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Canuck
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"Canuck" is a slang term for Canadians.
According to Bart Bandy’'s Lexicon of Canadian Etymology (Don Mills, Ont., C. Farquharson, 1994), the term evolved from the French word canule around the time of the American Revolution; but its path of evolution is still not clear.
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Encyclopedia
"Canuck" is a slang term for Canadians.
History
The term was coined in the 19th century, although its etymology is unclear. Possibilities include:
- kanata "village" (See Name of Canada)
- Canada + -uc (Algonquian noun suffix)
- Connaught, an obscure term for Irish-French-Canadians.
- Some linguists hold that it is derived from the Hawaiian Kanaka.
According to Bart Bandy’'s Lexicon of Canadian Etymology (Don Mills, Ont., C. Farquharson, 1994), the term evolved from the French word canule around the time of the American Revolution; but its path of evolution is still not clear. The most likely possibility is that it rose from a mispronunciation among Benedict Arnold’s forces as they laid siege to Quebec in the winter of 1776. According to Bandy, the comte de Theleme-Menteuse was one of the locals captured by the ragtag Americans. In his Contes bizarre d’Isle (sic) d’Orleans, the latter says that the Americans picked up the common phrase "Quelle canule," but they were usually shivering so hard when they said it that it came out with the "l" hardened into a glottal stop – thence a "k."
On the other hand, Montgomery, Arnold’s co-commander on the Canadian expedition, says that Arnold, who loved word-play, made a joke on the word "canule" that was picked up by his troops. In discussing the strategic value of placing troops at the mouth of the St. Lawrence to resist the British fleet expected in the spring, Arnold noted the peculiar shape of the Gaspe Peninsula and exclaimed, "There’s a canule to make his majesty gasp." One assumes that the same shivering effect noted previously led to the mispronunciation.
Yet another possibility comes from the German mercenaries who were captured with Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga. Held in prison camps in Pennsylvania, after Yorktown they were offered repatriation to Canada where they had spent several months camped near present-day Ottawa waiting for Burgoyne to get his gear together. Their universal protestation when return to the "Plains of Ottawa" was offered them was, "Nein! Nein! Genug von Kanada." They opted, instead, to become Pennsylvania Dutch. The English speaking Americans around them picked up the phrase (part of "Pulling the Lion’s Tail" no doubt) and compressed "Genug von Kanada" into "Genug Kanada," and so on. While this seems somewhat far-fetched, it does offer a reasonable explanation for the "k" in a word supposedly derived from French, especially as it was often spelled "Kanuck" during the 19th Century.
Bandy also suggests that there is some evidence of the word originating among the "down-easters" of Maine who had picked up "Quelle Canule" from their French speaking neighbors and applied it when facing the navigational difficulties caused by the peculiar "flushing" effect of the famed tides of the Bay of Fundy. ("Down-easter," by the way, has an interesting etymology of its own.)
Another possibility, though there is no mention in Bandy, is that the many Scots who came to the Great White North during the late 18th and early 19th centuries quickly absorbed "Quelle canule" into their working vocabulary. Being Scots, they would, of course, swallow the end of canule and apply a mild glottal stop, ending up with something very like "Quelle canuhgk." I haven’t had a chance to research this yet, so it remains in the area of supposition.
Meaning
The Random House Dictionary notes that: "The term Canuck is first recorded about 1835 as an Americanism, originally referring specifically to a French Canadian. This was probably the original meaning, though in Canada and other countries, "Canuck" refers to a Canadian."
Usage and examples
Canadians use "Canuck" as an affectionate or merely descriptive term for their nationality. Other nationalities may use the word as an affectionate, or derogatory, or merely a descriptive term.
Usage of the term includes:
- The Canuck is a name many people use for a Killer Whale or Orca.
- The Vancouver Canucks hockey team
- Canuck Place Children's Hospital, providing specialized pediatric palliative care in Vancouver BC
- The Canucks rugby Club, playing in Calgary since 1968.
- The Crazy Canucks, Canadian alpine ski racers who competed successfully on the World Cup circuit in the '70s.
- Johnny Canuck, a personification of Canada who appeared in early political cartoons of the 1860s resisting Uncle Sam's bullying. Johnny Canuck was revived in 1942 by Leo Bachle to defend Canada against the Nazis.
- In 1975 in comics by Richard Comely, Captain Canuck is a super-agent for Canadians' security, with Redcoat and Kebec being his sidekicks. (Kebec is claimed to be unrelated to Capitaine Kébec of a French-Canadian comic published two years earlier.) Captain Canuck had enhanced strength and endurance thanks to being bathed in alien rays during a camping trip. The captain was reintroduced in the mid-1990s, and again in 2004.
- Operation Canuck was the designated name of a British SAS raid led by a Canadian captain, Buck McDonald in January 1945.
- "The Dark Canuck" is a song on The Tragically Hip's album In Violet Light.
- In 1995, Canada Post released 45-cent postage stamps depicting Johnny Canuck and Captain Canuck.
- "Canuck" is a nickname for the Curtiss JN4 and Avro CF-100 aircraft. The CF-100 was the only Canadian designed and built jet fighter to enter operational service. From 1950–1958, 692 Canucks were built. They remained in service until 1981
- One of the first uses of "Canuck" — in the form of "Kanuk" — specifically referred to Dutch Canadians as well as the French.
- "Canuck" also has the derived meanings of a Canadian pony (rare) and a French-Canadian patois (very rare).
- Team Canuck is a small-sized team at RoboCup.
- North Plainfield High School Canucks, is the mascot of this High School in New Jersey.
- The Curtiss JN-4(Can) biplane was known as the Canuck.
- "Canuck the Duck", a character in Return to Zork.
- Soviet Canuckistan
- A french canadian clothing company from Quebec named Kanuk, known for its hand-made heavy duty winter suits.
- Fashion model Elyse Sewell used to refer to one of her former Canadian roommates as "The Canuck" in her livejournal.
- Emily Ferguson Murphy used the pen name Janey Canuck in her writings; most notably a series of articles published in 1922 in The Black Candle.
See also
External links
- National Hockey League team
- Canadians airplane crews who operated in Southeast Asia during World War II
- : with a stamp illustration
- : with a stamp illustration
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