Supercalifradgalisticexpialidocious Canadian words & sayings
By: Bill Casselman.
Publisher: McArthur & Co.
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Toronto
Language: eng
Number of pages: 445
Subjects: Canadianisms.; English language -- Etymology.
Genres: Comedy
Other titles: Canadian words and sayings.
Description: from the preface by the author, Bill Casselman

from the preface. . .

As its title proclaims, this is a book full of wholesome Canadian word stories and family-friendly Canadian sayings: words first, sayings second. 550 expressions are inside and 156 are brand-new, never before published in any of my collections. Other books of mine have contained racy, raunchy and off-colour items but not this one. Uncle Billy promises purity and swears on a stack of rusty Paul Martin campaign buttons! 

THE WORDS 

This word collection highlights my own favourite Canadian word stories, especially chosen for the enjoyment of the whole family. For example... 

Just How did the Maple Leaf Become the Emblem of Canada ?

Long symbolic of Canada, the leaf of a sugar maple has been the heraldic device on our flag since 1965. The Québec and Ontario coats-of-arms granted in 1868 have maple leaves; so does the 1921 Canadian coat-of-arms. 

But did one event begin this Canada-maple leaf association? 

Well, some say the maple leaf symbolism began with its use as camouflage! 

An intriguing suggestion, in the form of a folktale, is repeated in Frank Quance’s The Canadian Speller: Grade 6 (3 rd. ed., Gage, 1950): “During the war of 1812-1814, the scarlet jacket of Canadian and British soldiers made a perfect target for the enemies. Therefore, when fighting in the woods, each soldier cut slips in his blouse and inserted a twig of maple leaves to bluff the enemy. This was the first time the maple leaf had been specifically identified with Canadians or with Canada .”

The Maple Leaf Forever! 

One day in the fall of 1867 a Toronto school teacher named Alexander Muir was traipsing a street in the city, all squelchy underfoot from the soft felt of falling leaves, when a maple leaf alighted on his coat sleeve and stuck there. After it resisted several brushings-off, Muir joked to his walking companion that this would be “the maple leaf for ever!” At home that evening, he wrote a poem and set it to music, in celebration of Canada ’s Confederation earlier that year. Muir’s song, “The Maple Leaf Forever,” was wildly popular and helped fasten the symbol firmly to Canada and things Canadian. 



These stories from Canadian history and from last night’s news headlines are entertaining and surprising. You’ll find out in the first section of my newthe book why some terms that we use everyday are not what they seem. 

Did you know that Lake Huron is a vicious, nasty insult to our First Peoples? 

Canada has a fish that ignites. On our Pacific coast, the oolichan or candlefish is so full of oil it can be lighted at one end and used as a candle. British Columbia pioneers did just that. 

PIPSISSEWA? 

• Have you tasted pipsissewa? It’s a First Nations word that is 100% Canadian. If you’ve ever taken a swig of good, home made, tongue-startling, palate-corrugating root beer (not the homogenized, limp-bubbled suds of commercial root beers), then you know the refreshing, wintergreen-like taste of Pipsissewa. Taste more Canadian words for our food and drink inside Canadian Words & Sayings!

Are You A Cheechako? 

Ever thought of heading to northern Alberta’s tomorrow country, the tar sands. When you arrive, you’ll be a cheechako.Prospectors heading north to the Klondike gold rush of 1898 brought this Pacific coast word for ‘greenhorn’ or ‘newcomer’ with them and it is still is wide use throughout Canada’s far north. Cheechako is Chinook Jargon, chee ‘new’ + chako ‘come.’ The term was introduced into Canadian English by the popularity of Robert W. Service’s books of frontier poetry, especially Songs of a Sourdough (1907) and Ballads of a Cheechako (1909).



Canadian Words & Sayings features Weather Rhymes from all across Canada, like these two from Ontario:

1

When the woods murmur, and the Great Lakes roar,

Then close your windows, and stay on shore.



2

When poplar shows its underwear,

The clouds do rain and thunder bear. 



Enjoy more Canuck words plus 550 Canadian folk sayings (including 156 expressions newly collected), waiting inside Bill Casselman's newest book.
Notes: Includes index. Here is entire table of contents supplied by author:

Here are all the main word topics as listed on the contents page of the book:



Agincourt , Ontario 

Alberta Chuckwagon Slang 

Alberta ’s Fort Whoop-Up 

Arctic Char & The Origin of the Word Arctic

Alder Trees, Canadian Beavers & Venice , Italy 

Apples of Canada 

Arborvitae: The Canadian Origin of This Cedar’s Name 

Arctic Willow Tea 

Athabasca 

Bafflegab & Gobbledygook of Canada CD 

Bakeapple 

Baked Wind Pills 

Balsamroot 

Balsam & Balm: Word Lore Galore 

Bangbelly 

Bear Foot 

Bear’s Butter 

Bedlunch 

Bellybusters 

Birch Bark Moose Calls 

“Birdcages” of Victoria , B.C. 

Blé d’Inde (Indian Corn) 

Blue-Blood Alley in Vancouver 



Bluff on the Canadian Prairies 

Boil-Up & A Pipe 

Boss Ribs of Prairie Buffalo 

Boucanière (Acadian Smokehouse) & Pirates 

Bouillon d’Habitant (Farmer’s Stew) 

Bourassa & Borage & Burro 

Brewis 

Brollywood , British Columbia 



Bryan Adams 

Buffalo Berry 

Bungee of Manitoba 

Butte 

Butter Tart 

Cabot: Famous Name in Canadian History 

Cadillac: Automobile Takes Fur Trader’s Name 

Calgary Redeye 

Callaghan: A Literary Surname of Canada 

Canola 

Camas of British Columbia 

Canada Bloodroot or Puccoon 

Canadian Prison Slang: Benny, Billy & Dunker 

Canadian Wild Ginger: A Pioneer Toothpaste 

Cape Breton Pork Pies 

Caribou 

Catskinner 

Charlottetown 

Cheechako 

Chiard 

Cipaille or Sea Pie? 

Ciselette (Pork & Molasses Dessert Sauce) 

Coteaux of Canada 

Colcannon Night in Newfoundland 

Coulee 

Cow Chips & Bodewash 

Cushion Cactus Fruit of Alberta 

Damper Dogs & Flacoons in Newfoundland 

Digby Chicken 

“Dog Patch” in Edmonton 

Dollar Bill: A Canuck Buck 

Dolly Varden Trout 

Dough Gods 

Douglas Fir of British Columbia 

Duck Potato & Wapatoo: Canadian Terms for Arrowhead Plant 

Dulse 

Dumb Cake 

Eau Claire in Calgary 

Edmonton ’s Neighbourhoods 

Eel Pie 

Eh? Did Canucks Invent Eh? 

Figgy Duff 

Firewater 

Fireweed Tea in the Yukon 

First Meridian of Manitoba 

Flipper Pie of Newfoundland 

Foule : It Might Fool You. 

Fredericton , New Brunswick 

Fricot (Acadian Stew) 

Frolic in New Brunswick Has Jumpy Origin. 

Fungy 

Geoduck a.k.a. Gooeyduck 

Gin Pole 

Gorbies all over Muskoka! 

Gow in B.C. Waters 

Grid Roads 

Grunt 

Halifax 

Hallelujah Point in Vancouver 

Ofra Harnoy: Meanings of A Cellist’s Name 

Haw Eaters or Manitoulin Islanders 

Hébert: Famous Surname of Québec 

Hepatica 

Here’s A Ho! 

Herring-Choker in New Brunswick 

Hewitt of Hockey Shoots & Scores. 

High Muckamuck 

Hoodoo 

Hootch 

Hurt Pie 

Intervale of our Maritimes 

Irish Moss Pudding 

Jigg’s Dinner 

Jill-Poke 

Jollop 

Juniper Tea 

Kahahoosa or Jack-in-the-Pulpit 

Kartoshnik — Doukhobors’ Potatoes 

Kiack 

Kinnikinnick 

Kitsilano in Vancouver 

Krall as in “Diana of the Keyboards” 

Labrador Tea 

Lake Winnipeg Goldeye 

Lassy Mogs 

Logging Jargon of British Columbia 

Lucivee 

Lumber: Origin of a Word in Canadian Economic History 

Lunenburg Pudding 

Malpeque Oysters of P.E.I. 

Mangeurs De Lard or Porkeaters 

Manitoulin 

Manitowaning 

Maple — The Totally Awesome Super Entry of this Entire Book 

Marquis Wheat 

Medicare 

Mi’kmaq Potato or Groundnut 

Mina : The Cree Word for ‘ Berry ’ 

Mooseberry 

Moose Muffle Soup 

Mug Up 

Nanaimo Bar 

Nettle Soup 

Newfoundland Changes Its Name 

Nuisance Grounds 

Nunavik & Nunavut: Different Words for Different Places 

Ontario Hydro 

Oolichan: A Fish That Ignites 

Ottawa 

“Packingtown” In Edmonton 

Peavey 

Pembina Berry 

Pemmican 

Pickerel Weed 

Pikelets 

Pipsissewa 

Pitcher Plant 

Ponnukokur 

Pork & Jerk 

Potlatch 

Pouding du Chômeur 

Poutine: The Complete & Factual Story 

Prairie: Origin of the Word 

Prairie Chicken 

Prickly Pear Cactus 

Prince Edward Island of Many Names 

Real Mccoy of Ontario : An African-Canadian Invention 

Red River Bannock 

Richibucto Goose 

Rips 

Robin Hood™ Flour 

Rock Tripe or Tripe De Roche 

Rouleauville in Calgary 



Rubbaboo 

St. John’s 

Salal 

Salmonberry or Olallie 

Saskatoonberry 

Saw-Off 

Saw-Whet Owl 

Scarborough 



Scotchman’s Hill in Calgary 

Scripture Cord 

Scrunchins 

Scut on Prince Edward Island 

Shediacs 

Skidroad in Vancouver 



Skunk Cabbage & Me 

Skyr 

Sloven 

Smelt Storm 

Soapolallie, Soapberry or Hooshum 

Sockeye Salmon: A British Columbia Word 

Son-Of-A-Gun-In-A-Sack 

Sonsy 

Sounds 

Squatum 

Stog Your Face 

Tar Sands of Fort Mcmurray , Alberta 

Teddy of Shine 

Tooney: Birth of a Canadian Money Word 

Toronto Words & Place Names 

Toronto Street Slang 

Tourtière 

Toutin 

Tree Nails of New Brunswick 

Trillium, a.k.a. Moose-Flower of Nova Scotia 

Vent-View 

Wangan & Wanigan 

Weather Rhymes of Canada 

Whore’s Egg 

Why I’m Not a Word Cop: A Personal Essay 

Winnipeg 

Winnipeg Jambuster

+ 550 Folk Sayings Used by Canadians