News about the Strathy Language Unit and Canadian English studies
'国产91尤物福利在线观看 Bee': Anatomy of an Entry
Date: August 19, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett | CED Definer
[This is the fourth piece in our series Anatomy of an Entry, an exploration of how we define words for the new Canadian English Dictionary.]
queen bee, n
- the fertile female bee in a hive
- a woman who behaves dominantly in a group
鈥淒ictionaries have always copied from one another.鈥 So says Sidney Landau in his 2001 book Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography (p. 402). Here, Landau identifies the long-held process in dictionary-making where lexicographers look to other dictionaries to help establish the boundaries of their own definitions. After all, there are only so many ways to describe, for example, rand, 鈥渢he monetary unit of South Africa.鈥 We could try to change the phrasing so as not to appear to be copying other dictionaries 鈥 鈥淪outh Africa鈥檚 monetary unit?鈥 鈥淭he monetary currency of South Africa?鈥 鈥淭he national monetary unit of the country of South Africa?鈥
There鈥檚 no need to reinvent the wheel unless we鈥檙e adding something significant. As Landau tells us, routinely checking how other dictionaries have defined a word is a big part of drafting definitions. And it鈥檚 a crucial step in our drafting process at the CED. Let鈥檚 look at the example of queen bee:
Merriam-Webster.com: the fertile fully developed female of a social bee (as the honeybee)
Dictionary.com: a fertile female bee
Cambridge.org: (insect) in a group of bees, a single large female that produces eggs
Canadian Oxford: (of bees) the fertile female in a hive
Fairly quickly, we can determine the relevant aspects of the definition and include or exclude any details we prefer. In this case, we omit Cambridge鈥檚 detail that the queen bee is large (lest we spend time and space defining exactly how large we mean by large, and in comparison to what). And the specifiers 鈥(insect)鈥 and 鈥(of bees)鈥 can be omitted since we鈥檝e incorporated the word bee into our definition. We decided on:
You're Not Delulu...
Date: August 18, 2025 | Category: In the Media
... These slang terms may be here to stay. "Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary," said Colin McIntosh, lexical program manager at Cambridge Dictionary, the world's largest online dictionary.
- (CBC, Aug. 18, 2025)
Yukon English
Date: August 11, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Most of what we know about Canadian English is based on studies of urban varieties in the south. Researchers from the University of Toronto are hoping to change this, with a to document the English spoken in the Yukon.
- (CBC, Aug. 10, 2025)
Thunder Bayisms
Date: August 4, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Are you having a stan and si for lunch and then going to a shag?
- (The Chronicle Journal, Aug. 2)
'Quackgrass': Anatomy of an Entry
Date: August 1, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett | CED Definer
[This is the third piece in our series Anatomy of an Entry, an exploration of how we define words for the new Canadian English Dictionary.]
quackgrass, n
(also quack grass, quick grass, couch grass)
a grass native to Europe and Western Asia, invasive with serious agricultural impact in Canada: Elymus repens
Let鈥檚 consider quackgrass. This was the first botanical entry I worked on, and it allowed us to begin drafting a template for flora and fauna entries that goes something like this: lexicographical genus + origin/distribution + physical differentiae + (optional) economic or cultural significance +: binomial name.
Now let鈥檚 break down those sections.
Seriously?
Date: July 29, 2025 | Category: In the Media
New research looks at in different varieties of English. The exception is American English, which the models are better at, given that most of the training data is American. How surprising.
The Value of Dictionaries
Date: July 22, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Writing for the New York Times, Alessandro Tersigni makes a in the age of AI, with a shout-out to the CED.
'Quilt': Anatomy of an Entry
Date: July 16, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett, CED Definer
[This is the second piece in our series Anatomy of an Entry, an exploration of how we define words for the new Canadian English Dictionary.]
quilt, n
- two layers of cloth with a layer of padding in between, stitched with cross lines through all three layers
- see PATCHWORK QUILT
- something composed of multiple distinct parts, reminiscent of a quilt
Think of a quilt. That seems easy enough. Maybe you鈥檙e picturing a blanket stitched by a parent or grandparent, with bits of fabric from your childhood clothing. Maybe, like me, your family are not quilters, so the only experience you have with quilts are the factory-made bed coverings in shades of safe millennial grey. Or maybe you aren鈥檛 even thinking about a blanket鈥攎aybe you鈥檙e picturing a piece of quilted wall art that has never felt the comfort of a bed. Herein lies the problem. Can you define quilt as a blanket, or is this too exclusive? What are the essential qualities of a quilt that need to be relayed?
How to Spell E-n-g-l-i-s-h
Date: July 7, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Gabe Henry, author of Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Eezier to Spell about his new book, the history of English spelling and the unique conundrums of Canadian English.
Celebrate Canada Day with Canadianisms
Date: July 1, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Celebrate what makes Canadian English Canadian by exploring the .
- (Toronto Star, June 30, 2025)
- (Vancouver Sun, June 30, 2025)
Anatomy of an Entry
Date: June 30, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett, CED Definer
How do you start writing a dictionary?
The Strathy Language Unit has partnered with the forthcoming . We鈥檙e working hard on drafting definitions, spellings, pronunciations and etymologies for all the words in Canadian English. We begin with the letter Q (find out from our editor-in-chief, John Chew). Q, of course, stands for question鈥攁nd as you鈥檒l see, I have many.
How do you start defining a word? Some words are easy鈥攖here are only so many ways to define kilogram, toonie or pencil. But what about the trickier words? Truth? Quantum theory? Nothing?
There are also words that seem simple but are hard to define because they are such basic units of the English language. Like sit. Try to define sit. It seems to me that we need to define this by the way our bodies are positioned when we sit. So, we need to talk about butts. Is it ok to say butt in the dictionary? Buttocks? Haunches? Ass?? And what about when nonhumans sit? Can a snail sit? And would it have a butt with which to do so?
Clearly, defining becomes troublesome very quickly and it鈥檚 easy to fall into hours of research trying to figure out a concrete difference between marsh and bog or to find a usable example of someone using the word quintuplicately鈥
So, if you鈥檙e interested in how dictionaries are put together and how we define the elements of our world, watch out for new posts here in 鈥Anatomy of an Entry鈥. In this series, I鈥檒l examine a single entry from the letter Q and reveal how we draft definitions in the Canadian English Dictionary. And if you want to know the difference between quotidian, daily and everyday, or how many types of quails there are, or if a quiche is still a quiche if its sweet, you鈥檙e in the right place.
DCHP-3
Date: May 20, 2025 | Category: News
The third edition of the is now available! Enjoy pursuing the new entries, such as , and updated entries, such as , as well as the roughly 12,000 entries from previous editions.
Toronto Accent
Date: April 12, 2025 | Category: In the Media
"There are more than 150 different languages that are spoken in Toronto, and over 50 percent of Torontonians speak English as a first language鈥攖he Toronto accent is a reflection of the diversity the city prides itself on."
, The Walrus, April 11, 2025
Gigil
Date: March 31, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Thanks to Tagalog for !
Canadian English Dictionary (CED)
Date: March 19, 2025 | Category: News
Strathy liaison to the CED 鈥 Basil the dog 鈥 invites you to learn more about the dictionary project!
Canadiano
Date: Feb. 26, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Canadian English has not been spared from the changes wrought or inspired by the new administration south of the border. Anyone care for a ?
Language and Community
Date: Feb. 25, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Sociolinguist Sali Tagliamonte and the value of oral histories for understanding language, culture and connection.
Canadian English Research
Date: Jan. 24, 2025 | Category: In the Media
The , the , , ... read about some of the interesting Canadian English research happening at the University of Toronto.
Rawdog
Date: Jan. 13, 2025 | Category: In the Media
鈥淚n 2024 folks rawdogged flights, family dinners, and final exams. As one nominator commented this evening, rawdog is a great choice for [American Dialect Society's] as we collectively rawdog the future of American politics in 2025.鈥
Polarization
Date: Jan. 9, 2025 | Category: In the Media
According to , 2024 was characterized by 鈥渄ivision into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.鈥 What will 2025 bring?
Accents of English
Date: Dec. 16, 2024 | Category: News
A presentation by Canadian English Dictionary team members was part of the recent conference Accents of English in 艁贸d藕, Poland.
SPEK-yuh-lohss
Date: Dec. 4, 2024 | Category: In the Media
Babbel released a list of the most of the for the US and the UK. How do you think Canadians fair with these terms?
Brain Rot
Date: Dec. 2, 2024 | Category: In the Media
鈥淲hile England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot 鈥 which prevails so much more widely and fatally?鈥 Climbing the usage charts to win , concerns about 'brain rot' have clearly grown since Thoreau's first use of the term in 1854.
Very Mindful, Very Demure
Date: Nov. 26, 2024 | Category: In the Media
TikToker Jools Lebron helped propel "demure" to .
Manifest
Date: Nov. 21, 2024 | Category: In the Media
We can thank "manifesting influencers" for catapulting this word to .
Interrobang
Date: Nov. 7, 2024 | Category: In the Media
In her new collection, Newfoundland poet Mary Dalton .
The Brat Era
Date: Nov. 3, 2024 | Category: In the Media
"Characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude": ' as their 2024 Word of the Year.
Deppenapostroph
Date: Oct. 11, 2024 | Category: In the Media
Perhaps we can't blame Canadian English in particular, but many in Germany are upset by .
Bussin' Slang
Date: Sept. 4, 2024 | Category: In the Media
Can you speak Gen Z?
Rethinking English
Date: July 26, 2024 | Category: In the Media
CBC's Ideas recently re-broadcast an about English's complex role as a global language.
Canadian English Accents
Date: July 2, 2024 | Category: In the Media
"In the process of learning English, it has become ours 鈥 comfortably ours with all its uniqueness ... I wish that people could see and understand that while many of us may speak English differently than people raised in Canada, we are all communicating in one language."
(CBC News, July 1, 2024)
Wah Gwan Toronto
Date: June 5, 2024 | Category: In the Media
Drake and Snowd4y's new parody song, Wah Gwan Delilah, is a nod to Multicultural Toronto English.
(Toronto Star, June 4, 2024)
(Sportskeeda, June 4, 2024)
Hockey English
Date: May 21, 2024 | Category: In the Media
"Bray found that American athletes borrow features of the Canadian English accents, especially for hockey-specific terms and jargon, but do not follow the underlying rules behind the pronunciation, which could explain why the accent might sound 'fake' to a Canadian."
(May 16, Phys.org)
16 Newfisms
Date: May 10, 2024 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Aiden Hickey
[This piece is the fourth and final in our series: Englishes from the Maritimes.]
Long may your big jib draw 鈫 Good luck to you in the future / Godspeed
In my previous piece, I contrasted a pair of similar grammatical features in the Englishes of Cape Breton and Newfoundland. I used those examples to emphasize a larger point that there are regional nuances which emerge from such comparisons, underscoring in turn the distinctiveness of the two semi-autonomous varieties of Atlantic Canadian English. Put differently, I used those examples to serve as a corrective to the commonplace assumption that Cape Bretoners and Newfoundlanders speak the same regional variety of English, an assumption which is based on the kindred accents and the wide array of words, expressions and phrases which are shared by speakers of each island.
In this final piece, I transition to the earth-bound, sometimes hilarious, and inventive vocabulary of Newfoundland English, a vocabulary which oftentimes overlaps with the vocabulary of Cape Breton English. Pouring over the dictionaries of each island鈥擠avey and Mackinnon鈥檚 Dictionary of Cape Breton English and Kirwin, Story, and Widdowson鈥檚 Dictionary of Newfoundland English鈥攈as once again provided me with the tempting opportunity to share with you some of the unusual words and expressions which speakers of each island share, shift and tweak the meanings of, and so forth. However, the sheer amount of fishing and nautical terms which overlap in the two dictionaries, due in large part to the long-established lobster (Cape Breton) and cod (Newfoundland) economies of these Maritime regions, are far too voluminous to compare, contrast and recount here. Thus, I have selected some of the most stand-alone terms and expressions which claim the highest degree of currency in Newfoundland to explore in this piece, all in hopes of providing you with the flavor of 鈥淣ewfinese鈥.
A fair number of words presented below I have recently discovered in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. But there are a few others which I had the pleasure of discovering a few summers ago through the much less 鈥渂ookish鈥 process of 鈥渆xperiential learning鈥. As it happened, one of my best friends and I engaged in what might be called a form of cultural exchange, of sorts, over the course of two summers.
Summer Office Location
Date: May 2, 2024 | Category: News
The Strathy Unit offices in Kingston Hall will be closed from May to August while the building is under construction. Meanwhile, you can find us in our temporary space in Mackintosh-Corry D512.
News of the New Dictionary
Date: April 18, 2024 | Category: In the Media
An describes the new Canadian English dictionary project鈥攐f which the Strathy Language Unit is a proud partner!
Cape Breton vs. Newfoundland: Grammatical Features, b'y!
Date: April 17, 2024 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Aiden Hickey
[This piece is the third in our series: Englishes from the Maritimes.]
Whattaya at, b鈥檡? 鈫 How are you doing? / Hello!
As with Cape Breton English, discussed in my two previous pieces, Newfoundland English is recognized as a constituent鈥攁longside New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island鈥攐f Atlantic Canadian English. These regional varieties are received and understood, at least in the popular imagination, in a conflated, mock-documentary form by North American and even international audiences through the highly successful comedy series, The Trailer Park Boys. The grouping of these East Coast, Maritime regions is meant, in one respect, to indicate the somewhat dramatic degree to which the English spoken in these regions departs from the more common varieties of English that one notices increasingly when traveling inward to the Canadian 鈥渕ainland鈥 provinces.
There are, however, some important distinctions to establish between the English(es) spoken, for instance, in Cape Breton and Newfoundland. The joke is often made, as I mentioned in my last piece, that because speakers of each island share a similar accent, Cape Bretoners are simply Newfoundlanders who took the wrong turn (or ran out of money!) on their way to Toronto. But Cape Bretoners and Newfoundlanders alike鈥攖he latter known colloquially as 鈥淣ewfies鈥 who speak 鈥淣ewfinese鈥濃攄on鈥檛 always take kindly to the cultural and linguistic flattening enacted by the joke, as there exist regionally defined differences, however small, which transcend any notion of the two regions sharing an identical accent or language more generally.
Solar Eclipse
Date: April 8, 2024 | Category: News
The Strathy Unit was in the zone of totality for today's solar eclipse!
Bai, b'y?
Date: April 1, 2024 | Category: In the Media
"She has always felt like people outside her home of Banbridge, Northern Ireland, need subtitles to decipher her accent and slang. So it has been strange and delightful to discover . . . that in Newfoundland and Labrador, people understand her just fine."
(Toronto Star, March 30, 2024)
11 Cape Bretonisms
Date: March 13, 2024 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Aiden Hickey
[This piece is the second in our new series: Englishes from the Maritimes.]
Cape Bretoner, wha? 鉄 Canadian, eh?
In my last piece, I touched briefly upon the unique accent associated with English speakers in and from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, along with how the migration of Gaelic speakers from Ireland and the Scottish Highlands鈥攚ho began settling on the Island throughout the mid-nineteenth century鈥攑layed a critical role in shaping the phonetic characteristics of the Cape Breton accent. In this piece I turn to the innovative vocabulary of Cape Breton English. With the fairly recent publication of Mackinnon and William鈥檚 Dictionary of Cape Breton English (DCBE) comes a good opportunity to explore how Cape Bretoners alter the meaning of standard English words and even invent their own!
Along with innumerable people who grew up in Canada, I spent a great deal of my time playing and watching hockey. As a consequence, a word like 鈥減uck鈥, for instance, became an essential part of my everyday lexicon, used inside and outside of the house: at hockey practice, at Halifax Moosehead games, the local pond, and the living room, of course. Phrases such as 鈥淪hoot the puck鈥, 鈥淧ass the puck鈥, 鈥淒ump the puck鈥, and (usually before early-morning practice) 鈥淲here are the pucks?鈥, reflected my early stock in trade.
It was only later on, during a weekend visit at my grandparents home in North Sydney, Cape Breton, when I learned that the word 鈥減uck鈥濃攃rystallized in my mind鈥檚 eye as a hockey puck鈥攃ould also be used as a verb. My grandfather had been telling me stories of the childhood roughhousing that used to go on between my mother and uncles when I began to realize the genuine distinctiveness of Cape Breton English . . . 鈥淚 still mind pullin鈥 in the driveway and seein鈥 Jimmy puck Jennifer right in the mouf,鈥 my grandfather said. At this point, around the age of sixteen or seventeen, I had gotten familiar with my grandparents' tendency to drop the "th" sound. But what did 鈥減uck鈥 mean in this context, and what about 鈥渕ind鈥?
A New Dictionary of Canadian English
Date: February 29, 2024 | Category: News
The Strathy Language Unit is excited to be part of a collaborative initiative to produce a new dictionary of Canadian English. Working with our partners at Editors Canada and UBC's Canadian English Lab, we are creating the first dictionary of Canadian English in over twenty years. Our aim is not only to provide an updated resource but one that reflects the diversity of Canada today. Read more about this exciting project 鈥 as well as how you might be involved 鈥 in .
The Cape Breton Accent
Date: February 28, 2024 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Aiden Hickey
[This piece is the first in our new series: Englishes from the Maritimes.]
How鈥檚 she goin鈥, b鈥檡?
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, like Newfoundland and other Maritime provinces, is known for its distinctive accent, along with its wonderfully innovative deviations and manipulations of the English language. In this way, Cape Breton English is a unique and regionally defined category of Canadian English, academically established by William John Davey and John P. Mackinnon鈥檚 recently published Dictionary of Cape Breton English. Or, put somewhat differently, Cape Breton English, known in the Canadian cultural imagination as an oftentimes humorous, dialectically inflected language filled with what have come to be known as Cape Bretonisms, can be understood to constitute a subset of regional, localized, vernacular language under the national umbrella of Canadian English.
Phrases and usages, however, are not always confined to the Island, of course, as transmission routinely escapes its territorial bounds. Speakers from Cape Breton and Newfoundland, for instance, are often conflated by more metropolitan (or 鈥渕ainland鈥) Canadians because of the distinctive yet similar sounding accents. A common quip within the Maritimes, for instance, is that a Cape Bretoner is just a Newfoundlander who took the wrong turn on their way to Toronto.
New Strathy Corpus Access
Date: February 12, 2024 | Category: News
A full version of the Strathy Corpus of Canadian English is now hosted by . Researchers interested in downloading the corpus can .
Ya Knows I Loves Ya
Date: January 22, 2024 | Category: In the Media
"These Newfoundland English features, they may be going through periods of decline, but through quoted voices and through narrative storytelling, speakers are actually holding on to them ... They're not being lost. They're being used in very creative ways."
(CBC, Jan. 20, 2024)
And the Winner is...
Date: January 15, 2024 | Category: In the Media
Enshittification! At their January meeting, American Dialect Society members voted on their Word of the Year for 2023. .