word of the day
- Thread starter Luis G
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paul_valaru
100% Pure Canadian Beef
Canuck
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 now more often refers to any Canadian.
Well over one million French Canadians migrated to New England in the second half of the 19th century, many of them working in lumber camps in Maine. Many of their descendants still live in New England. The writer Jack Kerouac was born into a French Canadian family in Massachusetts. He spoke joual, a Canadian French dialect, until he was about seven, so English was his second language. Mocking his part-American Indian ancestry, Kerouac said: "I not big genius... I big tin-eared Canuck." And it was in a New Hampshire newspaper that Senator Edmund Muskie was accused of laughing when an aide described Americans of French- Canadian descent as "Canucks."
The New Hampshire incident points up the ambivalent connotations of the term Canuck. Is it a neutral nickname, or is it patronizing, or even offensive? A Vermonter or Ottawan may use the nickname self-referentially, but outsiders should use it cautiously. It's also a matter of context and the speaker's intent is it Canuck ingenuity, or those damn Canucks?
According to Canadian dictionaries, Canadian use of Canuck is not offensive. For example, it's the name of a hockey team. But if it's used by non-Canadians, especially if it's referring to French Canadians, it's usually offensive.
Though Canuck is the only current spelling, earlier forms were Canuk, Conuck, Can(n)ack, Kanu(c)k, K'nuck. These spellings give us clues as to the origin of the term, though it's ultimately uncertain. One theory is that the word is from Connaught, an early French-Canadian nickname for Irish immigrants. Or Canuck could be a blend of the first syllable of Canada and the Indian noun ending -uc, -uq. Other sources say the word is from Hawaiian kanaka, meaning 'person, Hawaiian, South Sea islander', the connection being that French Canadians and these islanders were employed in the Pacific Northwest fur trade, or that the Hawaiian word was brought to New England by whalers. (Canadian French canaque originally meant 'canoeman'.) Or Canuck may be an Anglicization of an Indian word for a resident of a kanata, or 'village community.' The source is definitely not Johnny Canuck, since this cartoon character dates from 1869.
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 now more often refers to any Canadian.
Well over one million French Canadians migrated to New England in the second half of the 19th century, many of them working in lumber camps in Maine. Many of their descendants still live in New England. The writer Jack Kerouac was born into a French Canadian family in Massachusetts. He spoke joual, a Canadian French dialect, until he was about seven, so English was his second language. Mocking his part-American Indian ancestry, Kerouac said: "I not big genius... I big tin-eared Canuck." And it was in a New Hampshire newspaper that Senator Edmund Muskie was accused of laughing when an aide described Americans of French- Canadian descent as "Canucks."
The New Hampshire incident points up the ambivalent connotations of the term Canuck. Is it a neutral nickname, or is it patronizing, or even offensive? A Vermonter or Ottawan may use the nickname self-referentially, but outsiders should use it cautiously. It's also a matter of context and the speaker's intent is it Canuck ingenuity, or those damn Canucks?
According to Canadian dictionaries, Canadian use of Canuck is not offensive. For example, it's the name of a hockey team. But if it's used by non-Canadians, especially if it's referring to French Canadians, it's usually offensive.
Though Canuck is the only current spelling, earlier forms were Canuk, Conuck, Can(n)ack, Kanu(c)k, K'nuck. These spellings give us clues as to the origin of the term, though it's ultimately uncertain. One theory is that the word is from Connaught, an early French-Canadian nickname for Irish immigrants. Or Canuck could be a blend of the first syllable of Canada and the Indian noun ending -uc, -uq. Other sources say the word is from Hawaiian kanaka, meaning 'person, Hawaiian, South Sea islander', the connection being that French Canadians and these islanders were employed in the Pacific Northwest fur trade, or that the Hawaiian word was brought to New England by whalers. (Canadian French canaque originally meant 'canoeman'.) Or Canuck may be an Anglicization of an Indian word for a resident of a kanata, or 'village community.' The source is definitely not Johnny Canuck, since this cartoon character dates from 1869.