, shortened from Roquebrune, Rocquebrune (see Rocque) or Larock.
Compare Roch.

Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador

(Canada, preceded by "the" or "The") Nickname of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.


Sally

A diminutive lambdacism of Sarah. Compare Hal from Harry and Moll from Mary.

(slang, drugs, Canada, US) Alternative letter-case form of sally: the crystalline or powdered form of MDA.


Senate

(Canada) The Senate of Canada; the upper house of the Canadian parliament; "the Senate".


White

Capitalized due to this racial sense's connotation of (current or historical) European origin, so as to follow the capitalization rules for nationalities and ethne, known in former centuries as “races” (e.g., “the Chinese race”, “the English race”), and also, perhaps, as a way to explicitly distinguish it from the color sense, which is never capitalized outside proper nouns.

White (disambiguation)#Places in the United States

Unfortunately, many White people have been raised to believe that their race is intrinsically more prejudice than others.

2025 April 8, Sarah Stock, “Five Common Myths About White People — Debunked”, in Rift TV:

(chiefly US, sometimes Canada and UK) Alternative letter-case form of white (“of or relating to white complexion or Europeans”).


Worship

(Canada, archaic) A form of address of a mayor.


Y

He had sat next to Cindy returning from the Y and smelled the chlorine on her. A sodden Band-Aid had clung by a few lingering bits of stickum to her knee.

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:


Y

Of course, the audience up here at the Bronx “Y” will probably be a little parochial, but if I make good in the lecture, I might one day end up speaking down at the Lex. Ave. “Y” where great thinkers like Norman Mailer and Seymour Krim are always airing their views.

1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN:

When a 50ish woman at my Y learned that I was about to turn 80, she exclaimed, “80 is the new 60, and you set a great example for the rest of us!”

2021 May 17, Jane E. Brody, “A Birthday Milestone: Turning 80!”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(Canada, US, informal) A particular facility run by the YMCA/YWCA.


Yank

“This time,” he General Alphonse-Pierre Juin] told the Yanks, “you have not crossed to win new victories but to preserve peace. […]”

1951 June 11, “The Yanks Are Coming: U.S. shows world we are playing for keeps as 4th Division leaves to join Eisenhower's NATO army”, in Life, page 38:

(slang, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, UK, sometimes derogatory ethnic slur, by extension) An American: someone from the United States.


pt

pt (countable and uncountable, plural pts)

(Canada, dated, uncountable) Initialism of physical training, a physical education class in grade school.


english

Uncertain. It is speculated to relate either to people from England introducing the technique for billiards or bowling in the United States, or perhaps from a particular person with the surname English.

English (alternative US)
English (alternative dated rare)

You can't hit it directly, but maybe if you give it some english.

There was a magical way of putting English on the dice to result in a six.

2005, S. Moran, Bronx Boy: Book One of The Zombie Island Trilogy, page 179:

(uncountable, Canada, US) Spinning or rotary motion given to a ball around the vertical axis, as in pool, billiards or bowling; spin, sidespin.

ингалс

spinning or rotary motion around the vertical axis


popsicle

From the trade name Popsicle, a blend of (soda) pop or lollipop + Epsicle (original trade name), itself a blend of Epperson (surname of the inventor) + icicle.

blend

(chiefly US, Canada) Frozen fruit juice, flavored sugar water, or the like, on a stick, of a size to be one serving.


metis

metis (plural)
métis (alternative Canada)

Borrowed from French métis, from Late Latin mixticius, from Latin mixtus (“mixed”). Akin to mestizo, which came from Spanish.

(chiefly Canada, US) Alternative letter-case form of Metis (“a member of one of three Canadian Aboriginal peoples; any person of mixed European and Indigenous descent”).


gesundheit

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

From German Gesundheit (literally “health”), from gesund (“healthy”). The adjective is cognate with English sound, from Old English ġesund (“sound, safe, healthy”).

cog

Everybody Was at It, and There Was No One to Say Gesundheit

1897 July 24, “SNEEZES INTERRUPTED COURT”, in The Albany Law Journal, volume 56, number 4, page 67:

I used to play a game with David and Douggie, Dennis and Drew — stop their sneezes midsniff just by placing my pinkie finger against their nostrils and saying gesundheit before it was time.

2000, Abby Frucht, Polly's Ghost: A Novel (Fiction), Scribner, →ISBN, page 55:

(Canada, US) Said to someone who has just sneezed.


sideline

sidelines (plural)
side line (alternative)
side-line (alternative)

(Canada) A secondary road, especially a byroad at right angles to a main road.


buckle

The noun is derived from Middle English bokel (“spiked metal ring for fastening; ornamental clasp; boss of a shield; a shield, buckler; (figurative) means of defence”) [and other forms], from Old French boucle, bocle (“spiked metal ring for fastening; boss of a shield; a shield”) [and other forms], from Latin buccula (“cheek strap of a helmet; boss of a shield”) (from bucca (“soft part of the cheek”)).
Noun sense 2 (“great conflict or struggle”) is probably derived from verb sense 1.2.1 (“to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work”).
The verb is derived from Middle English bokelen, bukelen (“to fasten (something) with a buckle or clasp; to fasten, make fast; to wrap; to arch the body”) [and other forms], from bokel (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
In verb sense 1.2.1, the sense “to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work” was derived from the now obsolete sense “to equip (oneself) for a battle, etc.”, and originally alluded to armour being buckled on to the body.

nb...

bocle, bocul, bocule, bocull, boculle, bogil, bogyll, bokell, bokle, bokull, bokyll, bokylle, boucle, bukel, bukkel, bukle, bukyll, bukylle

إِبْزِيم

A metal clasp with a hinged tongue or a spike through which a belt or strap is passed and penetrated by the tongue or spike, in order to fasten the ends of the belt together or to secure the strap to something else.

(Canada, heraldry) An image of a clasp (sense 1) used as the brisure of an eighth daughter.

solki

image of a clasp used as the brisure of an eighth daughter


buckle

en-noun

buckle (countable and uncountable, plural buckles)

Origin uncertain. Probably from Middle English bokelen (“to arch the body”), from Middle French boucler (“to bulge”, literally “to take the shape of a shield boss”), from the same ultimate origin as Etymology 1 above. In some senses, possibly from buck (“to bend, yield, buckle”) + -le (frequentative suffix).

suf

(countable, Canada, US, baking) Usually preceded by a descriptive word: a cake baked with fresh fruit (often blueberries) and a streusel topping.

murukuorrute-hedelmäkakku

cake baked with fresh fruit and a streusel topping


tamper

en-verb

tamper (third-person singular simple present tampers, present participle tampering, simple past and past participle tampered)

tampers (present singular third-person)
tampering (participle present)
tampered (participle past)
tampered (past)

From Middle French temprer (“to temper, mix, meddle”). Doublet of temper.

der

(US, Canada, in professional sports) To discuss future contracts with a player, against league rules.


collegiate

From Middle English collegiate, from Medieval Latin collēgiātus (“colleague”), from collēgium (“community, group”).


fanny

en-noun

fanny (countable and uncountable, plural fannies)

19th century. Ultimately from Fanny, pet form of the name Frances. Compare dick, John Thomas, mickey.

Children, sit down on your fannies, and eat your lunch.

Get off your fanny and get back to work!

(Canada, US, informal) The buttocks; arguably the most nearly polite of several euphemisms.


CSA

Canadian Space Agency
w:Canadian Space Agency

(Canada, space flight) Initialism of Canadian Space Agency.

Canadian Standards Association
w:Canadian Standards Association

(Canada) Initialism of Canadian Standards Association.


solicitor

solicitors (plural)
solicitour (alternative obsolete)

From Middle French soliciteur. By surface analysis, solicit + -or.

(Canada, US) A person soliciting sales, especially door to door.


aging

aging (countable and uncountable, plural agings)

agings (plural)
ageing (alternative British)

(gerontology) The accumulation of damage to macromolecules, cells, tissues and organs with the passage of time; the progressing loss of health, mobility, vibrancy and body functionality, resulting in biological death.


aging

en-adj

aging (comparative more aging, superlative most aging)

more aging (comparative)
most aging (superlative)
ageing (alternative British)

The aging artist could no longer steadily hold the brush.


tattle

en-verb

tattle (third-person singular simple present tattles, present participle tattling, simple past and past participle tattled)

tattles (present singular third-person)
tattling (participle present)
tattled (participle past)
tattled (past)

From Middle Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to babble, chatter”) (modern Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to talk, chatter”)), originally imitative. The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian tätelje (“to talk nonsense, babble”), Middle Low German tāteren, tadderen (“to babble, chatter”) (whence modern German Low German tatern (“to chatter”)), Low German tateln, täteln (“to cackle, gabble”). Compare also Middle English dadel, dadull (“tattling, gossip”), and its alteration twaddle.

cog

There are some children who just like to talk about others. They are not reporting. They are tattling, telling one negative after another. Their goal is to get others in trouble. […] Children sometimes do not mean to tattle about someone else. They do it because they are having a problem with another child and just don't know any other way to handle the problem.

2009, Maryln Appelbaum, “How to Handle Children Who are Disruptive”, in How to Handle Hard-to-handle Preschoolers: A Guide for Early Childhood Educators, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, SAGE Publishing; Appelbaum Training Institute, →ISBN, page 4:

I trapped the girls inside their tent / Someone tattled on me / Put a frog in the bathroom vent / Someone tattled on me / Gave my dinner to a bear / Put a snake in Auntie's chair / And a tick in Gramp's rootbeer / Someone tattled on me

2009, Renee Gregory, “I’m Gettin’ Broccoli for Dinner”, in Bugs, Bears and S’mores: Songs of the Great Outdoors, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN, page 100:

Vera is a kindergarten student who loves to be the center of adult attention. She has a quick temper and frequently talks out in class. She also frequently "tattles" on other students.

2015, Deanne A. Crone, Leanne S. Hawken, Robert H. Horner, “Conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment”, in Building Positive Behavior Support Systems in Schools: Functional Behavioral Assessment, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y., London: The Guilford Press, →ISBN, part II (Embedding Functional Behavioral Assessment within School Systems: Case Examples), page 39:

en:to report others' wrongdoings or violations

(intransitive, Canada, US, derogatory) Often said of children: to report incriminating information about another person, or a person's wrongdoing in an annoying fashion, usually to a person in a position of authority over the accused person; to tell on somebody.

доноснича

to report incriminating information or wrongdoing


tattle

en-noun

tattle (countable and uncountable, plural tattles)

Have a special small bucket called the tattle bucket. Make name cards for each child. […] When children have a tattle, instead of disrupting the class, they get their name card and put it in the tattle bucket. Look in the bucket at varying times during the day. If you see a name card, go to the child and say, "I see you have your name card in the tattle bucket. What would you like to tell me?" Many times, children will have forgotten all about the tattle.

(countable, Canada, US, derogatory) Often said of children: a piece of incriminating information or an account of wrongdoing that is said about another person.


bell pepper

bell pepper (countable and uncountable, plural bell peppers)

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

Near-synonyms: sweet pepper (UK), capsicum (Australia)

Capsicum annuum
Capsicum annuum#Translingual

(Canada, US, Philippines) Any of several bell-shaped varieties of Capsicum annuum, an edible, sweet, generally mild (not spicy) fruit, originating in the New World.


touch base

en-verb

touch base (third-person singular simple present touches base, present participle touching base, simple past and past participle touched base)

touches base (present singular third-person)
touching base (participle present)
touched base (participle past)
touched base (past)
touch bases (alternative)

Touch base with your boss before you start work to make sure you understand the project.

I had met with Dr. Todd right before dinner. He had wanted to touch base with me about my ongoing treatment.

2014, A. Meredith Walters, Light in the Shadows, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 55:

(by extension, idiomatic, colloquial, Canada, US, usually with "with") To meet or make contact with someone, usually to consult, review, visit, or communicate.


pierogi

en-noun

pierogi (plural pierogi or pierogies or pierogis)

pierogi (plural)
pierogies (plural)
pierogis (plural)
pierogie (alternative)
pierogy (alternative)
pirogi (alternative)
pirogy (alternative)
pirojki (alternative)
pyrogy (alternative)
pyrohy (alternative)
perog (alternative)
pierog (alternative)
pieróg (alternative)

Borrowed from Polish pierogi, the plural of pieróg (“dumpling”), which ultimately is derived from Proto-Slavic *pirъ (“party”). Unrelated to Turkish börek. Doublet of pirogi (from Russian), pirohy (from Czech and Slovak), and pyrohy/pedaheh (from Ukrainian).

(Canada, US) A square- or crescent-shaped dumpling of unleavened dough, stuffed with sauerkraut, cheese, mashed potatoes, cabbage, onion, meat, or any combination of these, or with a fruit filling.

波兰饺子 (Bōlán jiǎozi, literally “Polish dumpling(s)”)


counterclockwise

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

(US, Canada) In the direction of rotation opposite from clockwise.


counterclockwise

(US, Canada) Moving or located in the direction of rotation opposite from clockwise.


frankfurter

From German Frankfurter, the demonym of Frankfurt. Specifically, a reference to Frankfurt-am-Main.

(UK, US, Canada) A moist sausage of soft, even texture and flavor, often made from mechanically recovered meat or meat slurry.


FSA

(Canada) Initialism of forward sortation area (postal system code).


CAA

Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Canadian Arctic Archipelago#English

(geography, politics, Canada) Abbreviation of Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Canadian Automobile Association
w:Canadian Automobile Association

(Canada, automotive) Initialism of Canadian Automobile Association.


hole-in-the-wall

hole-in-the-wall (plural hole-in-the-walls or holes-in-the-wall)

hole-in-the-walls (plural)
holes-in-the-wall (plural)
hole in the wall (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hole-in-the-wall.wav

They walked by a tea museum, two local pharmacies, a bakery, and one hole-in-the-wall shop still selling knickknacks from Chinese New Year, before coming to a stop outside the unassuming front door of 189.

2022, C.S. Poe, chapter 17, in Subway Slayings (Memento Mori; 2), Oklahoma City, Okla.: Emporium Press, →ISBN:

(Canada, US) A restaurant, shop or other establishment catering to customers that is particularly inconspicuous and easily overlooked.


juice box

juice boxes (plural)
juicebox (alternative)

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

(US, Canada) A small carton of fruit juice with an attached plastic straw.


cosmopolite

Borrowed from French cosmopolite, from Latin cosmopolītēs, itself borrowed from Koine Greek κοσμοπολίτης (kosmopolítēs, “citizen of the world”), from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “world”) + πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”).

der

κοσμοπολίτης

The painted lady butterfly […] has been seen around towns throughout North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Africa. It's known on every continent except Antarctica, and it's even found on islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. […] Not surprisingly, the painted lady is known in some circles as the cosmopolite.

1989, May Berenbaum, chapter 5, in Ninety-nine Gnats, Nits, and Nibblers, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, page 102:

(Canada, US, dated) The butterfly painted lady (Vanessa cardui).


IAM

w:International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

(Canada, US) Initialism of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.


FCC

(Canada) Initialism of Farm Credit Corporation.


RSC

(Canada, law) Initialism of Revised Statutes of Canada.


RCMP

R.C.M.P. (alternative)
R. C. M. P. (alternative)

Canada had an international reputation for politeness. The RCMP Special Branch did not.

2020, Patrick Ness, Burn, Walker Books Ltd (2021), page 50:

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
w:Royal Canadian Mounted Police

(Canada, law enforcement) Initialism of Royal Canadian Mounted Police.


NRC

N.R.C. (alternative)
N. R. C. (alternative)

National Research Council
w:National Research Council

(Canada) Initialism of National Research Council.


DAT

DATs (plural)
D.A.T. (alternative)
D. A. T. (alternative)

Dental Admission Test
w:Dental Admission Test

(Canada, US) Acronym of Dental Admission Test.


SIU

(law enforcement, Canada) Initialism of special investigation(s)/investigating unit.


FTA

w:Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement

(economics, Canada, US) Abbreviation of Free Trade Agreement (between Canada and the United States)


PST

provincial sales tax
w:provincial sales tax

(finance, Canada) Initialism of provincial sales tax.


daddy longlegs

en-noun

daddy longlegs (plural daddy longlegs or daddy longlegses)

daddy longlegs (plural)
daddy longlegses (plural)
daddy-longlegs (alternative)
daddy-long-legs (alternative)

/ˈdædɪ ˈlɒŋ(ɡ)lɛɡz/

From daddy + longlegs. First attested in 1810s. Preceded by father longlegs, attested from 1740s.

Unlike spiders, daddy longlegs do not have a clearly marked division between thorax and abdomen. They are further distinguished from spiders in that they do not produce venom or silk.

2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, The International Wildlife Encyclopedia, volume 10, page 636:

Daddy longlegs aren′t even really spiders.

2004, Clay Thompson, Marshall Trimble, The Valley 101 Great Big Book of Life, page 33:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US) Any (non-spider) arachnid of the order Opiliones, mostly with long thin legs.


uptown

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

(chiefly Canada, US) The residential part of a city, away from the commercial center.


uptown

en-adj

uptown (comparative more uptown, superlative most uptown)

more uptown (comparative)
most uptown (superlative)

(chiefly Canada, US) In the upper part of a town.

uptown problems

She's been living in her uptown world / I bet she's never had a backstreet guy

(chiefly Canada, US, by extension) Of or relating to an affluent area or population.


uptown

Let's go uptown and try out that new restaurant.

(chiefly Canada, US) To or in the upper part of a town.


switcheroo

switcheroos (plural)
switcharoo (alternative)

/ˌswɪt͡ʃəˈɹuː/

In a corporate merger, it is usually the big company that buys a smaller one. Last week Boston's up & coming Tracerlab, Inc. pulled a switcheroo. Tracerlab, which grossed only $1,700,000 last year, bought the much bigger ($8,000,000 gross) Kelley-Koett Mfg. Co.

1951 April 30, “Business & Finance: Switcheroo”, in Time, archived from the original on 2012-09-29:

When you are dealing with American presidents, you always have to watch for the old switcheroo. Lyndon Johnson opposed Barry Goldwater's "extremism" on Vietnam, then proceeded to try to bomb Hanoi back into the stone age. Richard Nixon opposed price and wage controls, until he suddenly adopted them.

1977 April 18, Don McGillivray, “Carter, true to form, pulls the ‘switcheroo’”, in Montreal Gazette, retrieved 2012-07-27, page 22:

Elsewhere, it’s a ‘switcheroo’ ([Kevin] Kelly’s word, not mine) that will lend technology the working status of a vital force that, like ‘nature’, operates outside the reach of social imperatives.

1997, J. J. King, “The Right Connections: Tea with Kevin Kelly”, in Mute, volume 1, number 8, →ISSN:

The Manhattan Theater Club has pulled a switcheroo, delaying a planned production of Gone Home, by John Corwin, and replacing it with Four, by the 26-year-old playwright Christopher Shinn.

2001 December 21, Jesse McKinley, “On Stage and Off”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-07-27:

(informal, Canada, US) A sneaky, unexpected, or clever swap or exchange.


freeloader

freeloaders (plural)
free-loader (alternative)

From free + load + -er, originally US 1930s.

(UK, New Zealand, Canada) A person who takes expired unsold merchandise from the back of supermarket premises.


rouse

rouses (plural)
rouze (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English rousen, from Anglo-Norman reuser, ruser, originally used in English of hawks shaking the feathers of the body, from Latin recūsō, by loss of the medial 'c.' Doublet of recuse.
Figurative meaning “to stir up, provoke to activity” is from 1580s; that of “awaken” is first recorded 1590s.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-rouse.wav

(military, British and Canada) The sounding of a bugle in the morning after reveille, to signal that soldiers are to rise from bed, often the rouse.


West Coast

British Columbia Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast, New Zealand
West Coast, Tasmania

British Columbia
British Columbia#English

(chiefly Canada, uncommon) A region along the Pacific Ocean in British Columbia, Canada.


allophone

vähemmistökieltä äidinkielenään puhuva

However, “the languages used by STM staff during customer interactions are French and English,” the transit authority said. “Indeed, during phone calls or emails, STM employees speak English with anglophone or allophone customers who do not speak French.”

2025 April 24, Andy Riga, quoting Société de transport de Montréal, “No Habs No: Quebec orders STM to drop ‘Go’ from bus messages because it’s an English word”, in The Gazette, Montreal, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2025-04-25:

A person whose mother tongue is one other than that spoken by the majority.

(Canada) A person whose mother tongue is neither English, French, nor (sometimes) an indigenous language.

opîtatowêw

person whose mother tongue is neither English nor French

muuta kuin englantia tai ranskaa äidinkielenään puhuva


allophone

allophone (comparative more allophone, superlative most allophone)

more allophone (comparative)
most allophone (superlative)

In every case the allophone population is vastly larger than the proportion of francophones, which ranges from 4.2 percent […] from other parts of Canada more than international immigration from abroad: despite a growing allophone presence, […]

2010, Charles Boberg, The English Language in Canada: Status, History and Comparative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 23:

As immigration increases from different parts of the world, the linguistic makeup of Canada changes. In 2006, the allophone population—individuals whose mother tongue is neither English nor French—totalled 6.3 million, […]

2010, Statistics Canada, Canada Year, →ISBN:

(Canada) Of or relating to those whose mother tongue is neither English, French, nor (sometimes) an indigenous language of Canada.

of a language neither English nor French


factum

But according to a factum filed by Crown prosecutors, Shaikh's status was "confidential informer," therefore RCMP did not direct him about what to do at the camp.

2009 January 31, Isabel Teotonio, “Police mole trapped teen, court told”, in Toronto Star:

(law, Canada) A statement of fact and law delivered before a court.


CPR

Canadian Pacific Railway
w:Canadian Pacific Railway

(rail transport, Canada, US) Initialism of Canadian Pacific Railway.


CPA

en-noun

CPA (countable and uncountable, plural CPAs)

(Canada, accounting) Initialism of chartered professional accountant.


Vancouverite

Those frolicking in Vancouver's recreational areas shouldn't be surprised to end up in the middle of a rather messy sloshball game or ultimate Frisbee tournament; Vancouverites tend to leave their big-city attitudes at home.

1995, Pacific Northwest & Alaska: on the loose, Fodor's, page 325:

(Canada) A native or resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


GTA

Greater Toronto Area
w:Greater Toronto Area

(Canada) Initialism of Greater Toronto Area, the most populous urban region in Southern Ontario, Canada.


BR

(chiefly Canada, US) Abbreviation of bedroom.


recap

en-verb

recap (third-person singular simple present recaps, present participle recapping, simple past and past participle recapped)

recaps (present singular third-person)
recapping (participle present)
recapped (participle past)
recapped (past)

They buy a lot of camelback because they recap a lot of truck tires for trailer fleets.

In 1942 almost 86,000,000 pounds of camelback—a 25-percent increase over 1941—were made available for recapping purposes, and the output of this product is continually increasing. Dealer establishments are as busy as beehives. They have about 90 percent of the recapping equipment. In the testimony before you yesterday one of the proponents of this bill admitted that independent dealers had 88 percent of all the recapping machinery there is in the United States. We estimate that it is probably about that figure, although we thought it was a little higher, probably 90 percent. In addition to recapping tires for the general public, they also are doing this work on Government-owned tires, including the military, with the result that the independent dealer has retreaded hundreds and hundreds of thousands of tires, at a substantial profit, during said period.

1943 November 10, Lyle M. Buckingham, “Distribution of motor-vehicle tires. [Testimony.]”, in Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, United States Government Printing Office, page 51:

Are recapped tires safe? This is obviously the thing to know before you consider buying recaps.

1957 Aug, “Recap your old tires?”, in Kiplinger's Personal Finance, volume 11, number 8, page 13:

(Canada, US) To replace the worn tread on a tire by gluing on a new outer portion.


sportscaster

At the beginning of the all-star game, the sportscaster always says that the players just want to have fun today; at halftime, or in the bottom of the fifth inning, the sportscaster always says that the players' competitive spirit has taken over and now they all really want to win.

2003, David Shields, Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of Celebrity, Univ of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page 49:

(chiefly Canada, US) One who reports sporting events on television or radio.


reconciliation

en-noun

reconciliation (countable and uncountable, plural reconciliations)

From Middle English reconciliacioun (“act of reconciling; state of accord or harmony;”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman reconciliaciun, reconsiliacion, reconsiliaciun, and Middle French reconciliation, reconsiliacion, reconsiliation (“act of reconciling; result of this act; act of bringing about agreement or harmony; reconsecration of a desecrated place”) (modern French réconciliation), and from their Latin etymon reconciliātiō (“reinstatement, renewal, restoration; reconciliation”), from reconciliāre + -tiō.

nb...

reconcyliacyoun, reconsiliation, reconsiliacion, reconsiliacioun, reconsyliacion, reconsylyacion,

In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following calls to action.

(Australia, Canada) The process of systemically atoning for the crimes and broken promises that a nation has historically committed against indigenous people.


USW

United Steelworkers
w:United Steelworkers

(Canada, US, trade unionism) Initialism of United Steelworkers.


MPP

en-noun

MPP (countable and uncountable, plural MPPs)

MPPs (plural)
M.P.P. (alternative)
M. P. P. (alternative)

Got my name in registry so they stay on me, won’t let me free / Might call up my MPP / Nevermind, they won’t listen to me, don’t listen to me

2021, “On Me”, in Parallel World, performed by Cadence Weapon:

Member of Provincial Parliament
w:Member of Provincial Parliament

(Canada, countable) Initialism of Member of Provincial Parliament.


puss

puss (countable and uncountable, plural pusses)

Probably from Middle Low German pūs, pūskatte or Dutch poes (“puss, cat”, slang for “vulva”), ultimately from a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention (compare Arabic بسة (bissa)).
Akin to West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, Puuskatte, Danish pus, dialectal Swedish kattepus, Norwegian pus.
Found also in several other European, North African and Asian languages; compare Romanian pisică, Persian پیشی (piši), Tamil பூசை (pūcai), Tagalog pusa
and Sardinian pisittu.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(vulgar, slang, chiefly Canada, US) A coward; a wuss; someone who is unable to stand up for themselves.


personal video recorder

en-noun

personal video recorder (plural personal video recorders)

(television, Canada, UK, Ireland) A device that can record broadcast television programmes, or the images from a video camera, for subsequent playback through a television set


cosmopolitan

From cosmopolit(e) + -an. Compare metropolitan and megalopolitan.

(Canada, US, dated) A butterfly of species Vanessa cardui.


regent

/ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/

From Middle English regent, from Anglo-Norman regent, Middle French regent, and their source, Latin regēns (“ruling; ruler, governor, prince”), present participle of regō (“I govern, I steer”).

der

(Scotland, Canada, US) A member of governing board of a college or university; also a governor of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.


dink

Origin unknown. Attested since the late nineteenth century.

unknown

Origin unknown

The hair on my legs is softer than the hair around my dink, but it still grosses me out.

2004, Brian Francis, Fruit: A Novel about a Boy and his Nipples, page 2:

(Canada, US, colloquial, slang) The penis.

[…]he was a dink, and all the money, fame, and power in the world wouldn't change that one simple fact.

1997, Chris Gudgeon, You’re Not as Good as You Think, page 13:

(Canada, US, colloquial, slang) A foolish or contemptible person.


utilization

en-noun

utilization (countable and uncountable, plural utilizations)

utilizations (plural)
utilisation (alternative British)

From French utilisation or from utilize + -ation.

Skilled foreign farm workers are the backbone of US agriculture and are traditionally in the US on H-2A seasonal visas, which saw its highest ever utilization rate this year, according to the Farm Bureau.

2022 December 22, Vanessa Yurkevich, “America needs immigrants to solve its labor shortage”, in CNN:

(Canada, US, Oxford British English) Alternative spelling of utilisation.


inquire

en-verb

inquire (third-person singular simple present inquires, present participle inquiring, simple past and past participle inquired)

inquires (present singular third-person)
inquiring (participle present)
inquired (participle past)
inquired (past)
enquire (alternative British)

From Latin inquīrō (“to seek for”), composed of in- (“in, at, on; into”) + quaerō (“I seek, look for”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). Displaced Middle English enqueren (from Old French enquerre, of the same source) and native Middle English speir (“ask, inquire”).

der

"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day.[…]A strong man—a strong one; and a heedless." ¶ "Of what party is he?" she inquired, as though casually.

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(intransitive, US, Canada, Australia) To ask (about something).


EDA

en-noun

EDA (countable and uncountable, plural EDAs)

electoral district association
riding association#English

(Canada) Initialism of electoral district association.


apple cider

apple cider (countable and uncountable, plural apple ciders)

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

(UK, Canada) Cider; fermented apple juice; hard cider.

(Canada, US) Cider; sweet cider (non-alcoholic beverage).


gina

(US, Canada, slang, derogatory) The female equivalent of a gino.


teeter

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-teeter.wav


takeout

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

(Canada, US) (Of food) intended to be eaten off the premises from which it was bought.

за вкъщи

(of food) intended to be eaten off the premises from which it was bought


takeout

takeout (countable and uncountable, plural takeouts)

takeouts (plural)
take-out (alternative)

desc

Japanese: テイクアウト (teikuauto), テークアウト (tēkuauto)

(Canada, US, Philippines) Food purchased from a takeaway.


thumbtack

You say that I'm broke my nigga, how is that?
Bitch I'm stickin to this paper like a thumbtack

2016 June 10, BlocBoy JB, “No Chorus, Pt. 5”, in Who Am I, 1:20–1:27:

(Canada, US) A small nail-like tack with a slightly rounded head that can be pressed into place with light pressure from the thumb; used for hanging light articles on a wall or noticeboard.


bitumen

en-noun

bitumen (countable and uncountable, plural bitumina or bitumens)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-bitumen.wav

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-bitumen.wav

From Middle English bithumen, bitumen, from Latin bitūmen. Doublet of bitume.

(Canada) Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil.


DPA

Defence Production Act
w:en:Defence Production Act (Canada)

(Canada) Initialism of Defence Production Act.


PW

PW (countable and uncountable, plural PWs)

(Canada, military, countable) Initialism of prisoner of war.


bum's rush

* First use appears c. 1911. See cite below.
* Although Baumes law has been suggested as the origin, bum's rush was in use more than a decade before that law was passed.

"I didnt' think you fellows'd put the bum's rush onto me," he complained, "I ain't no bum."

1911 March, Wm. Hamilton Osborne, “Blowing the Crowd”, in Ambition: A Journal of Inspiration to Self Help, volume 9, number 8:

It seems that the board appointed to look into alleged shortcomings of leftish Council leaders didn't like the "observers" who were brought along and decided to give them the bum's rush.

1948, Daily Labor Report - Issues 181-210, page 326:

At that point Duck got the bum’s rush from the organising Miss Bowen[.]

1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 96:

But suddenly he has a lucid interval . . . senses exactly what is going on. And he gives me this furious look. Astonishes me by saying, with all the old force, in his old, frightening growl: “This is a bum's rush!”

2013, Chris Crowley, Jennifer Sacheck, Thinner This Year: A Younger Next Year Book:

Early last September, some fellow beekeepers reported that the females in their bee colonies had already given the bum's rush to the males, the drones, kicking them out in the cold.

2013, Jack Mingo, Bees Make the Best Pets, page 81:

(originally Canada, US, slang, idiomatic) The forcible ejection of someone, such as a bum or a hobo, from an establishment.


Caesar

Caesar (plural Caesars or (title) Caesares)

Caesars (plural)
Caesares (plural)
caesar (alternative)
Cæsar (alternative archaic)
Cesar (alternative obsolete)

From Latin Caesar. Displaced Old English cāsere, which would have yielded *caser, *coser, and Middle English keiser, kaiser, from Old Norse and continental Germanic languages. All ultimately from the same Latin root. (See also Kaiser and tsar.)


saddle

→ Japanese: サドル (sadoru)

Homer Tunnel
Milford Sound
Oxford English Dictionary

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”.
Cognates
* Danish sadel
* Dutch zadel
* German Sattel
* Icelandic söðull
* Low German Sadel
* Russian седло́ (sedló)
* Saterland Frisian Soadel
* Scots sadil
* Swedish sadel
* West Frisian seal

saal

seat for a rider placed on the back of a horse or other animal

satula

something resembling a saddle in appearance or shape

satula

depression located along the axial trend of an anticline

Something resembling a saddle (sense 1) in appearance or shape.

A piece of leather stitched across the instep of a shoe, usually having a different colour from the rest of the shoe.

satula

'Now then … What'll it be, boys?' Mr Berman asked. / My mother answered. 'Brown-and-white saddles for Fudge and loafers for Peter.'

1972, Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, New York, N.Y.: Dutton Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 56:

Synonym of saddle oxford or saddle shoe (“a shoe, resembling an oxford, which has a saddle (sense 11.1)”).


saddle

en-verb

saddle (third-person singular simple present saddles, present participle saddling, simple past and past participle saddled)

saddles (present singular third-person)
saddling (participle present)
saddled (participle past)
saddled (past)
saddle (infinitive)
saddle (first-person present singular)
saddled (first-person past singular)
saddle (present second-person singular)
saddlest (archaic present second-person singular)
saddled (past second-person singular)
saddledst (archaic past second-person singular)
saddles (present singular third-person)
saddleth (archaic present singular third-person)
saddled (past singular third-person)
saddle (plural present)
saddled (past plural)
saddle (present subjunctive)
saddled (past subjunctive)
saddle (imperative present)
saddling (participle present)
saddled (participle past)

From Middle English sadelen (“to put a saddle on (an animal), to saddle”) [and other forms], from Old English sadolian, sadelian, sadilian (“to saddle”), from Proto-Germanic *sadulōną (“to saddle”), from *sadulaz (“a saddle”, noun) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōną (suffix forming denominative verbs from nouns).
Cognates
* Middle Dutch sādelen (modern Dutch zadelen)
* Middle Low German sādelen
* Old Danish sathlæ (modern Danish sadle)
* Old High German satalōn, satulōn (Middle High German satelen, sateln, German satteln)
* Old Norse sǫðla
* Old Swedish saþla (modern Swedish sadla)

nb...

(Late Middle English) saddull, sadylle, (Middle English) saddil, saddull, saddyll, sadel, sadele, sadil, sadille, sadillen, sadle, sadlen, sadul, sadulle, sadyl, sadyll, (Early Middle English) sadeli (West Midlands), sadelie (West Midlands), sadelien

nshiuedz

(transitive) to put a saddle on (an animal)

kiinnittää

to put (something) on to another thing like a saddle on an animal

Next day, while we were saddling, Ali and Abd el Kader appeared.

1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book VI: The Raid upon the Bridges. Chapter LXXI.”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, published 1937, →OCLC, page 394:

(intransitive, chiefly Canada, US) Often followed by up.

Often followed by up.
To put a saddle on an animal.

satuloida

(intransitive) to put a saddle on an animal

Till the dead midnight we saddled not,— / I have journeyed far and fast— / And hither I come to carry thee back / Ere the darkness shall be past.

c. 1844 June (date written), Gottfried August Bürger, translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lenore […], London: Ellis and Elvey, […], published 1900, →OCLC, page 26:

[A]y, every churl who owns a manor, if he dares—must needs arm and saddle, and levy war on his own behalf, and harry and slay the King's lieges, if he have not garlic to his roast goose every time he chooses […]

1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “How Hereward was Outlawed, and Went North to Seek His Fortunes”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume I, London; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 61:

Often followed by up.
Of a person: to get into a saddle.


mizzle

en-verb

mizzle (third-person singular simple present mizzles, present participle mizzling, simple past and past participle mizzled)

mizzles (present singular third-person)
mizzling (participle present)
mizzled (participle past)
mizzled (past)

From Late Middle English misellen (“to drizzle”), cognate with Low German miseln, musseln (“to mizzle”), Dutch miezelen (“to drizzle, rain gently”). Of obscure origin, possibly a frequentative related to the base of mist; or, related to Middle Low German mes (“urine”), Middle Dutch mes, mis (“urine”), both from Old Saxon mehs (“urine”), from Proto-Germanic *mihstuz, *mihstaz, *mihsk- (“urine”), from *mīganą (“to urinate”), from Proto-Indo-European *meiǵʰ-, *omeiǵʰ- (“to urinate”). Compare also English micturate (“to urinate”), Old Frisian mese (“urine”), Low German miegen (“to urinate”), Dutch mijgen (“to urinate”), Danish mige (“to urinate”).

cog

(intransitive, British, Canada, US, chiefly dialectal) To rain in very fine drops.


bindle

Probably a corruption of bundle; perhaps influenced by the preceding word bindle meaning "length of cord used to bind something".

[L]astly he made a bindle in a plastic tarp of some cans of juice and cans of fruit and cans of vegetables […]

2006, Cormac McCarthy, The Road, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN:

(US and Canada slang) A bundle carried by a hobo (usually containing his possessions), often on a stick slung over the shoulder; a blanket roll.

(Canada, US, slang) Any bundle or package; specifically one containing narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, or morphine.


grifter

From grift + -er; or probably an alteration of grafter (“a corrupt person, one who accepts bribes”), which is essentially a doublet of the same word. Originally circus slang (carny; compare shill of similar semantics), gradually widened in sense. First attested in 1906; popularized online circa late 2010s.

We're all grifters. So we sell each other out for a nickel.

That was the train the drunks and the sinners rode—the gambling men and the grifters, the big-time spenders, the skirt-chasers, and all the jolly crew.

1958, Robert Bloch, That Hell-Bound Train:

From the small-time grifters like Anna Sorokin, who adopted the last name Delvey to masquerade in downtown New York circles as a European heiress for four years before she was convicted of second-degree grand larceny in 2019, […] all impostors come equipped with a tall tale and a look to match.

2020 November 12, Megan O’Grady, “How ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ Foretold Our Era of Grifting”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(informal, originally Canada, US) A con artist; someone who pulls confidence games; a swindler, scammer, huckster, hustler, and/or charlatan.


gumshoe

"Who's this gumshoe guy from the bush league tailin' us?"

1920, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 20, in The Big-Town Round-Up:


vitreous humour

en-noun

vitreous humour (plural vitreous humours)

vitreous humours (plural)
vitreous humor (alternative)

(ophthalmology, British, Canada) The clear gel that fills the eyeball between the lens and the retina.


particle board

particle board (countable and uncountable, plural particle boards)

particle boards (plural)
particle-board (alternative)

(US, Canada, Australia) a structural material manufactured from wood particles (such as chips and shavings) by pressing, and binding through resin


backhoe

Meronym: front-end loader

The backhoe is only one type of heavy equipment for rent.[…]I heard about a couple of tool-rental outfits near Chicago that were doing a brisk business renting backhoes and other heavy equipment to homeowners

1967 June, Charles E. Rhine, “How to Rent a Backhoe”, in Popular Science, page 149:

I'll recommend a good way to calculate backhoe production rates. Then we'll look at the two backhoes you'll be using, the wheeled backhoe and the tracked backhoe.

1987, Dave Roberts, Pipe and Excavation Contracting, page 173:

2010, Robert Day, Foundation Engineering Handbook, 2nd edition, page 2.49,
Backhoe pits and trenches are an economical means of performing subsurface exploration. The backhoe can quickly excavate the trench that can then be used to observe and test the in situ soil (see Fig. 2.29).

en:tractor with digger and loader components

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia) A multi-purpose tractor with a front-mounted loading bucket and a rear-mounted digging bucket. The tractor combines a front-end loader/loader (component) and an excavator/digger (component).


asswipe

asswipe (countable and uncountable, plural asswipes)

Bahuvrihi compound of ass + wipe. First use appears c. 1947 in the writings of Mari Sandoz.

He is such an asswipe!

...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, informal, mildly vulgar, offensive or derogatory) An annoying, contemptible, or worthless person.

I rapidly expended my own and everyone else’s supply of tiny C-ration rolls of asswipe and was reduced to wiping my nasty behind with leaves and grass.

1976, Micheal Clodfelter, The Pawns of Dishonor, Branden Press, →ISBN, page 249:

“[…] Into your packs you put your toilet articles, mess kits, extra socks, and skivvies and longjohns if you have them. If you have a roll of asswipe, put that in, too. […]”

1983, Nicholas Proffitt, Gardens of Stone, Carroll & Graf, →ISBN, page 317:

I doubt a dime would buy a single square of asswipe in this city, […]

2008, Joseph Heywood, Death Roe: A Woods Cop Mystery, Globe Pequot, page 252

(Canada, US, informal, mildly vulgar, uncountable) Toilet paper.

paskapaperi

Something used to wipe one's anus after defecation


coroner

From Middle English coroner, from Old French curuner, from Medieval Latin custōs placitōrum corōnae (“guardian of the crown's pleas”). The function was originally to protect royal properties.

der

(Canada, US, medicine) A medical doctor who performs autopsies and determines time and cause of death from a scientific standpoint.


bagman

2016, David Akin, "Tory 'bagman' boasts about party's bank account, Toronto Sun, 28 May,
Proud to call himself the "bagman" of the Conservative Party, former senator Irving Gerstein boasted about the financial health of his party Friday.

(Canada, politics, informal) A prominent fundraiser for a political party or similar cause


kindergarten

en-noun

kindergarten (plural kindergartens or (obsolete) kindergärten)

kindergartens (plural)
kindergärten (obsolete plural)
kindergarden (alternative)

/ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/

/ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹd(ə)n/

[ˈkʰɪn(d)əɹˌɡɑːɹt̬(ə)n]

[ˈkʰɪɾ̃əɹˌɡɑːɹʔn̩]

Unadapted borrowing from German Kindergarten (“kindergarten”, literally “garden of children”), coined by German pedagogue Friedrich Fröbel (early 19th century).

ubor

(Canada, US, Australia) An educational institution for young children, usually between ages 4 and 6; nursery school.

esikoulu

year of education before compulsory education

Kindergarten

but the latter is not seen as a school, rather as a form of day care

(Canada, US, Australia) The elementary school grade before first grade.

børnehaveklasse

the elementary school grade before first grade


nickel and dime

en-noun

nickel and dime (plural nickel and dimes)

After retail stores where “everything costs a nickel or a dime”

Near-synonym: dollar store (idiomatically synonymous in the 21st century)

(US and Canada, dated) A retail store selling inexpensive items, especially (originally, formerly) one in which all items had a price near a nickel (US five cents) or a dime (US ten cents).


fuck the dog

en-verb

fuck the dog (third-person singular simple present fucks the dog, present participle fucking the dog, simple past and past participle fucked the dog)

fucks the dog (present singular third-person)
fucking the dog (participle present)
fucked the dog (participle past)
fucked the dog (past)

1935, US; originally in sense “loaf, fritter” (compare fuck around).

"Yeah." It was him, alright; if the world's weariest pair of workboots hadn't tipped her off, his world-weary voice certainly would have. "Where were you?"
"My quarters. We've got a full ticket set today, and techs work best without oversight." Neither of these things was untrue, though the curation was more than a little dishonest.
"Maybe yours do." Nascimbeni rolled out, back flat against a neon orange creeper, and sat up with an audible wince. "Mine fuck the dog."

2022 September 19, HarryBlank, “Beyond Repair”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-09-15:

(vulgar, uncommon, especially Canada) To avoid work; to make it appear as if one is working.


wheelhouse

wheelhouses (plural)
wheel house (alternative)
wheel-house (alternative)

From wheel + house. Sense 3 (“(baseball) a pitch location which is favourable to the hitter”) references the fact that a vessel is controlled from its wheelhouse (sense 1.2), and sense 4 (“a person’s area of authority or expertise”) is a figurative use of sense 3.

The pitch was right in his wheelhouse, and he hit a grand slam.

The ball was up in my wheelhouse, and I got round on it, got the meat of that Ritchie Ashburn bottle bat solidly on the ball. I'll never in my life hit a ball any better.

1997, Bryan L. Jones, “Baseball”, in Mark Twain Made Me Do It & Other Plains Adventures, Lincoln, Neb., London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 74:

The next pitch was close to my wheelhouse so I just let 'er rip. I got ahold of it and shot it to left field on the line.

2007, Alan Schwarz, “Ken Griffey Jr.: On Going Deep with His Father”, in Once upon a Game: Baseball’s Greatest Memories, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 60, column 1:

Here is the ball, in my wheelhouse. I slide my hips out of the way, put myself in place to hit the coldie of a lifetime.

2009, Andre Agassi, Open: An Autobiography (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 215:

(Canada, US, baseball, by extension from sense 1.2) A pitch location which is favourable to the hitter.

Horse viruses are in Pat’s wheelhouse.

Turning out terrific subordinates was not in her wheelhouse. [...] But she did so, mostly by force of will and with a number of false starts and midcourse corrections, and went on to become an icon in her industry.

2009, Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, “Broaden Your Bandwith: Discover Your Tolerances”, in The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World, Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press, →ISBN, part 4 (See Yourself as a System), page 207:

I watched as Vic digested the information. His career was built on analyzing intel and making tactical decisions, and this was right in his wheelhouse.

2013, Mark L. Donald, with Scott Mactavish, “Battle of Khand Pass”, in Battle Ready: Memoir of a SEAL Warrior Medic, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 162:

If an app is entertaining, and especially if it contains age-appropriate humor, that increases its appeal. You just need to keep the learning in a Digitod's [i.e., a digital toddler's] wheelhouse (for you non-baseball fans, that's his prime area of ability).

2013 April 4, Patti Wollman Summers, Ann DeSollar-Hale, Heather Ibrahim-Leathers, “Anatomy of an App”, in Toddlers on Technology: A Parents’ Guide, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 23:

Similarly, it has been beyond the scope of health care providers or other Intermediaries to address well-being. These concerns and measures are simply not in their wheelhouses and not high on their priority lists.

2015, Dwight McNeill, “Knowing Me”, in Amy Neidlinger, editor, Using Person-centered Health Analytics to Live Longer: Leveraging Engagement, Behavior Change, and Technology for a Healthy Life, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, →ISBN, part II (Building the Toolkit for Person-centered Health Analytics), page 172:

What the film rarely does is challenge or interrogate the fan culture to which it plays uncritical tribute. Wade and his friends, including a trigger-happy cyborgian alpha nerd whose offline identity the film handles more tastefully than the book did, are possessive gatekeepers, viciously protective of their pop-culture wheelhouse.

2018 March 26, A. A. Dowd, “Steven Spielberg Finds Fun, and maybe even a Soul, in the Pandering Pastiche of Ready Player One”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2018-05-31:

“Here,” she said, “if we’re thinking about E.P.A. regulating greenhouse gases, well, there’s a match between the regulation and the agency’s wheelhouse, right?”

2022 February 28, Adam Liptak, quoting Amy Coney Barrett, “Supreme Court Considers Limiting E.P.A.’s Ability to Address Climate Change”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Mike Schroepfer, Meta’s former chief technology officer, who has known the couple for almost two decades, said they focused on science partly because it was “much more in their wheelhouse.”

2025 June 28, Theodore Schleifer, Eli Tan, Mike Isaac, “Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Narrow CZI’s Focus to Science Efforts”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(Canada, US, figuratively) A person's area of authority or expertise.

Ever since I started taking antipsychotics, managing my mental health has been a whole different wheelhouse.

(Canada, US, figuratively) A set of skills necessitated by a situation.


Queens

(Canada, slang) {{missp|en|Queen's|addl=referring to Queen's University, Kingston.


batty rider

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

(Jamaica, US, Canada, British) extremely short shorts worn by women, so as to expose part of the buttocks


Thanksgiving

/θæŋksˈɡɪvɪŋ/

/ˈθæŋksɡɪvɪŋ/

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

A proprialization from the common noun thanksgiving; by surface analysis, thanks + giving.

It is at present impossible to determine when the General Court will adjourn, none of the great business having as yet been attended to, so as to be completed, but there seems to be a general determination to be at home at Thanksgiving. I hope it will be possible.

1788, Theodore Sedgwick to his wife, 9 November, in The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections 1788–1790, vol. 1, ed. Merrill Jensen and Robert A. Becker, University of Wisconsin Press, 1976, pages 513–514

Across the harsh, salty smells that blew in gusts from the half-uncovered mud-flats of the river, my memory of old Thanksgivings at home called up most rich and tender savors of roast goose till an appetite of huge anticipation began to riot beneath my waistcoat.

1898 November 19, Charles G[eorge] D[ouglas] Roberts, “The Bewitchment of Lieutenant Hanworthy”, in The Saturday Evening Post, volume 171, number 21, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Curtis Publishing Company, page 321, column 1:

This is church! They spent their Thanksgivings and Christmases with us to bring some normalcy to our lives. They bore the cold winter nights sleeping in tents, showering and bathing whenever and wherever possible. They rolled up their sleeves, gutted houses, cleaned yards, and poured out their hearts; they had compassion on us. By joining forces with the National Guard and city officials, the church and government walked hand and hand with common goals—rebuilding lives and revitalizing our cities.

2010, Sebastian Myladiyil, Blown Together: The Trials and Miracles of Katrina, Mobile, Ala.: Evergreen Press, →ISBN, page 200:

Our Thanksgivings are always nice and quiet. Dad cleans, Mom cooks, and I set the table. We sit down, talk about how grateful we are for good health and family, and eat.

2012, T. R. Burns [pseudonym; Tricia Rayburn], The Bad Apple (Merits of Mischief; 1), New York, N.Y.: Aladdin, →ISBN, page 209:

(Canada, US) Thanksgiving Day, celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada, and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.

(Canada, US) The long weekend which includes Thanksgiving Day; Thanksgiving weekend.


Thanksgiving Day

en-noun

Thanksgiving Day (plural Thanksgiving Days)

(Canada) A holiday, originally to give thanks to God for the harvest, celebrated annually on the second Monday of October.


dinger

"He had a red wool sock on his dinger. That's all."

1994, Max Evans, Bluefeather Fellini in the Sacred Realm, University Press of Colorado, published 1994, →ISBN, page 131:


dep

dep (countable and uncountable, plural deps)

deps (plural)
dep. (alternative)
dép (alternative)
dép. (alternative)

*Abbreviation of several English terms that begin with "dep"
*Clipping of several English terms that begin with "dep"


shinny

shinny (canonical)
shinny hockey (canonical)

In shinny, everyone wins. Though rules are scaled back, the game is not loosened beyond all form, and the driving competitive element remains.

2010, Jason Blake, Canadian Hockey Literature: A Thematic Study, University of Toronto Press (cloth-bound) (paperback), chapter two: “The Hockey Dream: Hockey as Escape, Freedom, Utopia”, page 63

Hockey fiction shows that the focus on ludus in organized hockey threatens to strangle the primal play spirit, which is why shinny is more easily romanticized than versions of the game that seem to require fighting, that motivate parents to violence, and, at the highest level, give rise to lockouts and strikes. In shinny the playful core of hockey is retained, while the overly confining rules and restrictions are discarded.

(Canada) An informal game of pickup hockey played with minimal equipment: skates, sticks and a puck or ball.


amicus curiae

amici curiae (plural)
amica curiae (alternative)

From Latin, amīcus (“friend”) + cūriae (“of the court”), genitive singular of cūria (“court”).

(law, Canada) An independent lawyer, not retained by any party, whom the court has ordered to provide legal submissions regarding the matter in dispute; for example, to provide submissions regarding the situation of an unrepresented litigant or accused person.


slaw

en-noun

slaw (countable and uncountable, plural slaws)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-slaw.wav

Borrowed (around 1861) from Dutch sla, shortened from salade (“salad, lettuce”).

Barbecue is always served with slaw in North Carolina and always has been.

1996, Jerry Bledsoe, “Slaw Crazy”, in Lee Harrison Child, editor, Close to Home: Revelations and Reminiscences by North Carolina Authors, page 66:

My boss, whose daughter was a working chef, told me that I made the best slaws that she had ever tasted. The secret is that slaws deserve as much care in their preparation as any other good meal.

2002, Alex Haas, Everyday Low Carb Cooking, page 73:

Slaws go well with grilled lean protein items and sandwiches.

2010, Judy Doherty, Salad Secrets: 100 of the Most Creative, Healthful Recipes, page 103:


zinger

They'd have to come up with a zinger for their Christmas windows to compete with that competitor's laughing Santa Claus and Stefan had that zinger in his proposal submitted to the President of the company.

2006, Olivia Hillis Wimbrow, My Beloved Bohemian, →ISBN, page 130:

Think about all the scientists—and all the microscopes and lab equipment and testing—that may come up with zero instead of a zinger.

2006, Cathy Pickens, Done Gone Wrong, →ISBN:

(informal) An outstanding, energetic and surprising thing or person.


neighbourly

en-adj

neighbourly (comparative more neighbourly, superlative most neighbourly)

more neighbourly (comparative)
most neighbourly (superlative)
neighborly (alternative US)

She's so neighbourly that she always holds a welcoming party for new residents.

I got the impression you were looking for something, and it crossed my mind to ask you what that might be. Just being friendly, sir, just being neighbourly.

2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, pages 4–5:

(British, Canada) Showing the qualities of a friendly and helpful neighbour.


crocked

crocked (comparative more crocked, superlative most crocked)

more crocked (comparative)
most crocked (superlative)

(informal, Canada, US) drunk (of a person)


pantyhose

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

pantie hose (alternative)
pantie-hose (alternative)
pantihose (alternative)
panty hose (alternative)
panty-hose (alternative)

(Canada, US) Thin nylon tights worn over the legs, usually tan in color.


geezer

From guiser. Compare also German Low German Kieser (“an obstinate person; brute; savage”).

cog

In the right-hand division lay the two old geezers, as Sandy styled the landlord and his wife.

The technical term for a female geezer is "old broad," but this is irrelevant, as nobody in Hollywood makes films about women over 55.

2000 August 25, Moira McDonald, “Outtakes”, in Seattle Times, retrieved 2008-09-06:

Why Geezer? Why would a fine arts gallery choose a name that conjures images of a grumpy old guy sitting on the front porch hollering, “get off my lawn”?

2014, The Geezer Gallery, (Please provide the book title or journal name), retrieved 2014-01-31:

(informal, chiefly Canada, US, sometimes mildly derogatory) An old person, usually a male, typically a cranky old man.

striček

used by children to address unfamiliar male adults


ROC

Translingual: ROC

[T]he old and tired purveyors of separatism in Québec continue to harp on what they contend Québec is not—essentially, “not the ROC”—in order to peddle their snake oil.

2002, L. Yves Fortier, “A Mature Exercise of Sovereignty”, in Osgoode Hall Law Journal, volume 40, numbers 3-4, page 426:

If Quebeckers believe that voting PQ means putting a knife to Canada’s throat, they should think again. The ROC is fed up with these threats.

2014 March 7, Jeffrey Simpson, “The rest of Canada will have choices to make”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 2014-04-07:

(Canada, politics) The "Rest of Canada", i.e. Canada excluding the province of Quebec.


Canuck

Canucks (plural)
canuck (alternative)
Canack (alternative)
Cannack (alternative)
Canuc (alternative)
canuc (alternative)
Canuk (alternative)
Conuck (alternative)
Cunnuck (alternative)
Kanuck (alternative)
Kanuk (alternative)
K'nuck (alternative)

American Dialect Society
Greenwood Publishing Group
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Leiden University
University of Alabama Press

Origin uncertain, often hypothesized to derive from the name or speech of an early Canadian minority, later broadened to denote all Canadians:
* Since 1975, many scholars have come to think the name is from Hawaiian kanaka (“man”), a self-appellation of indentured colonial canoemen and Hawaiian sailors working off the Pacific Northwest, Arctic, and New England coasts, from French canaque (“indigenous Melanesian inhabitant of New Caledonia, Kanak”); or, more likely, American whalers’ pidgin, then re-interpreted as Can(adian) + a suffix. (More below on that [specific] putative suffix.) Compare English Kanak and German Kanake.
* Some dictionaries suggest it is derived from the first syllable of Canada, or its etymon Laurentian kanata (“village”), or a related word kanuchsa meaning “villager” in either Laurentian or another Iroquoian language; with the second syllable connected to Inuktitut inuk (“man; person”), from Chinook (“Aboriginal people of the U.S. Pacific Northwest”), or another First-Nation language ending like -oc, -uc, or -uq.
* Fanciful and unlikely suggestions include German genug von Canada (literally “enough of Canada”) (allegedly uttered by German mercenaries during the American War of Independence), French quelle canule (“what a bore”) (allegedly uttered by the French during a siege of Quebec), or the surname Connaught /ˈkɑ.nəxt/ (supposedly a French-Canadian nickname for the Irish).

noncog

French Canadian
French Canadian#Adjective

(Canada, US, informal, sometimes derogatory) A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent.

(ice hockey) A member of the Vancouver Canucks professional ice hockey team belonging to the National Hockey League.

Canucksin pelaaja

(skiing) Chiefly as Crazy Canuck: a member of the Canadian alpine ski team.

Canadians are somewhat jealous of the Americans; that they are secretly manœuvering, not exactly with the inoffensive good humor of a much respected yeoman of England, […] but rather after the inordinate example of Ahab of old, so pithily recorded by the sacred historian. Jonathan distinguishes a Dutch or French Canadian, by the term Kanuk.

[1835, [Henry Cook Todd], Notes upon Canada and the United States of America: In the Year MDCCCXXXV […], Toronto, Ont.: […] W[illiam] J[oseph] Coates, […], →OCLC, paragraph 263, page 92:

We saw a few partridges: we also met a lusty fellow in a forest road with a keg of whisky slung round him, who called to us 'Come boys and have some grog, I'm what you call a canuck:' a (Canadian).

1849, James E[dward] Alexander, chapter XV, in L’Acadie; or, Seven Years’ Explorations in British America. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 272–273:

It is a pity these Canadian militiamen spoilt the good work they had done by never-failing bluster. But for pure and unadulterated brag I will back the lower-class Canuck against the world. The Yankee is a very sucking dove compared to his northern neighbour.

1889, John G[eorge] Donkin, chapter XIII, in Trooper and Redskin in the Far North-West: Recollections of Life in the North-West Mounted Police, Canada, 1884–1888, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington […], →OCLC, page 148:

[T]he Canucks were ready with bats, hands, feet and heads, to outplay the locals at all points. They did it to a nicety. It is wonderful to contemplate the quality of ball speiled by the Canucks when their lungs are filled with Rochester air.

1895 August 26, “Sports of field and track: Toronto 14, Rochester 11—first game”, in Democrat and Chronicle, volume 63, number 238, Rochester, N.Y.: Rochester Printing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11, column 1:

He's got a Canuck a-workin' for him, and I'd livser trust a wolf 'n one o' them pea-soupers.

1898, Rowland E[vans] Robinson, “Forebodings of Storm”, in A Hero of Ticonderoga, Burlington, Vt.: Hobart J[oseph] Shanley & Co., →OCLC, page 140:

The new-comers were a couple of farmers from Minnesota, genuine Americans from birth; wise men, with a keg of good water in their waggon. "And don't you want to be Americans any longer?" I asked. "No," said they most emphatically, "we're Canucks now."

1907 May, Howard Angus Kennedy, “The Dry Patch”, in New Canada and the New Canadians, 2nd edition, London: Horace Marshall & Son, published October 1907, →OCLC, page 192:

One person who realizes that the Canadian troops in England have healthy appetites is Corp. J. R. Johnstone, chief butcher of a unit. He and his 16 assistants drag from huge refrigerators eight tons of meat per day for the hungry Canucks; and every other day when rationing is less severe the butchers carve up 16 tons of lamb, beef and pork.

1940 August 9, “Troops pack it away”, in Toronto Daily Star, Toronto, Ont.: The Toronto Star Limited, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18, column 7:

The Scottish skip [Alex F. Torrance] missed a wide open takeout in the fifth leaving the Canucks another single.

1964 March 19, Larry Wood, “Dagg stays unbeaten: Scotch Cup winner decided tonight”, in Richard L[ouis] Sanburn, editor, The Calgary Herald, Calgary, Alta.: The Southam Company, →ISSN, page 18, column 5:

[Jack] Kerouac's writings reveal that, although celebrated as an iconic American, he thought of himself as first and foremost Canadian. In La Vie est d'Hommage, he writes, "I am French Canadian. When I am angry, I often swear in French; when I dream, I often dream in French." He went on to say that "all my knowledge comes from my being French Canadian.” But as a Canuck in the United States, he felt patronized. He needed to hide his true self. Even with his friends in New York, with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, he was "a completely different man. We have to live in English, it's impossible to live in French. This is the secret thought of the Canuck in America."

2016 June 12, Richard Stursberg, “The Secret Canadian Life of Jack Kerouac: Reading Kerouac’s Lost French Writings Reveals the Travails of a Canuck in America”, in Maclean’s, Toronto, Ont.: Maclean-Hunter Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-06-04:


toboggan

toboggans (plural)
tobogin (alternative)
toboggin (alternative)

/təˈbɑːɡ.ən/

The noun is attested since 1829, the verb since 1846. Both derive from French tabaganne, which derives from an Algonquian word, probably Mi'kmaq tepaqan or Abenaki dabôgan, influenced by similar words in other Eastern Canadian Algonquian languages. The sense of "hat" is recorded since 1929 and is short for toboggan cap (1928), a cap suitable for wearing while tobogganing.

The old toboggan has been laid aside, and sleighs or waggons dash along the streets.

1847, Abraham Gesner, New Brunswick; with Notes for Emigrants: Comprehending the Early History, an Account of the Indians, Settlement, Topography, Statistics, Commerce, Timber, Manufactures, Agriculture, Fisheries, Geology, Natural History, Social and Political State, Immigrants, and Contemplated Railways of that Province:

These animals are harnessed by a padded collar to a light flat sleigh, of skins stretched across a frame of thin wood, called a toboggan.

1889, John G. Donkin, Trooper and Redskin in the Far North-west: Recollections of Life in the North-west Mounted Police:

The steer dog next to the sleigh prevents this by immediately leading off at a sixty-degree angle from the direction the others are going, thereby compensating for the sidewise stress and keeping the toboggan in the clear until the bend has been passed.

(Canada, US) A similar sled of wood, pulled by dogs, possibly with steel runners, made to transport cargo.


Rt. Hon.

Right Honourable
Right Honourable#English

Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament

(Canada, politics) Abbreviation of Right Honourable, in the titles of MPs, Members of Parliament.


parking lot

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

Should we park in that parking lot, or in the garage up the street?

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

(Canada, US, Philippines, Malaysia) An open area, generally paved, where automobiles may be left when not in use.


muffin

→ Chinese: 瑪芬 /玛芬 (mǎfēn)

→ Danish: muffin

→ Esperanto: mafino

→ Finnish: muffini, muffinssi, muffinsi

→ French: muffin

→ German: Muffin

→ Japanese: マフィン (mafin)

→ Korean: 머핀 (meopin)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: muffins

→ Polish: muffin

→ Portuguese: muffin

→ Russian: ма́ффин (máffin)

→ Swedish: muffins

→ Yiddish: מאָפֿין (mofin)

From earlier moofin, probably a diminutive of Low German Muffe ("small cake"; Muffen (plural)), from Middle Low German muffe (“small pastry”). An alternative, and phonologically less plausible theory suggests a connection to Old French (pain) moflet (“roll”, literally “soft (bread)”).

gl

"small cake"; <i class="Latn mention" lang="nds">Muffen</i> (plural)

ncog

I had a charming muffin yesterday. She is engaged to be married, so don't be alarmed.

1854, Margaret Oliphant W[ilson] Oliphant, quoting Laurence Oliphant, Memoir of the Life of Laurence Oliphant and of Alice Oliphant, His Wife, new edition, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1892, page 92:

The fair Canadians may have been too kind in accepting the name and position of "muffins" from the young Britishry; but the latter cannot say they have suffered much in consequence. A muffin is simply a lady who sits beside the male occupant of the sleigh—Sola cum solo, "and all the rest is leather and prunella."

[1865, W[illiam] Howard Russell, Canada: Its Defenses, Condition, and Resources, London: Bradbury and Evans, page 149:

A long string of two-seated sleighs, a pleasant tête-à-tête drive for many miles snugly ensconced in the buffalo robes with your "muffin" by your side, a halt at some hospitable settler's, and an impromptu dance in his barn, wTith a return journey in the crisp moonlight air, left impressions that are still vivid. ¶ The "muffin" was a social institution of those days, which may or may not have survived. Every young swain by unwritten but acknowledged law was permitted to make his choice of a partner for the season, with whom he danced exclusively, and whom he drove in his sleigh and skated with hand in hand.

1904, Arthur Griffiths, Fifty Years of Public Service, London […]: Cassel and Company, Limited, pages 52–53:

(Canada, slang, archaic) A young woman who would regularly accompany a particular man during a social season.


/ˌwʌnəʊˈwʌn/

From 1 + 0 + 1, from the method of numbering courses in United States colleges, the initial or introductory course commonly being numbered “101”; for example, “Biology 101”.

Geology 101 tells us that you can’t build a reservoir on sandstone.

My dog flunked out of Crate Training 101.

I went to NYU myself, I was a philo-major there, too. I took all the abstract philosophy courses in college, like truth and beauty, advanced truth and beauty, intermediate truth, introduction to God, Death 101.

1964 March (date recorded), “Private Life”, in Woody Allen (CP 518), spoken by Woody Allen, New York, N.Y.: Colpix Records, published July 1964, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-01-17:

Since this is a series that emphasizes Social Relevance 101—a basic course on TV these days—the hood in that episode is just a good ghetto boy who has been led astray, and the cop is good old Paddy on the beat.

1972 November 6, Gerald Clarke, “Show Business: Viewpoints: The Rookies. ABC. Monday, 8–9 p.m. E.S.T.”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2011-01-29:

Companies sell directories, databases, reports, translation services, automatic translation software—and guidebooks for doing business away from home, which, in some cases, look much like simplified textbooks for Anthropology 101.

2003, Daniel Dor, “When Relativism Becomes a Marketing Strategy: Globalization, Knowledge and the World Language System”, in Andrea Krizsán, Violetta Zentai, editors, Reshaping Globalization: Multilateral Dialogues and New Policy Initiatives (CPS Books), Budapest, Hungary; New York, N.Y.: Central European University Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, part I (Production of Global Knowledge), page 66:

Ugh! Crash and burn! Next year, I’m taking flirting 101! I am so not good at this!

2003 June 22, Holly Henderson, Liz Tigelaar, “Ski Trip”, in Totally Spies!, season 2, episode 21, spoken by Samantha (“Sam”) (Jennifer Hale), Montreal, Que.: Marathon Media, via Teletoon, →OCLC:

A Class in Nation-Building 101 [title] As the President tries to develop a new strategy in Afghanistan, I wonder if this is the real lesson that we've learned in Afghanistan so far: that nation-building, like charity, probably begins at home.

2009 November 1, Bob Schieffer, “Face the Nation: A Class in Nation-building 101”, in CBS News, archived from the original on 2025-01-24:

I'm taking a fascinating class all about the Hollywood Freeway. It's called 101: 101.

2017 September 12, Norm Macdonald Live, season 3, episode 11, spoken by Norm Macdonald:

However much you work out, but especially if it's a lot, learning correct form and focusing on keeping your body safe is 101—not just while exercising, but also how you move around day to day.

2023 March 20, Rebecca Gillam, Bridie Wilkins, “Alexandra Daddario and Her PT on How She Built Her Baywatch Bod + Her 10 Regular Workout Rules”, in Liz Plosser, editor, Women’s Health, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Magazine Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-21:

(Canada, US, alone or postpositive, chiefly humorous) Of a fact, subject, etc.: basic, beginner-level, elementary.

úvodní

of a fact, subject, etc.: basic, beginner-level, elementary — see also basic, elementary


rushing

en-adj

rushing (comparative more rushing, superlative most rushing)

more rushing (comparative)
most rushing (superlative)

“I have been in Chicago.”
“Yes, I’ll bet you have,” Bocage mused.
“But it is too rushing for my nerves,” Stockbridge continued.

1897, Opie Read, “The Greek God Barber”, in Odd Folks, New York: F. Tennyson Neely, page 45:

There are a few months in the winter when business on the farm is less rushing than during other times […]

1917, Marion G. Kirkpatrick, chapter 13, in The Rural School from Within, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, page 141:

In the places where “hard licker” was still to be had patrons were lined in front of the bar in a double rank and the trade in bottled goods was as rushing as the bar patronage.

1921, George Wesley Davis, chapter 18, in Sketches of Butte, Boston: Cornhill, page 166:

Over two hundred and fifty customers invaded the Book Exchange Monday and Tuesday as its portals swung open to those who were to receive cash payment for books sold. So rushing was the business yesterday that $500 which the executive had on hand was paid out long before the proposed closing time.

1932 October 26, “Book Exchange Will Continue Payments”, in The McGill Daily, volume 22, number 19, page 4:

Janie was astonished to see the money Jody had spent for the land come back to him so fast. Ten new families bought lots and moved to town in six weeks. It all looked too big and rushing for her to keep track of.

1937, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 5, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, University of Illinois Press, published 1978, page 66:

(Canada, US, dated) Full of activity, busy.


CIS

Canadian Interuniversity Sport
w:Canadian Interuniversity Sport

(Canada, sports, historical) Initialism of Canadian Interuniversity Sport.


chop suey

en-noun

chop suey (countable and uncountable, plural chop sueys)

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

From Cantonese 雜碎／杂碎 (zaap⁶ seoi³, “mixed and broken”).

To someone who had spent part of their youth visiting a grandmother in Singapore, a lot of the food they served didn’t seem particularly Chinese to me: the flavour of chop suey with its chicken or pork or prawns, or chow mein, or the omeletty foo yung, never seemed quite right.

2011, Clarissa Dickson Wright, A History of English Food, London: Random House Books, →ISBN, page 455:

(Canada and British) Steamed bean sprouts served in a semi-thick sauce, and mixed with a choice of meat and/or vegetables.


beer parlour

beer parlours (plural)
beer parlor (alternative)

(Canada) A bar, selling beer, that has tables where customers may congregate socially.


beer parlor

Observational study of alcohol consumption in natural settings: The Vancouver beer parlor.

1994, Clement Vonnie V, Research and Intervention: Preventing Substance Abuse in Higher Education:

You go to the beer parlor, you know everybody.

1998, Antonio Azuela, Emilio Duhau, Evictions and the Right to Housing:

At UBC Canada, the student center also houses an auditorium and a beer parlor for students called the Pit, as well as a bowling alley on the lower ground floor.

2006, Ashok Malhotra, Fundamentals of Excellence in Technical and other Universities:

(chiefly Canada, US) Alternative spelling of beer parlour.