Canuck
Part of speech: noun
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
government
hobbies
ice-hockey
lifestyle
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
skating
skiing
sports
war
Etymology: Origin uncertain, often hypothesized to derive from the name or speech of an early Canadian minority, later broadened to denote all Canadians:
* Since 1975, many scholars have come to think the name is from Hawaiian kanaka (“man”), a self-appellation of indentured colonial canoemen and Hawaiian sailors working off the Pacific Northwest, Arctic, and New England coasts, from French canaque (“indigenous Melanesian inhabitant of New Caledonia, Kanak”); or, more likely, American whalers’ pidgin, then re-interpreted as Can(adian) + a suffix. (More below on that [specific] putative suffix.) Compare English Kanak and German Kanake.
* Some dictionaries suggest it is derived from the first syllable of Canada, or its etymon Laurentian kanata (“village”), or a related word kanuchsa meaning “villager” in either Laurentian or another Iroquoian language; with the second syllable connected to Inuktitut inuk (“man; person”), from Chinook (“Aboriginal people of the U.S. Pacific Northwest”), or another First-Nation language ending like -oc, -uc, or -uq.
* Fanciful and unlikely suggestions include German genug von Canada (literally “enough of Canada”) (allegedly uttered by German mercenaries during the American War of Independence), French quelle canule (“what a bore”) (allegedly uttered by the French during a siege of Quebec), or the surname Connaught /ˈkɑ.nəxt/ (supposedly a French-Canadian nickname for the Irish).
Inflected forms:
form: Canucks
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: canuck
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Canack
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Cannack
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Canuc
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: canuc
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Canuk
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Conuck
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Cunnuck
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Kanuck
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: Kanuk
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: K'nuck
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: more Canuck
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most Canuck
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent.
pos: noun
tags: Canada
US
derogatory
informal
sometimes
examples: Canadians are somewhat jealous of the Americans; that they are secretly manœuvering, not exactly with the inoffensive good humor of a much respected yeoman of England, […] but rather after the inordinate example of Ahab of old, so pithily recorded by the sacred historian. Jonathan distinguishes a Dutch or French Canadian, by the term Kanuk.
We saw a few partridges: we also met a lusty fellow in a forest road with a keg of whisky slung round him, who called to us 'Come boys and have some grog, I'm what you call a canuck:' a (Canadian).
It is a pity these Canadian militiamen spoilt the good work they had done by never-failing bluster. But for pure and unadulterated brag I will back the lower-class Canuck against the world. The Yankee is a very sucking dove compared to his northern neighbour.
[T]he Canucks were ready with bats, hands, feet and heads, to outplay the locals at all points. They did it to a nicety. It is wonderful to contemplate the quality of ball speiled by the Canucks when their lungs are filled with Rochester air.
He's got a Canuck a-workin' for him, and I'd livser trust a wolf 'n one o' them pea-soupers.
The new-comers were a couple of farmers from Minnesota, genuine Americans from birth; wise men, with a keg of good water in their waggon. "And don't you want to be Americans any longer?" I asked. "No," said they most emphatically, "we're Canucks now."
One person who realizes that the Canadian troops in England have healthy appetites is Corp. J. R. Johnstone, chief butcher of a unit. He and his 16 assistants drag from huge refrigerators eight tons of meat per day for the hungry Canucks; and every other day when rationing is less severe the butchers carve up 16 tons of lamb, beef and pork.
The Scottish skip [Alex F. Torrance] missed a wide open takeout in the fifth leaving the Canucks another single.
[Jack] Kerouac's writings reveal that, although celebrated as an iconic American, he thought of himself as first and foremost Canadian. In La Vie est d'Hommage, he writes, "I am French Canadian. When I am angry, I often swear in French; when I dream, I often dream in French." He went on to say that "all my knowledge comes from my being French Canadian.” But as a Canuck in the United States, he felt patronized. He needed to hide his true self. Even with his friends in New York, with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, he was "a completely different man. We have to live in English, it's impossible to live in French. This is the secret thought of the Canuck in America."
gloss: A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent.
pos: noun
tags: Canada
US
derogatory
informal
sometimes
gloss: A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent.
pos: noun
tags: Canada
US
derogatory
informal
sometimes
gloss: A thing from Canada.
pos: noun
tags: rare
examples: Wha'll buy my caller herrin'? / Cod, turbot, ling, delicious farin', / Buy my caller herrin', / They're every one Kanucks!
gloss: A thing from Canada.
pos: noun
tags: historical
rare
gloss: A thing from Canada.
pos: noun
tags: US
obsolete
rare
examples: I'll sit here and blow till he comes round with his old go-cart, and then I'll hang on to the tail of it, and try legs with that little Kanuck of his.
Forty years ago the States south of the French part of Canada procured a large number of horses from that country. These were popularly called "Canucks," and were distinguished from the horses of the country by strongly marked characteristics. […] The Canuck was thoroughly a Norman horse in all respects except size, though having more strength in proportion to size and more spirit, […] Canucks in general had excessive knee action, and were natural trotters or pacers, were not built for galloping, and not inclined to take that gait; […]
gloss: Of, belonging to, or relating to Canada, its culture, or people; Canadian.
pos: adj
tags: derogatory
sometimes
examples: "I want none of your d—— peasoup excuses, or promises," and, calling upon the hostler, a fat-blooded Englishman, he ordered him to stable the horse immediately, and keep a sharp "look out" to that Canuck Frenchman.
It is well known that Canada, by the adoption of a protective tariff, shut out many of our American articles from the Canuck markets.
Well, what do you think of the Canuck elections?
Any trend by the big brother to the south to tell Canadians how to run their affairs can raise Canuck dander very quickly.
gloss: Of or relating to the Vancouver Canucks professional ice hockey team belonging to the National Hockey League.
pos: adj
Translations:
lang: Finnish
word: kanukki
lang: Romanian
word: canadez
lang: Russian
word: кана́дец
roman: kanádec
lang: Russian
word: кана́к
roman: kanák
lang: Swedish
word: kanadick
lang: Finnish
word: kanukki