toque

toques (plural)
tuque (alternative Canada)

1871. Assimilated from Canadian French tuque. Likely to be a hypercorrection from the time that toque was already in the dictionaries when they did not yet list tuque as a kind of hat. The French word tuque for hat is itself not strictly a deformation of French toque: it is also related to other meanings of tuque and to its former name bonnet à la turque (literally “Turkish-style bunnet/cap”).

Such is the demented nature of the universe that I was too weak to properly respond to my being hit on by carloads of Betties and Veronicas—all except for the cheeky Cheryl Anderson who gave me ‘manual release’ the day I lost my eyebrows, followed by a flood of tears and the snapping of Polaroids in which I wear a knit toque. Gush gush.

1998, Douglas Coupland, chapter 1, in Girlfriend in a Coma, page 4:

It was like entering the Millennial id. Craft beer and cucumber water poured from kitchen taps. Laptoppers in jeans and toques clacked along to MGMT in the wood-paneled common area.

2018 March, Laura Bliss, “How WeWork Has Perfectly Captured the Millennial Id”, in The Atlantic:

(Canada) A knitted hat, usually conical but of varying shape, often woollen, and sometimes topped by a pom-pom or tassel.


sovereigntist

sovereigntists (plural)
sovereignist (alternative)

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

(Canada, politics) A supporter of political independence for Quebec from Canada.


CSE

(Canada) Initialism of Communications Security Establishment.


horror movie

(chiefly Canada, US) A motion picture which entertains by horrifying or frightening the audience.

grilfliek

motion picture which horrifies or frightens


field mouse

field mice (plural)
fieldmouse (alternative)

(Canada, US) A small vole such as the meadow vole.


lineup

We have a simple business process that consists of two steps: people wait in a lineup then fill out an application form.

2005, Alastair Muir, Lean Six Sigma Statistics, page 285:

I've heard that information before and try to remember to do that when there isn't a lineup of customers. When there is a lineup of customers, I don't feel that I have enough time.

2019, Tamara Beth Olsen, Life Lessons from an Ice Cream Shop:

As soon as I entered, I saw a lineup of about 10 to 15 customers.

2020, Brenda Robinson, Harley Robinson, The Customer Service Your Customers Expect:

(Canada) A line of people or vehicles, in which the individual at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is dealt with next, and so on, and in which newcomers join at the end; a queue.


class action

(law, chiefly US, Canada) A lawsuit brought by a single plaintiff or small group of plaintiffs as a representative of a large group of others having a common interest, with everyone in the large group eligible to receive damages if the plaintiff is successful.

複雑訴訟形態

ふくざつそしょうけいたい


potlatch

en-noun

potlatch (usually uncountable, plural potlatches)

potlatches (plural)
potlach (alternative)
potlache (alternative)

/ˈpɑtˌlæt͡ʃ/

The noun is borrowed from Chinook Jargon potlatch, pátlač (“to give; gift; gift-giving ceremony, potlatch”), from Nootka Jargon pa'chatle, pa'chēētle, pah-chilt (“to give, give me”), from Nootka p̕ačiƛ (“to give a gift during a potlatch ceremony”).
Sense 1 of the verb (“to give; especially, to give a gift during a potlatch ceremony”) is borrowed from Chinook Jargon potlatch, pátlač (see above); sense 2 (“to carry out or take part in a potlatch ceremony”) is derived from the noun.

樂公 /乐公

communal meal to which guests bring dishes to share — see also potluck

First, the Indian himself is to be sought out; then the horse is to be tried; next the price is to be discussed, then the mode of payment, and finally the potlatch: each and all are matters of grave consideration and delay, during which the Indians make a business of watching every circumstance of which they can take advantage. No one can be sure of closing his bargain, until the terms are duly arranged, the potlatch given, and the horse delivered.

1844, Charles Wilkes, “Puget Sound and Okonagan”, in Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition during the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. […], volume IV, Philadelphia, Pa.: […] C. Sherman, →OCLC, page 445:

The end of all this scraping and hoarding is to give away the property again at some potlatch, at which in a few hours the labour of years will be dissipated. The feasts are often given by the chief men of small tribes as a sort of peace-offering to more powerful ones; but most frequently they are looked upon in the light of gratifying the vanity of the giver and of adding to his personal consequence. [...] The chiefs are under the necessity of frequently giving these potlatches in order to preserve their popularity, just as the old knights used to scatter largess to their followers; [...]

1873, Robert Brown, “The North-western American Indians”, in The Races of Mankind: […], volume I, London, Paris: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, →OCLC, pages 75–76:

I questioned the Chief respecting a "Potlache" which he had held at his place during the previous winter, and ascertained that himself and two of his Headmen had given away in presents to their friends 134 sacks of flour, 140 pairs of blankets, together with a quantity of apples and provisions, amounting in value to about $700, for all of which they had paid in cash out of their earnings as laborers, fishermen, and hunters.

1876 October 15, James Lenihan, “British Columbia Superintendencies. [No. 29. Report on Indian Affairs in Fraser Superintendency, British Columbia.]”, in Annual Report of the Department of the Interior for the Year Ended 30th June, 1876. […], Ottawa: […] Maclean, Roger & Co., […], published 1877, →OCLC, part I (Indian Branch), page 38:

Nusk’Elu′sta, the Indian, to whom I owe my information regarding the clans, and who is a member of the gens Ialô′stimōt of the Taliô′mx·, stated that he had received the raven [carving] when he gave his first potlatch. At his second potlatch he received the eagle. He hoped that his mother would give him the whale at his next potlatch, and would at the same time divulge to him the secrets connected with it. [...] Property is also destroyed at potlatches. This is not returned, and serves only to enhance the social position of the individual who performed this act.

1897, Franz Boas, “The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, […]”, in Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, […] Report of the U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, chapter XIII (The Religious Ceremonials of Other Tribes of the North Pacific Coast), pages 647–648:

That night there was a grand wedding and a potlach; so that for two days to follow there was no fishing done by the village.

1900 April 7, Jack London, “The Wife of a King”, in The Son of the Wolf: Tales of the Far North, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 162:

No potlatch or secret society initiation could be given by a tribal member until the chief had officially opened the winter ceremonial season. His affairs took priority over those sponsored by lineage heads, who must provide him with wealth befor they were able to accumulate for their own potlatches.

[1951], Viola E[dmundson] Garfield, “Part 1: The Tsimshian and Their Neighbors”, in Viola E. Garfield, Paul S. Wingert, Marius Barbeau, edited by Marian W. Smith, The Tsimshian: Their Arts and Music (Publications of the American Ethnological Society; XVIII), New York, N.Y.: J. J. Augustin, →OCLC, chapter III (Political Organization), page 37:

Anyway, I lie here and imagine grandfather celebrating a heavenly potlache – (heaven is the only place he'll ever celebrate it, for it's long since been forbidden by the government here on earth) – and the great Christian gates are opening for him now, and behind him the charred remains of his pipe and his blue denims bear witness to the last potlache of all.

1971, Gwendolyn MacEwen, “House of the Whale”, in David Helwig, Tom Marshall, editors, Fourteen Stories High, Ottawa, Ont.: Oberon Press, →ISBN, pages 26–27; republished in Meaghan Strimas, editor, The Selected Gwendolyn MacEwen (Exile Classics; no. 7), Holstein, Ont.: Exile Editions, 2007, →ISBN, page 142:

Corporations will now have to justify all their internal pricing decisions up front. This will be a potlatche^([sic]) for economic consultants. But it will be a huge burden for honest business taxpayers, and it won't bring us much closer to a solution.

1993 March 25, Byron L[eslie] Dorgan, “Opening Statement of Senator Dorgan”, in The Breakdown of IRS Tax Enforcement Regarding Multinational Corporations: Revenue Losses, Excessive Litigation, and Unfair Burdens for U.S. Producers: Hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session […] (S. Hrg. 103-102), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 2:

One part bacchanal, one part tribal potlatch, one part vestigial New England supper, the entire affair hinged on the coronation of the Strawberry Princess—always a virginal Japanese maiden dressed in satin and dusted carefully across the face with rice powder—in an oddly solemn ceremony before the Island County Courthouse at sundown of the inaugural evening.

1994 September 12, David Guterson, chapter 7, in Snow Falling on Cedars, [Boston, Mass.]: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2012, →ISBN:

This was the delusion of Reaganomics, the supply-siders' inability to distinguish between spending and prosperity with the result that we simply waged economic warfare on ourselves in a potlatch of mutually assured bankruptcy.

1995, Michael Sorkin, “War is Swell”, in Donald Albrecht, editor, World War II and the American Dream: How Wartime Building Changed a Nation, Washington, D.C.: National Building Museum, →ISBN, page 251:

Traditionally, potlatches were given in honor of marriages, births, and deaths. [...] People who had been shamed in public could throw a potlatch to regain good standing in the community.

2014, Kate Mikoley, “The Potlatch”, in Therese Shea, editor, Native American Ceremonies and Celebrations: From Potlatches to Powwows (Native American Cultures), New York, N.Y.: Gareth Stevens Publishing, →ISBN, page 14:

(Canada, US, also figuratively) A ceremony amongst certain indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in which gifts are bestowed upon guests and personal property is destroyed in a show of generosity and wealth.


upload

en-verb

upload (third-person singular simple present uploads, present participle uploading, simple past and past participle uploaded)

uploads (present singular third-person)
uploading (participle present)
uploaded (participle past)
uploaded (past)

→ Chinese: 上載 /上载 (calque)

→ Danish: uploade

→ Dutch: uploaden

→ German: uploaden; hochladen (calque)

desc

→ Greek: αναφορτώνω (anafortóno) (calque)

→ Icelandic: hlaða upp (calque)

→ Indonesian: aplod

→ Irish: uaslódáil, lódáil suas (calque)

→ Japanese: アップロード (appurōdo)

→ Malay: muat naik (calque)

→ Portuguese: upload

→ Scottish Gaelic: luchdaich a-nìos (calque)

→ Swedish: ladda upp (calque)

→ Welsh: llwytho i fyny (calque)

Our government will not be uploading the DVP or Gardiner Expressway and will not be imposing any new tolls on any roads in Ontario.

CBC News (2023 January 9 (last accessed)) “Dakota Brasier”, in CBC, CBC, archived from the original on 2023-09-02

(Canada) To transfer jurisdiction and responsibility of a government asset or service to a higher level of government.


Hudson

The water-level route, the whistle and the loud staccato exhaust of this great engine recalled most vividly memories of the New York Central Hudsons highballing along the Hudson River between Harmon and Albany!

1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 613:

(rail transport, US, Canada) A steam locomotive of the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement.


toonie

toonies (plural)
twonie (alternative)
twoonie (alternative)

(Canada, informal) A Canadian two-dollar coin.


candour

en-noun

candour (usually uncountable, plural candours)

British and Canada standard spelling of candor.


grounded

en-adj

grounded (comparative more grounded, superlative most grounded)

more grounded (comparative)
most grounded (superlative)

From Middle English grounded, i-grounded, equivalent to ground + -ed.

(electricity, Canada, US) Of or pertaining to an electrical conductor which is connected to earth; earthed.


meathead

From meat + head.
The term meathead is often said to come from the classic 1970s television situation comedy All In The Family, wherein main character Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) used the nickname to address his son-in-law, Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), starting with the premiere episode ("Meet the Bunkers") that first aired January 12, 1971. The term is also used three times in the "Star Witness" episode of the television situation comedy Green Acres, an episode that first aired January 26, 1971, exactly two weeks after the premiere of All in the Family. However, the word appeared in writing as early as 1863.

(military, slang, Canada) A member of the Canadian Forces Military Police.


condo

(US, Canada, Philippines) Clipping of condominium.


fluff

en-noun

fluff (countable and uncountable, plural fluffs)

From earlier floow (“woolly substance, down, nap, lint”), also spelt flough, flue, and flew, from West Flemish vluwe,
of uncertain ultimate origin:
* Compare Old English flōh (“that which is flown off, fragment, piece”) - see flaw
* Possibly representing a blend of flue + puff; compare Middle Dutch vloe, or perhaps onomatopoeic; compare dialectal English floose, flooze, fleeze (“particles of wool or cotton; fluff; loose threads or fibres”), Danish fnug (“down, fluff”), Swedish fnugg (“speck, flake”).
* Alternatively, West Flemish vluwe may derive from French velu (“hairy, furry”), from Latin villūtus (“having shaggy hair”), from villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”).
For words of similar sound and meaning in other languages, compare Japanese フワフワ (fuwafuwa, “lightly, softly”), Hungarian puha (“soft, fluffy”), Polish puchaty (“soft, fluffy”), Romanian puf (“down, peachfuzz, soft hair of some animals, powderpuff”).

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

cog

(Australia, New Zealand, Canada, euphemistic) A fart.


enrol

en-verb

enrol (third-person singular simple present enrols, present participle enrolling, simple past and past participle enrolled)

enrols (present singular third-person)
enrolling (participle present)
enrolled (participle past)
enrolled (past)

(British, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada) Standard spelling of enroll.


burg

The historical sense is from Late Latin burgus, from Frankish *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“borough, fortification”). Doublet of borough, Brough, burgh, burh, and bury. Also compare burgess.
The modern sense may have been formed in part by analogy with the many North American city names that are suffixed with -burg (a number of which in the Eastern United States once used -burgh instead. See burgh), as well as being formed in part due to German Burg.

doublet

Tell mother that I will write her in a day or two, probably from Chicago, as I have always had an idea that that was one burg where I could make good.

1921, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Efficiency Expert, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2012:

Imagine my surprise when I learned that he was not only a Canadian but lived in Ottawa, that icy burg I had left so many kilometers -- sorry, miles -- behind me.

2009 June, David Thriault, “This Way In: The Sound and the Fury”, in Esquire, volume 151, number 6, page 6:

It's been said that Wilder modeled that fictional setting on Peterborough, a quaint burg tucked away in New Hampshire's verdant southwestern hills.

2010 Feb, Paige Orloff, “Big Style on a (Little) Budget”, in Country Living, volume 33, number 2, page 84:


left and right

You can't expect to eat desserts left and right and not gain weight.

And then all the distributions come in and they screw it all up. Because they break binary compatibility left and right

2014, Linus Torvalds, DebConf: Q&A with Linus Torvalds:

(figurative, chiefly Canada, US) All over the place; indiscriminately; frequently or excessively.


Happy Thanksgiving

(US, Canada) The greeting said near the holiday Thanksgiving.


gudgeon

The noun is derived from Late Middle English gojoun [and other forms], from Old French gojon, goujon (“gudgeon”), from Late Latin gōbiōnem, the accusative of gōbiō, the augmentative of Latin gōbius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβῐός (kōbĭós, “fish of the gudgeon kind”), probably of Semitic origin. The English word is a doublet of goby and goujon.
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

gogen, gogeon, gogeorn, gogin, gogyn, gojon, gojone, gojune

flat-headed gudgeon

Butis butis B., Philypnodon grandiceps E.

(Canada) Cottus bairdii, more widely known as mottled sculpin.


buzzcut

buzzcuts (plural)
buzz cut (alternative)

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

(US, Canada) A closely-cropped military-style haircut.


entrée

Borrowed from French entrée. Doublet of entrada and entry.

ENTREES AND ENTREMETS. Usually, outside of France, entrees are side or corner dishes. ... In conclusion I again remark, entrees can be made from almost anything, the difference being, they are highly cooked and seasoned. Remember nothing large is served as an entree. There are game entrees, meat entrees, fish entrees, fowl entrees, etc.

1887, Estelle Woods Wilcox, Practical housekeeping: A careful compilation of tried and approved recipes (published in Dayton, Ohio, United States), page 457:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, historical in the US and Canada) A smaller dish served before the main course of a meal.

предястие

dish served before the main course of a meal — see also starter, appetizer

Entree: The main course is normally beef, chicken, duck, or lamb, and you eat these foods with a dinner knife and dinner fork.

2007, Sue Fox, Etiquette for Dummies (published in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States), page 180:

(chiefly US, Canada) The main course or main dish of a meal.


cupola

Borrowed from Italian cupola, from Latin cūpula (“little tub”); from Latin cūpa, cuppa (“cup”); named for its resemblance to a cup turned over.

(railways, Canada, dated) a small viewing window in the top of the caboose for looking over the train, or the part of the caboose where one looks through this window.


screech

en-noun

screech (countable and uncountable, plural screeches)

1602; altered with expressive vowel lengthening from earlier skrech (1577), variant of obsolete scritch, from Middle English skriken, shrichen, schrichen (1250), from Old English (attested as scriccettan) and Old Norse skríkja, both from Proto-Germanic *skrīkijaną (compare Icelandic skríkja, Old Saxon scricōn, Danish skrige, Swedish skrika), derivative of *skrīhaną (compare Middle Dutch schriën, German schreien, Low German dial. schrien, schriegen), ultimately of imitative origin.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(uncountable) A form of home-made rye whiskey made from used oak rye barrels from a distillery.


finesse

en-verb

finesse (third-person singular simple present finesses, present participle finessing, simple past and past participle finessed)

finesses (present singular third-person)
finessing (participle present)
finessed (participle past)
finessed (past)

From Middle English finesse (“degree of excellence; (of metal) fineness, purity”), from Middle French finesse, Old French finesse (“fineness; delicacy; slenderness”), from fine, fin (“fine, thin”) (from Latin fīnis (“end”); compare Middle English fīn (“of superior quality; precious, valuable; admirable, pleasing; pure, refined; fineness, purity; delicate, exquisite, fine; sharp, thin”)) + -esse (suffix forming nouns describing the condition of being something).
The verb is derived from the noun.

esquivar

to evade using some clever argument or stratagem

Distressed as she was, she rose the next morning determined to contend with her feelings,—to think no more of Trevor,—and to finesse no more for a husband—she had had enough of it.

1835, chapter XIV, in Finesse. … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 240:

As the children continue to shoot one another, I ask them some questions about guns. […] [M]ost revealing to me is that the children fully agree that they are playing a pretend game. The bad guys "really hurt people" and Freddie knows it because he "plays" it. Really hurting in pretend play … the children are not confused by this finessing of real and pretend. I think it is we adults who are confused by it.

2010 May, Kim Atkinson, “Working among the Good & Bad”, in Island Parent Magazine, Victoria, B.C.: Krayenhoff-Holland Enterprises, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-02-05; quoted in Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw, Fikile Nxumalo, Laurie Kocher, Enid Elliot, Alejandra Sanchez, “Thinking Together”, in Journeys: Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Practices through Pedagogical Narration, Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, 2015, →ISBN, page 128:

When we get the script and we have a piece that's being written to or being created around a voiceover, we'll generally do a scratch voiceover track here and time it out to that, then get the real voiceover and do some finessing there.

2011, Yael Braha, Bill Byrne, quoting Stacy Nimmo, “The Essentials of Typography and Time [Interview: Stacy Nimmo on Title Design]”, in Creative Motion Graphic Titling for Film, Video, and the Web, Burlington, Mass., Kidlington, Oxfordshire: Focal Press, →ISBN, page 108:

After making the original capture[…], I sat down to finesse it in Photoshop.

2015, Nylora[-Joy] Bruleigh, “Just beyond Reach: Lighting, Posing, and Styling; Postproduction”, in Fine Art Portrait Photography: Lighting, Posing & Postproduction from Concept to Completion, Buffalo, N.Y.: Amherst Media, →ISBN, page 62:

Finesse a nigga with some counterfeits, but now I'm countin' this / Parmesan where my accountant lives, in fact I'm downin' this

2017 March 30, Kendrick Duckworth, Michael Williams II, Asheton Hoga, “Humble”, in Damn, performed by Kendrick Lamar:

So with valuable extra time to finesse its passenger handling and communications strategies, NR set its sights on rescheduling the work to begin this December instead.

2020 September 23, Paul Stephen, “East Coast upgrade: changes to schedule... but on schedule”, in Rail, page 30:

(transitive, chiefly Canada, US, politics) To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or stratagem.

(ambitransitive) To handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way.

finasser

to handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way

I was tryin'a finesse you outta them drawers, and you finessed a nigga out his heart," he said with a chuckle, "But that's cool. 'Cause I know it's in good hands."

2020, Racquel Williams, Finessed a Dope Boy's Heart:

(transitive, slang) To obtain something from someone through trickery or manipulation.

It is said that democratic institutions necessarily lead to political corruption. I can only say that it has not been so in this Colony. Members have schemed, finessed, log-rolled, to serve their districts, but never to put money in their own pockets.

1876, “Government and Laws”, in William Harcus, editor, South Australia: Its History, Resources, and Productions, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 38:

The founders deliberately finessed other issues concerning religion and the relationship between church and state to ensure the ratification of the Constitution.

2013, James F[ranklin] Harris, “The Supreme Court”, in The Serpentine Wall: The Winding Boundary between Church and State in the United States, New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, part III (Church and State in the Modern United States), page 185:

[…] Britain's Prime Minister David Lloyd George finessed the distinction between "indemnification" and "reparations" by insisting that his government's pension payments to the families of fallen soldiers should also be categorized as 'civilian" damages, thus making the recipients eligible for "reparations" to the tune of at least $110 billion[…].

2015, Howard M[orley] Sachar, “The Death of Giacomo Matteotti”, in The Assassination of Europe, 1918–1942: A Political History, Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 82:

Almost miraculously, [risk-neutral valuation] finesses the problem that we know hardly anything about the risk aversion of the buyers and sellers of options.

2018, John C. Hull, Options, Futures and Other Derivatives, 10th edition, Pearson, page 276:


nosebleed seat

You might want to bring binoculars if you will be in the nosebleed seats, so that you can see the action on the stage better.

A few fans who buy nosebleed seats to see Paul McCartney get the chance to see a Beatle as closely as they might have at the Cavern Club in 1962.

2023 August 10, Matthew Cantor, “‘Paul McCartney winked right at me’: the fans who buy nosebleed seats – and get whisked to the front”, in The Guardian, UK:

(Canada, US) A seat in the nosebleed section, usually cheaper and with a poorer view than other seats.


donut hole

donut holes (plural)
doughnut hole (alternative)

These donut holes are delicious!

(US, Canada) A small ball-shaped pastry, made in the same manner as a donut, roughly the size of the hole in a donut.


CVT

veterinary technician
veterinary technician#English

(US, Canada) Initialism of certified veterinary technician.


patriate

en-verb

patriate (third-person singular simple present patriates, present participle patriating, simple past and past participle patriated)

patriates (present singular third-person)
patriating (participle present)
patriated (participle past)
patriated (past)

Canadian English. Back-formation from repatriate.

Canada moved to patriate its constitution from the United Kingdom in 1982.

(Canada, transitive) To assume control of (a governmental power) from a former mother country.


corrections

/kəˈɹɛkʃənz/

(US, Canada, law) Relating to the punishment, treatment, or supervision of persons who have been convicted of a crime


tick off

tick off (third-person singular simple present ticks off, present participle ticking off, simple past and past participle ticked off)

ticks off (present singular third-person)
ticking off (participle present)
ticked off (participle past)
ticked off (past)

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

It really ticks me off when people don't use proper punctuation.

(Canada, US, transitive) To annoy, aggravate.


cut off

cut off (third-person singular simple present cuts off, present participle cutting off, simple past and past participle cut off)

cuts off (present singular third-person)
cutting off (participle present)
cut off (participle past)
cut off (past)

(transitive, Canada, US) To swerve in front of (another car) while driving.

kiilata

to swerve in front of another car while driving


dishonour

en-noun

dishonour (countable and uncountable, plural dishonours)

tlb

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa)

dishonours (plural)
dishonor (alternative US)

From Old French deshonor, equivalent to dis- + honour.

negotiable instrument
negotiable instrument

(law) Failure or refusal of the drawee or intended acceptor of a negotiable instrument, such as a bill of exchange or note, to accept it or, if it is accepted, to pay and retire it.


bushed

After three weeks up there I was bushed and needed to get out.

(Canada) Mentally unwell due to isolation, especially due to working in a remote mine or camp; experiencing cabin fever.


rancour

en-noun

rancour (countable and uncountable, plural rancours)

First attested as Middle English rancour in the early 13th century, from Old French rancor, from Latin rancor (“rancidity, grudge, rancor”), from ranceō (“be rotten or putrid, stink”), from which also English rancid.

uder

By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

British, Canada, and Australia spelling of rancor.


loon

Of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse lómr (“loon”), ultimately imitative of the bird's cry, particularly when it's in danger. Distantly related to lament, probably sharing Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (expressive root).

onomatopoeic

imitative

The Loone is an ill ſhap'd thing like a Cormorant; but that he can neyther goe nor flye; he maketh a noiſe ſometimes like a Sovvgelders horne.

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

[O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain […]

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H. L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286:

He came again to her and she said: ‘Run swifter than the deer, be more cunning than the beaver, dive deeper than the loon.’

1903, Zane Grey, Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:

And I listened for a voice;— / But my heart was all I heard; / Not a screech-owl, not a loon, / Not a tree-toad said a word.

1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April:

(US, Canada) Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.


head

pinch punch first of the month (alternative)

en-au-pinch and a punch for the first of the month.ogg

‘Pinch and a punch for the first of the month.’ I nurse my wounded arm and look down at my giggling son.
'You just hit me.'
'No I didn't. That's what you do on the first of the month.'
'Who says so?'
He looks at me exasperated.

2009, Ellie Nielsen, Buying a Piece of Paris: A Memoir, page 208:

(British, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) Said on the first day of a new month, while pinching and punching someone as a prank (especially by children). The victim may respond with "a flick and a kick for being so quick" and the original attacker may reply with "a punch in the eye for being so sly".


peacekeeper

officer of the peace
officer of the peace

(Canada, law enforcement) An officer of the peace (police officer) in a force run by a Canadian aboriginal community.


CATO

(Canada, military) Acronym of Cadet Administrative and Training Order.


motherhood statement

en-noun

motherhood statement (plural motherhood statements)

Probably from the fact that virtually everyone would say that motherhood is a positive thing.

[A]n objective needs to be followed up by some specific form of measurement or it is meaningless – It is a motherhood statement.

1976, Canadian Electronics Engineering, volume 20, Toronto, Ont.: Maclean-Hunter, →ISSN, →OCLC, page ccviii:

Technology transfer and the principle of making useful research and development information available to all public sectors is now being endorsed by everybody. I really don't know anybody who objects. As a matter of fact, by now it has become a motherhood statement. The question is, how do we achieve the blessed state of motherhood?

1979 June 12, Andrew Assur (witness), “Statement of Dr. Andrew Assur, Chief Scientist, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, N.H.”, in The Role of the Federal Laboratories in Domestic Technology Transfer: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Science, Research and Technology of the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, […] (House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology; no. 96-77), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 80:

When English judges speak of rights they often do so in terms that are usually imprecise and lacking in clear principle. The problem is worsened by the frequent judicial recourse to motherhood statements, which are not simply imprecise but provide generalised statements that are difficult to disagree with at a conceptual level. […] [M]otherhood statements assume or imply the existence of what [Martin] Loughlin described as an 'imaginary consensus' on important doctrinal principles.

2008, Matthew Groves, “The Surrogacy Principle and Motherhood Statements in Administrative Law”, in Linda Pearson, Carol Harlow, Michael Taggart, editors, Administrative Law in a Changing State: Essays in Honour of Mark Aronson, Oxford, Portland, Or.: Hart Publishing, →ISBN, page 93:

At worst, the term ‘ownership’ becomes a ‘motherhood statement’ which, whilst always sounding worthy, can be entirely lacking in specified content. The term ownership is used to imply varying degrees of local control that are typically not realized.

2009, Simon Chesterman, “Ownership in Theory and in Practice: Transfer of Authority in UN Statebuilding Operations”, in David Chandler, editor, Statebuilding and Intervention: Policies, Practices and Paradigms, Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 34:

One could say that at least Culpo's response referred to something specific in her life, and was not just the typical motherhood statement expected of polished beauty contestants – the proverbial Miss Universe answer.

2012 December 21, Rose-an Jessica Dioquino, Gian C. Geronimo, “Janine impresses in Q&A, says Miss Universe needs ‘strong mind’”, in GMA News and Public Affairs, Quezon City, archived from the original on 2018-12-17:

(chiefly Canada, US) A vague, feel-good platitude, especially one made by a politician, that most people would agree with.


concession

concession (usually uncountable, plural concessions)

From late Middle English concession, from Middle French concession, from Latin concessiō (“a grant, permission, conceding”), from concēdō. Doublet of concessio.

der

Land granted by an authority for some specific purpose, particularly:

(Canada) A concession road: a narrow road between tracts of farmland, especially in Ontario, from their origin during the granting of concessions (see above).


drugstore

drugstores (plural)
drug store (alternative)

(chiefly US, Canada) Synonym of pharmacy, especially a small standalone general store which includes a pharmacy.


HST

en-noun

HST (countable and uncountable, plural HSTs)

harmonized sales tax
w:harmonized sales tax

(Canada) Initialism of harmonized sales tax, a combined federal and provincial sales tax collected in some provinces.


expiry

expiry (countable and uncountable, plural expiries)

(British, New Zealand, Australia, Canada) End; termination; expiration.

(British, New Zealand, Australia, Canada) Death.


headlight

(Canada, slang, vulgar, chiefly in the plural) A woman's erect nipples, partially masked by clothing.


mezzanine

PIE word
 *médʰyos
The noun is borrowed from French mezzanine, and from its etymon Italian mezzanino, from mezzano (“(adjective) middle; (noun) go-between”) + -ino (diminutive suffix). Mezzano is derived from Latin mediānus (“central, middle”, adjective), from medius (“mid, middle”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’).
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.

der

(Canada, US) The lowest balcony in an auditorium, cinema, theatre, etc.; the dress circle.


MLB

There was no repeat rainbow rebellion during last Saturday’s Pride Night at Tropicana Field after MLB introduced a policy this season forbidding teams from changing their uniforms to mark local themed events.

2023 June 12, Tom Dart, “US culture wars come to baseball as MLB celebrates Pride month”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Major League Baseball
w:Major League Baseball

(US, Canada, baseball) Initialism of Major League Baseball.


jitney

1886, originally for a five-cent US coin (a nickel); use for taxis and buses due to these services originally charging five cents as fare, popularized circa 1915.
The etymology is uncertain; it is believed to originate from Louisiana Creole jetnée, from French jeton (“token, coin-sized metal disc”), though this is disputed. Evidence for the Louisiana Creole French origin includes the geographic distribution (Southeastern US, especially Black/African-American), and early spelling as gitney, which is common French spelling for the /ʒi/ pronunciation.

(Canada) An informal lawn bowling, curling, or darts competition in which all players present are randomly drawn into teams.


attending

All the new interns had heard of his operative speed, his finesse under the attending's glare, and his memorization of the current surgical literature.

2002, Harry Lee Kraus, Could I Have This Dance?, page 45:

All too often when taking a history, residents and attendings in a hurry will simply use the cut-and-paste function to save time and bypass asking potentially important questions that have been asked before.

2009 March 11, “Doctor-Patient-Computer Relationships”, in New York Times:

(Canada, US) A physician on the staff of a hospital, especially the principal one that supervises a patient's care.


Poppy Day

From being the last day on which the commemorative poppy flower is worn.


returned

en-adj

returned (comparative more returned, superlative most returned)

more returned (comparative)
most returned (superlative)

There are about thirty full-blooded returned men in this state whom I believe are not entitled to the old-age pension.

1941, Pearl Gibbs, radio broadcast, in Heiss & Minter, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 38

(US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) Back home having been discharged from military service.


chica

"But, I thought you wanted to come with us. There are some hot chicas just waiting for the Black Wolf boys."

2005, Magnolia Belle, Black Wolf: Lakota Man:

(Canada, US, informal) A Latin-American girl; a Latina.


chico

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

(Canada, US, informal) A Latin-American boy; a Latino.


DIA

Department of Indian Affairs
w:Department of Indian Affairs

(Canada, historical) Initialism of Department of Indian Affairs.


cougar

From French couguar, from Portuguese cuguardo, a deformation of Brazilian Portuguese suçuarana (earlier çuçuarana), perhaps from Old Tupi suasuarana (“deerlike animal”), from suasú (“deer”); compare sɨwasuarána (“cervine”)) or perhaps from Guaraní guaçuara).

A cougar approached Warren at the Palomino Club and asked for a dance.

I am 26 years old and in a respectful but super-sexual relationship with a recent divorcée in her 40s. (A "cougar," in local slang.)

[2001 June 7, Dan Savage, “Count Every Vote”, in The Stranger:

Barney Stinson: She's a cougar, Ted! / Robin Scherbatsky: I thought you said you can't be a cougar if you're over 50.

2010, “Home Wreckers”, in How I Met Your Mother, season 5, episode 20 (television production):

“Younger can be good. How much younger?” Regina asked, inspecting the appetizer plates for any lingering bites. “I don't know,” Alexa said frowning. “Why does that matter?” “Less than eight years makes you a Puma. Over eight years makes you a Cougar,” Regina said wisely, grinning as Lauren nodded excitedly in agreement.

2011, Donna McDonald, Dating A Cougar, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, slang) An older woman who actively seeks the casual, often sexual, companionship of younger men, by implication a female “sexual predator”.

kotka

slang: older woman who seeks younger men


homestead

From Middle English hamstede, hemstede (attested in placenames), from Old English hāmstede (“homestead”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimastadi (“homestead”). By surface analysis, home + stead. Cognate with Old Frisian hāmstede, hēmstede (“homestead”), Dutch heemstede (“homestead”), German Heimstatt, Heimstätte (“homestead”), Swedish hemstad (“homestead”), Old Icelandic heimstǫð (“homestead”). Doublet of Hampstead and Hempstead.

чифлик

He owned exactly six hundred and forty acres of what stretched outside his door; his own original homestead and timber claim, making three hundred and twenty acres, and the half-section adjoining, the homestead of a younger brother who had given up the fight, gone back to Chicago to work in a fancy bakery […]

1913, Willa Cather, chapter 2, in O Pioneers!, Part 1:

A house together with surrounding land and buildings, especially on a farm; the property comprising these.

(Canada, US) A parcel of land in the interior of North America, usually 160 acres, that was distributed to settlers from Europe or eastern North America under the Dominion Lands Act of 1870 in Canada or the Homestead Act of 1862 in the United States.


colourization

Canada standard spelling of colorization.


elevator music

Used in the first elevators to reduce anxiousness.

(US, Canada) Bland, inoffensive music played as a background in elevators and businesses (such as offices and shopping malls).


redstart

Inherited from Middle English *redstert; equivalent to red + start (“tail”). Compare Dutch roodstaart, Danish rødstjert.

(Canada, US) A species of warbler native to the Americas, Setophaga ruticilla, only distantly related to Phoenicurus.


submarine sandwich

en-noun

submarine sandwich (plural submarine sandwiches)

US ante-1940. From its resemblance to a submarine.

"Well, honey, you can have spaghetti and meat balls," said the girl. "But why don't you order a submarine sandwich? My, that's good! Mmm."
"What is a submarine sandwich?"
"Well, a submarine sandwich comes two ways, the 15¢ one is seven inches long, and for a quarter you get one twelve inches long—"

1942, Ludwig Bemelmans, “Vacation”, in I Love You, I Love You, I Love You!, New York: Viking Press, pages 147–148:

(US, Canada) A sandwich made on a long, cylindrical roll split lengthwise.


Black Friday

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

From black (“bad; ill-omened; marked by disaster”). Friday is an ill-omened day according to ancient superstition, so a Friday that was darkened by another ill-omen (such as being the 13th) or an actual disaster became known as "Black Friday". Philadelphia police applied the term to the day after Thanksgiving because the large number of people out shopping made traffic chaotic. Later, PR efforts purposely invented the incorrect, more positive "etymology" (which is a very popular urban legend and false etymology that was even in Wiktionary from 2008 to 2015) that the name was given because this day is supposedly the first day of the year on which retailers typically posted profits ('in the black') rather than losses ('in the red').

en:day after US Thanksgiving, a busy shopping day

(US, Canada, UK, business, retailing) The day after US Thanksgiving Day, generally regarded as the first day of the Christmas season, and the busiest shopping day of the year. Observed in the US, Canada, and more recently to an extent, the UK.


grade school

In contrast to high schools, the subsequent secondary school type, classes of this kind of school do not have typical nicknames.
In a grade school all classes are simply enumerated 1st to 8th grade (called form or year in British English).
In a high school, on the other hand, school year groups are in everyday parlance referred to as freshman/sophomore/junior/senior year.

(US, Philippines, rarely Canada, education) Elementary school; primary school.


blackcap

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

(Canada, US) The blackcap raspberry (Rubus leucodermis).


honky

honkies (plural)
honkey (alternative)
honkie (alternative)

Sense of “factory hand” attested from 1946. Compare hunky, bohunk.
Most likely from hunky (“Hungarian, Slav, eastern European; any white person”), an African-American vernacular shortening of Hungarian. Another possible etymon is Wolof xonq (“red, pink”), a term frequently used in African languages to describe white men.
As a term of racial abuse it was popularized by the Black Panther Party starting from 1967, who sought a rebuttal to nigger.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:honky.

(US, Canada, derogatory, ethnic slur) A white (Caucasian) person.


in back of

There is a tool shed (in) back of the house.


paska

paska (countable and uncountable, plural paskas)

From Ukrainian па́ска (páska) and Russian па́ска (páska), borrowing from Ancient Greek πάσκα (páska), phonetic variant of πάσχα (páskha), from Aramaic פסחא (pasḥa), from Hebrew פֶּסַח (pesaḥ). Doublet of Pasch, Pascha, paskha, and Pesach.

doublet

(Canada) A traditional Ukrainian egg bread, often decorated, used in Easter traditions.


scad

Unknown, early 17th century, perhaps related to shad. In sense “large amount”, US 1869, of unknown origin, presumably from large shoals/schools of the fish.

scads of money

You take temporary employment for office employees and there are a whole scad of people doing that and nothing else.

1966, United States. Congress. Senate. Labor and Public Welfare, Manpower Services Act of 1966 and Employment Service Act of... (page 295)

Galleries everywhere are awash in these brand-name reductivist canvases, […], mimicking a set of preapproved influences. (It’s also a global presence: I saw scads of it in Berlin a few weeks back, and art fairs are inundated.)

2014 June 17, Jerry Saltz, “Zombies on the Walls: Why Does So Much New Abstraction Look the Same?”, in New York Magazine:

(chiefly in the plural, informal, Canada, US) A large number or quantity.


finding

From Middle English fyndyng, Old English findincge; equivalent to find + -ing.

Boot and Shoe Findings and Leather Establishments[…] Yocum & Wilson, 225 n 2d st, Shoe Findings, Leather, Last, and Shoe Peg Warehouse

1844, John O’Brien, O’Brien’s Philadelphia Wholesale Business Directory, page 72:

(Canada, US, generally plural) Tools or materials used in shoe making or repair. [from 19th century]


Jell-O

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

Trademarked by Pearle Bixby Wait and named by his wife, May Wait. From gelatin and jelly, following a then relatively popular trend to add “O” to the end of products.

jello (alternative)
Jello (alternative)
Jell-o (alternative)
JELL-O (alternative)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Jell-O.

(US, Canada) A brand of dessert made from gelatin.


expungement

en-noun

expungement (countable and uncountable, plural expungements)

In a memorandum in support of the expungement motion, Atty. John Ward argues that the retention of his clients' records "is and will be of great harm to them."

1979 April 7, David Brill, “BPL Arrests: A Year Later”, in Gay Community News, page 1:

(US, Canada) The process by which the record of a criminal conviction is erased, destroyed or sealed.


cantaloupe

cantaloupes (plural)
cantaloup (alternative)
canteloupe (alternative)
cantelope (alternative)

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

From French cantaloup, from Italian Cantalupo (a place name), from Italian canto + lupo, literally "howl of the wolf".
Named after a former Papal summer estate near Rome, where the melons were first grown after being introduced to Europe.

Trevor, like an Aussie outbacker, eats snacks and a pickup meal of bread, cantaloupe, olives, mangoes, and melon.

2010, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Peter Carey: A Literary Companion, page 100:

Cucumis melo Cantalupensis Group, a cultivar group melon with sweet aromatic orange flesh, including two main types:

(Australia, Canada, US) Reticulatus Group (now merged into Cantalupensis Group), with strongly netted rind, also known as American cantaloupe, muskmelon or rockmelon.


bouncy castle

(UK, Canada, New Zealand) Synonym of bouncing castle.


all-around

He is said to be a greater hunter and an all around sport.

1909, Horace A. Taylor, Tales of Travel All Around the World, page 149:

If you want to polish your reputation as an all-around digital photographer, plan on developing at least a modicum of skill with a decent image editing program.

2004, David D. Busch, Digital Photography All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, page 15:

But it was as an all-around performer that Gill established his reputation.

2005, Frank Zarnowski, All-around Men: Heroes of a Forgotten Sport, page 98:

(idiomatic) Able to do many or all things well.


connected

en-adj

connected (comparative more connected, superlative most connected)

more connected (comparative)
most connected (superlative)

It wasn't as though there were groups of kids from mob-connected families who socialized exclusively; in fact, a consequence of growing up in a huge city like New York was that you had several groups of friends, simply due to the number and density of people.

2010, Nick Apuzzo, Connected, →ISBN, page 23:

(Canada, US) Involved with organized crime, specifically someone not (yet) working for a crime organization, but referred to as a "friend" by made guys/wise guys inside the organization.


pork rind

en-noun

pork rind (countable and uncountable, plural pork rinds)

(US, Canada, food) A snack food made from cured pork skin; pork scratchings.


potluck

potluck (countable and uncountable, plural potlucks)

potlucks (plural)
pot luck (alternative)
pot-luck (alternative)

From pot + luck. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sense 3 (“a shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought”) is unlikely to have been influenced by potlatch even though it has the same meaning.

тюрлюгювеч

meal consisting of whatever food is available

Last evening, at the Free Trade Club, a dinner was given by Hon. Robert R. Roosevelt to a large number of his friends. Though invitations had been issued for a week previous, the feast was decidedly of an impromptu character as far the viands went. [...] Cards of invitation of an amusing character were issued, on which the menu was indicated, with the names of the improvised cooks who were to concoct gumbo, lobster cutlets, plumb pudding, various salads, and coffee. [...] Course followed course in the most tumultuous way. Culinary inspirations and cookery nocturnes of all flavors and tastes crowded one on another. Anything like system was discarded, and this was thought likely to destroy the artistic effects of this pot-luck picnic.

1879 March 26, “The pot-luck picnic. An impromptu and enjoyable dinner–a display of culinary skill.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-07-16, page 5:

Then we had a potluck dinner. Each family brought a different dish. I always like Mrs. Rowlani's Persian rice best. I ate three helpings. Lisa likes it too, but she picks out the raisins and gives them to Fred [a dog].

1981, Wendy Heller, My Name is Nabil, Los Angeles, Calif.: Kalimát Press, →ISBN:

One of the most neglected areas in the study of American celebrations remains the small group festive gathering. As discussed by Linda T. Humphrey, the Small Group Festive Gathering is "somewhere between festival and ritual … and the solitary sandwich, (when) small groups of people get together to share food and drink and to have a good time" [...]. Among the examples she provides are potlucks, cocktail parties, and reunions.

1984, Sue Samuelsen, Ray Kepner, “Bocce Ball Meets Hacky-sack: A Western Pennsylvania Independence Day Gathering”, in Bonita Freeman-Witthoft, Thomas E. Graves, editors, Keystone Folklore, volume 3, number 2 (New Series), West Chester, Pa.: Department of Anthropology and Sociology, West Chester University, for the Pennsylvania Folklore Society, →OCLC, page 26:

Throw a class partay and tell stoodents to bring a potluck. Tell stoodents them can bring crakers & cheez wiz, salad bowl for vegtablians, [...]

2014, Jeremiah Toed, “Teacher, Please Intradouche Me 2 Hot Girl in the 1ˢᵗ Row??”, in Beth Schaefer, Grade A Papers: A Funny Coffee Table Book for Teachers and the Universe: 30 Wacky, Whimsical Student Papers Plus 4 Hilarious Parodies of Composition Theorists, Evanston, Ill.: Books on a Whim, →ISBN, page 52:

Potlucks are the time for fun, unfussy dishes. [...] Thankfully, people now enjoy lots of different flavors. Nevertheless, a potluck with people you don't know well might not be the time to bring that tripe recipe you've always wanted to try.

2016, Kristin Donnelly, “Rules of the Potluck”, in Modern Potluck: Beautiful Food to Share, New York, N.Y.: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, Crown Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 16:

(originally Canada, US) A shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought (sometimes without prior arrangement); a potlatch; also, a dish of food brought to such a meal.


broiler

→ Finnish: broileri

→ Italian: broiler

→ Latgalian: broilers

→ Spanish: broiler

→ Swedish: broiler

From broil + -er (agent noun suffix) or, for the chickens, + -er (patient suffix).

(cooking, Canada, US) A device used to broil food; part of an oven or a small stove; known as a grill in British English.


Great White North

The rite of spring in eastern Canada has begun. Sweet and pure, maple syrup epitomizes the Great White North in all its unspoiled glory.

2007 March 26, Pamela Cuthbert, “The less sweet side of maple syrup”, in Macleans.ca, retrieved 2008-06-15:

(chiefly Canada, Michigan, informal) Canada


mudsled

(Canada) a small sled used by children to play on


offence

offence (countable and uncountable, plural offences)

British, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada standard spelling of offense.


clothes peg

clothes pegs (plural)
clothes-peg (alternative)
clothespeg (alternative)

(British, Australia, New Zealand, Canada) An object (usually made of wood or plastic) used to attach wet laundry to a clothesline so that it (the laundry) can dry.

مِشْبَك مَلَابِس

an object used to attach wet laundry to a clothesline


licence

licence (countable and uncountable, plural licences)

In some areas they have attempted to decasualize certain types of employment and to control street-trading by a local licensing system requiring juveniles to obtain their licences through the committees.

1944, The Labour Gazette, volume 44, page 720:

Serlio criticises the artistic licence taken by both ancient and contemporary architects, here specifically related to the confusion created by the rich decoration of the arch–in his illustrations, he stripped the monument of most of its beautifully […]

2017, Allison Sherman, Artistic Practices and Cultural Transfer in Early Modern Italy: Essays in Honour of Deborah Howard, Routledge, →ISBN:

UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore standard spelling of license.


licence

en-verb

licence (third-person singular simple present licences, present participle licencing, simple past and past participle licenced)

licences (present singular third-person)
licencing (participle present)
licenced (participle past)
licenced (past)

(UK, Canada, South Africa, nonstandard) Misspelling of license.


Francophonie

1968, from French francophonie (“French speakers, collectively”), from francophone (“French speaker”) + -ie.

uder

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

francophonie (alternative)
Francophony (alternative)

(Canada) French speakers in Canada, collectively (often francophonie).


tardy slip

The teacher accepted her tardy slip and allowed her to come into the classroom after the bell.

(Canada, US) A piece of paper given to a student who is late to school, to authorize the student to proceed to class.


goose egg

From the oval shape of both a goose's egg and the Arabic numeral zero (0).

I missed every question on the quiz and got a goose egg.

Grandmaster and grand duffer alike prefer the all-important point to the ignominious goose egg.

1949 March, I. A. Horowitz, “Readers' Games”, in Chess Review:


hoarding

Making inquiries she came to a hoarding, within which were excavations denoting the foundations of a building; and on the boards without one or two large posters announcing that the foundation-stone of the chapel about to be erected would be laid that afternoon at three o’clock by a London preacher of great popularity among his body.

1894 December – 1895 November, Thomas Hardy, chapter VIII, in Jude the Obscure, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1896, →OCLC:

A hoarding is a legal requirement for the safety of the public on a building site. There are rules about its height and construction. But of course it is also the perfect opportunity: a blank canvas on which to show a vision of the life soon to be lived behind it.

2014 September 25, Hugo Macdonald, “Could those utopian hoardings for new developments get any more nauseating?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

They’re a familiar sight to many: the eye-roll-inducing, over-the-top development hoardings and adverts that celebrate the (inevitably luxury and, to most people, unaffordable) developments soon to be added to the city skyline.

2015 October 2, Francesca Perry, “What are the most ridiculous property development adverts you've seen?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The west side is one massive building site, although it's hard to appreciate what's going on behind all the hoardings.

2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 57:

(construction, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A temporary fence-like structure built around building work to add security and prevent accidents to the public.


savoury

en-adj

savoury (comparative savourier, superlative savouriest)

savourier (comparative)
savouriest (superlative)

(British, Canada, Australian and New Zealand spelling) Alternative form of savory.


budge

en-verb

budge (third-person singular simple present budges, present participle budging, simple past and past participle budged)

budges (present singular third-person)
budging (participle present)
budged (participle past)
budged (past)
bouge (alternative obsolete)
budg (alternative obsolete)

Borrowed from Middle French bouger, from Old French bougier, from Vulgar Latin *bullicāre (“to bubble; seethe; move; stir”), from Latin bullīre (“to boil; seethe; roil”). More at boil.

der

Hey, no budging! Don't budge in line!

(Upper Midwestern US, Indiana, western Canada) To cut or butt (in line); to join the front or middle rather than the back of a queue.

Upper Midwestern US; Indiana; Upper Midwestern US; Indiana


digestive

From Old French digestif, from Late Latin dīgestīvus. Doublet of digestif.

I bought a packet of chocolate digestives.

I made a mistake and bought plain digestives instead of chocolate ones.

(UK, Ireland, Canada) A digestive biscuit.


pimpernel

From Anglo-Norman pimpernele et al., Middle French pimpinelle (“burnet saxifrage”) et al., from Medieval Latin pimpinella, pipinella, most likely from piper (“pepper”) because its fruit resembled peppercorns, although variants may suggest other derivations, bipinnella the bipennis (“two-winged”).

(Canada, US) A yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima)


jack off

en-verb

jack off (third-person singular simple present jacks off, present participle jacking off, simple past and past participle jacked off)

jacks off (present singular third-person)
jacking off (participle present)
jacked off (participle past)
jacked off (past)
J-O (alternative abbreviation)
J/O (alternative abbreviation)

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

Two boys jacking off under railroad bridge. The train shakes through their bodies, ejaculates them, fades with distant whistle.

1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 81:

(ambitransitive or reflexive, slang, vulgar, derogatory) To masturbate.


shoulder check

shoulder check (third-person singular simple present shoulder checks, present participle shoulder checking, simple past and past participle shoulder checked)

shoulder checks (present singular third-person)
shoulder checking (participle present)
shoulder checked (participle past)
shoulder checked (past)

(intransitive, Canada, US) To look backwards over one's shoulder while driving or biking, before changing lanes or making a turn, to see if any vehicles are in one's blind spots.


shoulder check

(Canada, US) An instance of looking backwards over one's shoulder while driving or biking, before changing lanes or making a turn, to see if any vehicles are in one's blind spots.


tire gauge

tire gauges (plural)
tire gage (alternative US)
tyre gauge (alternative Australia Ireland UK)

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

(US, Canada) A device used to measure the pressure of vehicle tires.


tire-pressure gauge

en-noun

tire-pressure gauge (plural tire-pressure gauges)

tire-pressure gauges (plural)
tyre-pressure gauge (alternative)


tire-pressure

tire-pressures (plural)
tyre-pressure (alternative)

(US, Canada) the pressure of the air in a vehicle tire


two-four

two-fours (plural)
two four (alternative)

From the two digits used to form the number twenty-four, decimal 24, in place notation.

Happy and me chip in together and buy a two-four of Labatt's plus a couple of bags of potato chips.

1980, Sundogs: Stories from Saskatchewan, page 85:

“Winston, Maxine and I are going to the beer store to buy a two four, would you mind staying here with baby until I get back?”

2007, Michell Downey, Beauty and the Beast Within, page 233:

(Canada, slang) A case of twenty-four bottles or cans of beer.


town hall

town halls (plural)
townhall (alternative)

The president plans to speak to a town hall of employees at its headquarters on Monday.

" […] Sure, you can come down to City Hall when we have a Town Hall Meeting. Write to Maureen Connelly and she'll arrange it. […]"

1978, Faith McNulty, “Talk of the Town”, in New Yorker:

And in just a few minutes, we'll bring you tonight's town hall debate from here at Washington University in Saint Louis.

2004 October 8, Candidates Prepare for Second Presidential Debate, Paula Zahn (actor):

The Form 2s are planning to host a town hall meeting with the women of Mara Moja and other local communities to teach the women more effective hygiene practices […]

2012 May 3, “Daraja Girls Take Leadership Skills Acquired at the Academy to Their Communities During School Break”, in Daraja Academy, archived from the original on 2021-08-24:

That pushback from inside the administration was combined with rising public anger about the cuts that exploded at several lawmakers’ town halls in recent weeks.

2025 March 7, Jonathan Lemire, “Is DOGE Losing Steam?”, in The Atlantic:

(Canada, US) A widely accessible meeting, particularly where the audience is allowed to interact with the speakers.


clothespin

At a hundred and thirty pounds, Altman is poised as a clothespin, fierce as a horned owl.

2016 October 3, Tad Friend, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker:

(US, Canada) A clip or fastener used to secure garments to a clothesline while drying, and sometimes for other applications requiring holding or pinching.


traffic circle

(US, Canada) an intersection with a circular shape and, usually, a central island


high school

high school (countable and uncountable, plural high schools)

high schools (plural)
highschool (alternative proscribed)
HS (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English hyȝ scole (“school for higher education”), equivalent to high + school. Cognate with Dutch hogeschool (“academy, university, graduate school”), German Hochschule (“academy, college, university”).

cog

(Canada, US, Australia, Scotland) A secondary school.


fellowship

en-verb

fellowship (third-person singular simple present fellowships, present participle fellowshipping or (US also) fellowshiping, simple past and past participle fellowshipped or (US also) fellowshiped)

fellowships (present singular third-person)
fellowshipping (participle present)
fellowshiping (US also participle present)
fellowshipped (participle past)
fellowshipped (past)
fellowshiped (US also participle past)
fellowshiped (US also past)

From Middle English felowschipe, felawshipe, felaȝschyp, equivalent to fellow + -ship; or perhaps adapted from Old Norse félagskapr, félagsskapr (“fellowship”). Compare Icelandic félagsskapur (“companionship, company, community”), Danish fællesskab (“fellowship”), Norwegian fellesskap (“fellowship”), and Old Swedish fælaghskap (“fellowship”)

cog

The megachurch he attends is too big for making personal connections, so he also fellowships weekly in one of the church's small groups.

After she got married, she stopped fellowshipping with the singles in our church.

Oure lorde Jesu came in manere of a pilgrym and felauschipped [Aldh felischippede] with hem.
Our lord Jesus came in the manner of a pilgrim and fellowshipped with them.

c. 1410, Hans Kurath quoting Nicholas Love (translator), The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, fifth edition (1989), quoted in Middle English Dictionary, translation of Meditationes Vitae Christi by Pseudo-Bonaventura, (Gibbs MS. c.1400), page 463

(intransitive, now chiefly religious, especially in Canada, US) To join in fellowship; to associate with.


quill

en-verb

quill (third-person singular simple present quills, present participle quilling, simple past and past participle quilled)

quills (present singular third-person)
quilling (participle present)
quilled (participle past)
quilled (past)

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

From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”).
Compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term.

cog

For quotations using this term, see Citations:quill.

(US and Canada, especially Appalachia and the Prairies, transitive) To subject (a woman who is giving birth) to the practice of quilling (blowing pepper into her nose to induce or hasten labor).


traveller's cheque

(British, Canada) A preprinted cheque for a fixed amount, often in a foreign currency, issued by a bank that may be used instead of cash; may usually be replaced if lost or stolen.


serviceberry

serviceberries (plural)
service-berry (alternative)
service berry (alternative)

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

Compound of service (“sorb tree”) + berry. (The first part is from Latin sorbus, not English service (“assistance”).)

com+

(Canada, US) Any plant of the genus Amelanchier of small deciduous trees and large shrubs in the family Rosaceae.


Flag Day

A day commemorating the adoption of a national flag.

(Canada) February 15, for the inauguration of the Canadian flag in 1965, National Flag of Canada Day.

National Flag of Canada Day
National Flag of Canada Day


tuck shop

tuck shops (plural)
tuck-shop (alternative)
tuckshop (alternative)

One way is to make the sandwiches then choose the three most popular sandwiches to sell in the tuck shop.

1989, Jenny Ridgwell, Louise Davies, Skills in Home Economics: Technology, Heinemann Educational Publishers, page 11:

If possible a school must have a place for a tuck shop.

1996, K. S. Sidhu, “School Organisation And Administration”, in India, Sterling Publishers, page 90:

You had a small amount of pocket money and this increased as you went along and there was a tuck shop where you could spend your earnings.[…]I became a senior boy and then a pefect and it became my responsibility to run the tuck shop.

2005, Susan K. Moore, I Remember Bare Bottoms and Stinging Nettles, page 108:

In this case, the problem is that the tuck-shop has stopped making money and will have to close if you can′t find out what is wrong.

2009, R. Burger, B. P. Carels, S. Els, FET College Series: Life Orientation: NCV 4, South Africa: Pearson Education, page 163:

However, a trend for healthier tuck shops, selling fruit in particular, had already emerged a few years before legislation was introduced.

2009, Maria Cross, Barbara MacDonald, Nutrition in Institutions, UK: Wiley, page 49:

‘That note you′re holding is an order for the Crobost Stores, to restock the tuck shop.’

2011, Peter May, The Blackhouse, UK: Quercus, page 23:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Singapore, India) A shop selling confectionery, especially one in or near a school.


hydro

en-noun

hydro (countable and uncountable, plural hydros)

From prefix hydro-, from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”). Canadian sense "electricity" from the fact that hydroelectricity is the prevalent source of electricity in much of Canada and many electric companies have the word "Hydro" in their names.

I won't have lights until my house gets the hydro turned on.

She was having trouble paying the hydro.

He crashed his car against a hydro pole.

(Canada, uncountable) electrical power supply; specifically, electrical power provided by a utility (as a publicly-owned one); payment or bills for this.


invigilate

en-verb

invigilate (third-person singular simple present invigilates, present participle invigilating, simple past and past participle invigilated)

invigilates (present singular third-person)
invigilating (participle present)
invigilated (participle past)
invigilated (past)

Borrowed from Latin invigilātus, past participle of invigilō (“to stay awake, watch over”).

Professor Burns will be invigilating over the final examinations to ensure that the students do not cheat.

(UK, Canada, ambitransitive) To oversee a test or exam.


two by four

two by fours (plural)
two-by-four (alternative)

Well, Moses stood on the Red Sea shore, And smote the water with a two by four

1959, “Mary Don't You Weep”, performed by Nat King Cole:

Moses stood on the Red Sea shore, smotin' that water with a two by four

(Can we date this quote?), “Linin' Track”, performed by Lead Belly:

(chiefly Canada, US) A length of sawn wood of cross section approximately 2 inches by 4 inches, most often employed as structural framing lumber (dimensional lumber).

бичме́

A length of sawn wood 2 inches by 4 inches

He'll plan a two by four / But not for me.

1930, George, Ira Gershwin, “But Not for Me”:

(chiefly Canada, US, dated) A small, modest building.


YBYSAIA

(Canada, US, slang) Initialism of you bet your sweet ass I am: a strong affirmative response.


Tylenol

(Canada, US, pharmacology) A brand of acetaminophen (“paracetamol”)


Tylenol

en-noun

Tylenol (countable and uncountable, plural Tylenols)

(Canada, US, uncountable) Alternative form of tylenol (genericized trademark) (the pharmaceutical drug acetaminophen (“paracetamol”))

tylenol

(Canada, US, countable) Alternative form of tylenol (a tablet containing this drug)


rez

(Canada, slang) Clipping of residence; dormitory.


boardwalk

A man, whom we had noticed walking rather uncertainly, as if not sure whether he was going up or down hill, at this crisis came to a pause, staggered off the boardwalk, and leaned against the fence.

1865 June, “Godey’s Arm-chair”, in [Louis Antoine Godey and Sarah Josepha Hale], editors, Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine, volume LXX, Philadelphia, Pa.: L[ouis] A[ntoine] Godey, →OCLC, page 557, column 2:

[A]bout the beginning of the war the greatest concern of [Ulysses Simpson] Grant was to get a good boardwalk laid from his house to the store. […] It is related, that after one of his great victories, some gentlemen of Galena had the walk laid, and telegraphed the General: "Rest easy, the walk is down."

1868, James S[anks] Brisbin, chapter III, in The Campaign Lives of Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax, Cincinnati, Oh.: C. F. Vent & Co., publishers; […], →OCLC, page 57:

From the height of the boardwalk the sea lay before them, silver and stony, fold on fold of it, stretching east into the mist and clouds.

1963 winter, Josephine W[inslow] Johnson, “Coney Island in November”, in The Virginia Quarterly Review, volume 39, number 1, Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 453:

Oh when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof / And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were fire proof / Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah / On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be

1964 June, Kenny Young, Arthur Resnick, “Under the Boardwalk”, performed by The Drifters:

New Jersey was reeling on Wednesday from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, which has caused catastrophic flooding here in Hoboken and in other New York City suburbs, destroyed entire neighborhoods across the state and wiped out iconic boardwalks in shore towns that had enchanted generations of vacationgoers.

2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, “New Jersey reels from storm’s thrashing”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2012-11-01:

To drive home the point, Obama and Christie visited the Point Pleasant boardwalk and even engaged in a “Touchdown Fever” football toss, with Obama missing his throws while Christie’s first effort was a winner, sailing through the tire.

2013 May 28, Tom Cohen, “Obama channels Springsteen in touring Jersey storm recovery”, in CNN:

A slightly elevated path (walkway) for pedestrians over sandy or swampy ground, typically made out of wood; specifically (Canada, US) one running alongside a body of water or beach.


granola

en-adjective

granola (comparative more granola, superlative most granola)

more granola (comparative)
most granola (superlative)

Globe Pequot Press
Graham flour
Granula
James Caleb Jackson
Will Keith Kellogg
granola

Earlier, with a capital g, it was a proprietary name for a kind of breakfast cereal, registered in 1886 by Will Keith Kellogg and in use into the early 20th century. It was initially known as Granula and renamed Granola to avoid legal problems with James Caleb Jackson, who invented a similar cereal in 1863, named Granula after the granules of Graham flour, the main ingredient. The food and name were revived in the 1960s. By 1967, it appears in American English, probably from Italian grano (“grain”) or granular, with the commercial suffix -ola.

You see more and more of the granola hippie activist types these days.

[…]behind them a granola-looking mom in denim overalls and a t-shirt was pulling in to do her drop-off . . . from a Prius.

2013 November 21, Jame Schaefer, Tobias Winright, Environmental Justice and Climate Change, page 228:

Rather, the anti-vax movement is almost entirely a phenomenon of the affluent crunchy granola Left—as everyone across the political spectrum acknowledged until the last week or so.

2015 February 13, Dennis Saffran, “The Orwellian Campaign To Project Anti-Vaccination Onto Republicans”, in The Federalist:

Yet some experts believe that voices from the far right are beginning to drown out those of the crunchy granola crowd.

2020 June 18, Kiera Butler, “The Anti-Vax Movement’s Radical Shift From Crunchy Granola Purists to Far-Right Crusaders”, in Mother Jones:

(chiefly Canada, US, of a person) Eating healthy food, supporting the protection of the environment, and having liberal views.


ticked

en-adj

ticked (comparative more ticked, superlative most ticked)

more ticked (comparative)
most ticked (superlative)

(Canada, US, slang) Ticked off; annoyed.


flivver

Judge Rummy
Tad Dorgan
The Sun (New York City)

Unknown, early 20th c.; in 1919, cartoonist Tad Dorgan claimed to have created the term in his comic strip "Judge Rummy".

Billy being too poor to own a car, had hired a cheap flivver for the day, and was purposely ten minutes behind the time, but to his disgust found the procession not yet started.

1920 July, Lyman Seelye, “Quite a Picnic”, in The Overland Monthly:

These workers were often joined by impoverished small farmers from Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri who pooled their resources to buy a flivver and follow the harvest into the Dakotas and Canada.

1998, Nigel Anthony Sellars, Oil, Wheat & Wobblies: The Industrial Workers of the World in Oklahoma, 1905-1930, University of Oklahoma Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 180:

(colloquial, dated, Canada, US) An automobile or cart, particularly one which is old and inexpensive.


hardscrabble

his hardscrabble peanut farm

In the case of Allegheny Briskow, poverty, the drought, the grinding hardships of these hard-scrabble Texas counties, had dwarfed the intellect, the very soul of a splendid young animal.

1922, Rex Ellingwood Beach, chapter V, in Flowing Gold:

Villages in the more remote and hard-scrabble regions, including some mountain areas, are being abandoned, and nature is starting to creep back.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 286:

(Canada, US, of land) Requiring much work to farm, and ultimately not very productive.

He leads a hardscrabble existence.

Being the savage’s bowsman, that is, the person who pulled the bow-oar in his boat (the second one from forward), it was my cheerful duty to attend upon him while taking that hard-scrabble scramble upon the dead whale’s back.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 72, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

While Rose tried to keep up with Westbrook, the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony struggled mightily, going 4 of 19 for 18 hardscrabble points.

2016 November 28, Mike Vorkunov, “Despite Flash of Rose’s Prime, Knicks Are Dazed by Westbrook and Thunder”, in The New York Times:

Grace and her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lost their mother during birth, and their alcoholic father during their hardscrabble childhood.

2024 October 23, Jacob Oller, “Clay weepy Memoir Of A Snail crawls through a gauntlet of misery”, in AV Club:

(Canada, US, by extension) Involving hard work and struggle.


bombardier

Borrowed from Middle French bombardier, from Old French bombarder (“a stone throwing engine”), equivalent to bombard + -er.

der

The bombardier then checked the gyroscopic stabilization of the bombsight and clutched in the electrical motor.

1990, Charles W McArthur, Operations Analysis in the U.S. Army Eighth Air Force in World War II, American Mathematical Society, →ISBN, page 142:

(Canada, US) A bomber crew member who sights and releases bombs.

Wikipedia: Bombardier (Bdr) and Lance Bombardier (LBdr or L/Bdr) are British Army ranks used in the Royal Artillery and Royal Horse Artillery instead of (respectively) Corporal and Lance Corporal. In the Canadian Forces, the Artillery Branch uses the ranks of Master Bombardier and Bombardier instead of Master Corporal and Corporal.

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(Canada, British) A non-commissioned officer rank in artillery, equivalent to corporal. Abbreviated Bdr.


From 1, used to dial long-distance numbers and 800, which was, for a long time, the only North American toll-free area code.

866-555-1234... that's a 1-800 number, isn't it?

FEMA has got a 1-800 number.

1994, Bill Clinton, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J. Clinton:

We provided a 1-800 hot line and a new food stamp tool kit which I would also like to provide for the record.

Exhibit 9.2 represents a 1-800 customer ordering process.

2001, David Wade, Ron Recardo, Corporate Performance Management:

Once when her husband had got a 1-800 number she used to get calls from all sorts of lonely weirdos who had nothing better to do late at night than call up people they didn't know.

Many people have profited from providing easy services that others do not like to do, such as a simple service like barbeque cleaning, superscoopers for cleaning up after dogs, an errand service, or a 1-800 tele-tutor service for school-age children who need assistance with their homework.

2002, Elaine Dundon, The Seeds of Innovation, page 115:

“I got a 1-800 number. I could check your credit card right now, and get an approval code, or find out if it's stolen or not. Just dial a 1-800 number and deal with computers."

2003, Bambi Vincent, Bob Arno, Travel Advisory!: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams While Traveling:

(Canada, US) A toll-free number or a long-distance telephone numbers; using any of North American toll-free area codes 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 or 833.


deke

Canadian English, a contraction of decoy.


deke

en-verb

deke (third-person singular simple present dekes, present participle deking, simple past and past participle deked)

dekes (present singular third-person)
deking (participle present)
deked (participle past)
deked (past)

(Canada, slang) To avoid, go around, or dodge an object, person, or conversation topic; often by using trickery.


checked

a checked tie

At that moment a long, scraggy individual in a checked suit poked his head into the bar, looked around portentously, whistled mysteriously to my informant, and jerked his thumb and head in the direction of the door.

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 121:

Later that day, all X's friends put on their red and white checked overalls and went over to see X.

1978, Lois Gould, X: A Fabulous Child's Story, New York: Daughters Publishing Co., →ISBN:

(Canada, US) Having a pattern of checks; checkered.


mickey

* (potato): From the common Irish name; compare murphy (“a potato”).
* (computer mouse resolution): An allusion to the cartoon character Mickey Mouse.

While you're at the liquor store, get a mickey of rye?

(chiefly Canada, informal) A small bottle of liquor, holding 375 ml or 13 oz., typically shaped to fit in one's pocket.


yardman

A worker in any of several types of yard, as:

(chiefly Canada, US) A laborer hired to do outdoor work.


backyard

backyards (plural)
back-yard (alternative)
back yard (alternative)

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US) A yard to the rear of a house or similar residence.

The entire beach was my backyard, from the Hiltons' house in the south all the way to Steele Hunter's house in the north.

2005, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Symptoms of withdrawal: a memoir of snapshots and redemption, →ISBN, page 18:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US, colloquial) A person's neighborhood, or an area nearby to a person's usual residence or place of work and where the person is likely to go.

However, the region was in the United States backyard and Britain should look passively on with acquiescence in whatever policy the United States saw fit to pursue about Mexico.

1942, Wilfrid Hardy Callcott, The Caribbean policy of the United States, 1890-1920, page 343:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US, colloquial) An area nearby to a country or other jurisdiction's legal boundaries, particularly an area in which the country feels it has an interest.


jurist

/ˈd͡ʒʊəɹ.ɪst/

/ˈd͡ʒəɹ.ɪst/


dumpster

Genericized brand name, from blend of dump + Dempster. The original brand (and some associated things) are no longer trademarked, because the three trademarks involved have either expired or been cancelled. By surface analysis, dump + -ster.

He realized with a brief shudder that Kurt probably used this flashlight while nipple-deep in dumpsters, had an image of Kurt transferring it from his gloved hands to his mouth and back again as he dug through bags of kitchen and toilet waste, looking for discarded technology.

2005, Cory Doctorow, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town:

[…]with the uncanny ability to always look like he just woke up in a dumpster

2020 December 27, Dave Barry, “Dave Barry's Year in Review 2020”, in The Washington Post Magazine:

(Canada, US) A large, usually metal trash receptacle designed to be hoisted up by a garbage truck in order to be emptied.


coaster

From coast (“edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). Coast is derived from Middle English coste (“rib; side of the body, flank; side of a building; face of a solid figure; coast, shore; bay, gulf; sea; concavity, hollow; boundary, limit; land; country; district, province, region; locality, place; division of the heavens; compass direction; direction; location with reference to direction, side”) [and other forms], from Old French coste (“rib; side of an object; coast”) (modern French côte (“rib; coast; hill, slope”)), from Latin costa (“rib; side, wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *kost-.

navegador (de costas)

sailor who travels only in coastal waters

Salvelinus fontinalis
Salvelinus fontinalis#Translingual

(Canada, US) Ellipsis of coaster trout (“the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Lake Superior and Maine”).


horse trailer

(US, Canada) a wheeled transport for horses


valedictorian

Formed 1759, from valedictory (“of a speech made when leaving”) + -an.

af

Our oldest son was valedictorian of his high school class and went to a top university. But right about this time two years ago, our second son told us he wasn’t interested in college.

2020 July 2, Arthur C. Brooks, “A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 2021-04-19:

At first, it seemed a joyous occasion. There was an audible gasp in the room, then boisterous cheering and applause when the announcement was made: Ikeria Washington and Layla Temple had been named 2021 valedictorian and salutatorian for West Point High School.

2021 June 11, Stephanie Saul, “Two Black Students Won School Honors. Then Came the Calls for a Recount.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2021-06-11:

(US, Canada, properly) The individual in a graduating class who delivers the farewell or valedictory address, often the person who graduates with the highest grades.

A social media firestorm erupted last week after two Texas high school valedictorians revealed that they were undocumented immigrants heading to well-respected U.S. colleges with financial aid.

2016 June 17, Octavio Blanco, “Undocumented students and the controversial path to affording college”, in CNN Business:

(US, Canada, colloquial) The individual in a graduating class who graduates with the highest grades.


excelsior

Excelsior (Longfellow)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Stan Lee

From Latin excelsior, comparative of excelsus (“high”). The name of the stuffing material was originally a trademark. As an exclamation, originating in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Excelsior (1841), based on the New York state motto. Popularized in the comic book fandom by Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee, who chose the term to sign off his columns as it was an obscure term and would confound competing publishers who imitated his style.

pedia

Excelsior (Longfellow)#Adaptations and parodies

Excelsior (Longfellow) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

These little mangers, with baby dolls representing Jesus, porcelean Josephs and Marys, wide-eyed cows of papier-mâché, and excelsior for straw, were purchased by pious parents for well-behaved children at Christmas-tide.

1942, Elliot Paul, The Last Time I Saw Paris, Sickle Moon, published 2001, page 91:

Working both [of them] at Kroll's then, she selling candy and cashews in a white smock with "Jan" stitched on her pocket and he lugging easy chairs and maple end tables around on the floor above, hammering apart packing crates from nine to five, the itch of the packing excelsior getting into his nose and eyes and making them burn.

1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 13:

Each Pet Rock came in a cardboard carrying case, complete with air holes, tenderly nestled on a bed of excelsior.

2015 March 31, Margalit Fox, “Gary Dahl, Inventor of the Pet Rock, Dies at 78”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(Canada, US) Stuffing material (as for furniture and mattresses) made of slender, curled woodshavings, as a substitute for hair.


garbage truck

(US, Canada) A vehicle for the collection and removal of domestic waste


low-key

en-adv

low-key (comparative more low-key, superlative most low-key)

more low-key (comparative)
most low-key (superlative)
lowkey (alternative)
low key (alternative)
lowk (alternative)
LWK (alternative)
lwk (alternative)

I'm low key salty about the way that nigga did you but it seems like he still cares about you.

2015, Lady Onyxx, Started From The Top Now I'm Here 3, page 81:

Before I open the messages, I disable the activity notification so no one will know I'm low-key obsessed with a party I didn't get to attend.

2018, Rachel Vincent, Strange New World:

(chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) Kind of.


bismarck

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

Named for the German statesman Otto von Bismarck.

(Manitoba) A doughnut filled with cream, often with chocolate icing.

(Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northern US, Midwestern US) A jelly doughnut: a doughnut filled with jam and coated with sugar.

Alberta; Saskatchewan; Alberta; Saskatchewan

(Midland US) A fried cruller, or a sort of pancake.

A dessert pastry:
A fried cruller, or a sort of pancake.


waitstaff

en-noun

waitstaff (usually uncountable, plural waitstaffs)

waitstaffs (plural)
wait staff (alternative)
waiting staff (alternative UK)

(US, Canada) Collectively, staff employed to wait at tables in a restaurant.


coverall

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(chiefly US, Canada, Australia) A loose-fitting jumpsuit-style protective garment worn over other clothing.


realtor

From real (in real estate) and -or. Coined by Charles N. Chadbourn in 1916, on the model of Latin agent nouns ending in -tor (such as actor, creator), to refer to real-estate professionals who are members of the National Association of Realtors, a trade association in the United States. Equivalent to realt(y) + -or.

It was composed of an engineer, if I remember correctly, a town planner, a realtor, and occasionally an architect […]

1919, Mr. Shannon, U.S. Housing Corporation. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, United States Senate:

First place, we ought to insist that folks call us ‘realtors’ and not ‘real-estate men.’ Sounds more like a reg’lar profession.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:

Intrigued by the prospect of an additional commission, the realtor hurriedly assured me he foresaw no problem in obtaining the lease.

1975, Jerzy Kosiński, Cockpit, Grove Press, published 1998, page 189:

The terms agent, broker, and realtor are often used interchangeably.

1997, Douglas A. Gray, Canadian home buying made easy, second edition, page 72:

The realtor was like a carnivore, ready to spring. He was originally from New York and he seemed like the kind of guy who could smell a deal.

2003, Gary Andrew Dresden, Confessions of a Gynecologist, iUniverse, page 111:

(Canada, US) A person or business that sells or leases out real estate, acting as an agent for the property owner.

National Association of Realtors
realtor


foosball

From German Fußball, itself a calque of English football.

[…] Caleb on Tuesday, for the first time in months, had invited him to play foosball […]

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

(chiefly US, Canada) table soccer (US), table football (UK)


fries

fries pl (normally plural, singular fry)

(cooking, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Ellipsis of french fries.


locker room

locker rooms (plural)
lockerroom (alternative)
locker-room (alternative)

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We changed into our swimsuits in the locker room next to the pool.

(US, Canada) A room attached to an athletic, recreational, or workplace facility, filled with lockers for storage of clothing and equipment; clothes are generally changed there.


concussion

concussion (countable and uncountable, plural concussions)

(uncountable in Commonwealth, countable in Canada, US) An injury to part of the body, most especially the brain, caused by a violent blow, followed by loss of function.


garbo

garbo (countable and uncountable, plural garbos)

Clipping of garbage + -o (colloquialising suffix).

"Any quartz in the Mountain?" / "Just garbo quartz, not enough to produce any electrical fields." / "No disruption in the magnetic field?" / "No, sir."

2012, Mickael Taddeo, Gabriel's Mountain, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 229:

Then they beat me and burned me and locked me up, before handing me back like a piece of garbo, when I acted up or they got tired of me.

2016, Clare Revell, Violets in February, Pelican Book Group, →ISBN:

Another Twitter user wrote, "I could lie to you and say that I'm totally not interested in that game [but] I am interested. It sucks so much that JKR is a transphobic piece of garbo. ... I think if I do play it, I'll make it clear in all promotions my feelings about JKR and also promote a trans charity for folks to donate their funds towards. Maybe it's not enough, and I might not have a lot of funds, but I do wanna use my voice to do what I can to support my trans friends."

2022 March 19, Dan Clarendon, “'Hogwarts Legacy' Will Reportedly Welcome Transgender Characters — You Hear That, J.K.?”, in Distractify, archived from the original on 2022-04-22:

Then Noelle told me she's a Paralympian and I was like, "Well, my lie was just garbo. That was terrible. Noelle, you're a beast!"

2022 December 7, Mike Bloom, quoting Sami Layadi, “'Survivor 43's' Sami Layadi Explains Why He Never Went After Cody and Jesse”, in Parade, archived from the original on 2022-12-08:

(Australia, Canada, US, uncountable, colloquial, derogatory) Garbage; something considered worthless.


happy holidays

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

In the United States people say Happy Holidays to include all people on the earth: the Jewish people Celebrating Hanukah, Africans celebrating Kwanza, Middle Eastern people celebrating Eid, Christians celebrating Christmas, […]

2009, Ruben Santos Claveria, Holiday Songs and Kisses: Christmas Songs And other Poems:

Madeleine Mayfair, What Should I Write? 101 Holiday Wishes for Greeting Cards
Season's greetings and happy holidays!

(Canada, US, Philippines) A greeting used during the Christmas and winter holiday season to recognize the celebration of many holidays, sometimes starting with Thanksgiving and including Hanukkah, the winter solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Day.


butthole

My butthole is on fire from that dang hot sauce of yours.

Opinions are like buttholes, Everyone has one but sometimes they stink and you don't want to hear them

(Canada, US, mildly vulgar, slang) The anus.

Don't be such a butthole.

(Canada, US, derogatory, euphemistic) An objectionable person; a bastard; a jerk.


cable guy

(Canada, US, informal) A man who works for the cable television service and installs cable television.


quarter note

(Canada, US, music) A musical note one beat long in 4/4 time.


jap

en-verb

jap (third-person singular simple present japs, present participle japping, simple past and past participle japped)

japs (present singular third-person)
japping (participle present)
japped (participle past)
japped (past)
Jap (alternative)

Shortening of Japanese, in reference to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

(Canada, US, ethnic slur, slang, transitive) To carry out a sneak attack upon (something or somebody).


Likely influenced by the time (4:20 pm) a particular group would meet in search of marijuana, circa 1971; subsequently spread as a cipher through the San Francisco Bay area and adopted among Grateful Dead fans.

four-twenty (alternative)
four twenty (alternative)

Sunday is 420 day, when lovers of marijuana get together to celebrate their fondness for weed.

2025 April 20, Sandee LaMotte, “Marijuana hospital visits linked to dementia diagnosis within 5 years, study finds”, in CNN:


lardass

lardasses (plural)
lard-arse (alternative)

It was soon realized that there werenąt^([sic]) enough creaky knees, arthritic hips and aching backs outside of the sunbelt to support carts so they went after the lardass trade. And when they realized that there were not sufficient numbers of creaky knees, arthritic hips, aching backs and lardasses, they targeted the morally crippled. And when they saw that creaky knees, arthritic hips, aching backs, lardasses and the morally crippled didnąt^([sic]) do it for them, they finally made carts mandatory for everyone.

1997 February 20, Albert Charles, “CART GOLF as I see it”, in rec.sport.golf (Usenet):

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory, vulgar) An overweight or obese person.


solarium

solariums (plural)
solaria (plural)
Solarium (alternative)

From Latin sōlārium (“sundial, place for enjoying sunlight”), from sōl (“sun”) + -ārium (“-arium: indicating related places or devices”).

bor

My brother kept a health-lift a few years ago... and then he had a blue-glass solarium.

1891, Edward Eggleston, The Faith Doctor, page 289:

The solariums on the roofs of the houses of the ancient Greeks and Romans testify to the benefits obtained by them from sun baths.

The Greeks had their helioses and the Romans their solaria; yet heliotherapy has as yet scarcely emerged from the most empiric of performances into the dignity of a scientifically justified or rationalized procedure.

1925, Hobart Amory Hare, Progressive Medicine, page 219:

(chiefly US and Canada) A room, rooftop, balcony, or terrace, used for its abundant sunlight, especially when used as a medical treatment.


band-aid

band-aids (plural)
bandaid (alternative)

Genericized trademark from Band-Aid, registered and coined by Johnson & Johnson in 1924 as band(age) + aid.

(Australia, Canada, US, Philippines) An adhesive bandage, a small piece of fabric or plastic that may be stuck to the skin in order to temporarily cover a small wound.

It was another of those political band-aids patted over a minor sore.

1968, United Church Observer, n 15 (March), p 36

(Australia, Canada, US, Philippines, informal) A temporary or makeshift solution to a problem, created ad hoc and often with a lack of foresight.


gas pump

(Canada, US) A device at a gas station that dispenses gasoline.


about to

I'm not about to let the lockdown stop me from going to the beach every day.

I'm not about to wander around at night to find it.

(as negative 'not about to', informal, originally US, Canada) Indicates that one has no intention of doing the stated thing at any time in the future.