Maz
Ok, Bob, where does that term come from? We use it all the time around these parts, but why? How is it that the term "Canadians" gets replace by that?
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YourValentine
The etymology of this term is unknown. Initially, it was used as a derogative for French Candians but that does not help to explain where it comes from.
iGSM
Just like the word bogan.
Bob The Shrek
Could it be a shortened version of 'Canadian Fucks'????
Just guessing, stupid question anyway..... :p
Just guessing, stupid question anyway..... :p
Maz
Well, you can never fully please a limey :P
inu-liger
I think there's a Canadian team that uses the word Canucks in their name....I'm not into sports (shame on me) so I don't know for sure :p
^wicked^
The Origin of the Word Canuck
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 ’76. 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 mercernaries 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 that occurs to me, 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.
http://northonline.sccd.ctc.edu/chaseplace/claslink/Canuck..htm
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 ’76. 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 mercernaries 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 that occurs to me, 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.
http://northonline.sccd.ctc.edu/chaseplace/claslink/Canuck..htm
iron eagle
http://northonline.sccd.ctc.edu/chaseplace/claslink/Canuck..htm
perspective 2
http://www.comnet.ca/~dmarchak/candef.htm
perspective 2
http://www.comnet.ca/~dmarchak/candef.htm
^wicked^
Also:
http://www.comnet.ca/~dmarchak/candef.htm
http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca/about-canada/Canuck-origin.htm
http://etherlabs.net/m.werneburg/personal/canadian/canuck.php
http://www.comnet.ca/~dmarchak/candef.htm
http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca/about-canada/Canuck-origin.htm
http://etherlabs.net/m.werneburg/personal/canadian/canuck.php
jasen101
THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS are our hockey team here in vancouver, canada. THey are part of the NHL.
Josuè
"Could it be a shortened version of 'Canadian Fucks'????"
You are God.
You are God.
Maz
Thanks for the replies. I somehow figured "Canadian Fucks" wasn't the correct answer.
Mr Coolest Cat
more crap
Lester Burnham
Oh, I hope Zeni makes another thread so I can see Harvey Goldsmith - the ultimate pinnacle of comedy and wit - reply in his inimitable fashion! Please, Mr Goldsmith, do me next! Come at me with your oh-so-clever repartee, because I haven't had a good 'burn' lately. I quiver in anticipation as to what you might say - perhaps 'fucking tosser' will be thrown in somewhere, which will zap me right where it matters the most and knock me down, stunned! But please don't go easy on me, that's all I ask of you. I wouldn't want to catch you when you're not at your funniest, most acerbic self.
iGSM
<< I haven't had a good 'burn' lately >>
Of course you have..all my replies to you singe you somewhat...yeah..think about it..