Glossary of BC English words and expressions

From Dominion of British Columbia

Glossary of BC English words and expressions

OOC note: all of these are genuine real-world BC words/expressions, though some of them are no longer current, and a few have been slightly modified to fit the AltBC setting.

A

  • a few logs short of a full load - of questionable intelligence.
  • above/below - position upstream/downstream of: Hope is above Vancouver but below Lytton.
  • aeroplane spruce - Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)

B

  • beachcomber -
  • Bostonman - an American (from Chinook Wawa)
  • bramble - blackberry
  • brow log - originally a fixed log placed on a landing parallel to lorries or rail cars, so that logs behind it would not roll under the equipment; nowadays used colloquially to refer to someone or something that impedes movement or traffic, e.g. a traffic control person, a temporary fence, etc. "Jim, quit being a brow log and let me through!"
  • bunch it - (v) to quit a job; to leave hastily
  • bushed - (adj) physically exhausted; a person who has become slightly strange due to spending an extended period of time alone
  • by the face - e.g. "to have it by the face" - to have something/a situation under control

C

  • CPR berries - dried prunes (becoming rare)
  • canal - fjord
  • catty - (adj) quick, either of movement or, by extension, of thought; also, good on the job
  • cherrypicker - a flexible hydraulic lifting arm with a bucket to hold a worker
  • chickchick - wagon, cart; car (from Chinook Wawa)
  • chikamin - money, colloquially (from Chinook Wawa)
  • chisel charter - illegal bush plane charter done by a private pilot without a charter licence. The costs are much lower than those of legitimate charter operators.
  • choice - (interj) excellent!, awesome!, cool!
  • chowderhead - originally used in logging camps as a derogatory term for someone whose previous employment was on seagoing ships, now generally used as a mild or playful way to say "fool, dolt, imbecile"
  • chuck - water (from Chinook Wawa). Used to refer to any body of fresh water.
  • chunk out - (v) to get into a fight, to brawl; to remove debris/waste/leftovers (this is the original meaning, from logging); to fire or lay off a large number of employees at once.
  • chunkout - (n) a brawl; a mass layoff.
  • clag - calm coastal weather of low cloud, fog and drizzle.
  • claim - a square area of land staked for mineral rights; in this context, the word is international. The BC-specific meaning, derived from this original usage, is one's designated workspace, e.g. one's office cubicle.
  • coasting - to sail or cruise inshore, as opposed to "outside".
  • come-along - (n) a hand-operated device for cinching cables or pulling heavy loads short distances; also, by extension, a clothesline; a leash.
  • the Continent - the Mainland of BC. Used only by Islanders, especially in Victoria; Mainlanders (Continentals!) call it the Mainland.
  • crest - a form of social group amongst First Nations akin to a clan or phratery; by extension, university fraternities and sororities are usually called 'crests' in BC.
  • crummy - a truck with a roofed box for transporting logging work crews; by extension, shuttlebusses. Also, railway work cars.
  • cultus - (adj) worthless, bad, defective, minimal, meaningless. (from Chinook Wawa)
  • cultus cooley - (n) a pleasure trip; a stroll. "To go cultus cooley" - to go for a walk; to take a (short) vacation.
  • cumulogranite - originally an aviator's term for fog in mountainous areas, it has entered the general lexicon to refer to (a) mountain(s) partly obscured by cloud.

D

  • Dardanelles - from the First World War battle, originally referred to a section of Fort Street in Victoria where streetcar tracks crowded motorists aside. Now refers to any street or passageway too narrow for the usual level of traffic, e.g. East 49th Avenue in Vancouver between Boundary Road and Granville Street.
  • dog - in addition to the usual meaning, also refers to a metal stake with an eye on the upper end, used for tying temporary log booms together, or for towing logs. By extension, used by boaters to refer to a tie point on a dock or pier.
  • double the hill - (v) in the original (still current) sense, to use extra locomotives to haul a train up a steep hill (such a lashup is called a "hilldoubler"; in Canada and the US, this is known as a "doubleheader"). This verb has passed into general speech to refer to extra help. For example, someone sees someone who is having difficulty with something, say, a heavy crate, might say, "here, let's double the hill", as a way of offering to help.
  • doublebit - two-bladed axe.
  • down south - used by residents in the North to refer to any region south of the Prince Rupert–Prince George–Jasper rail line.
  • dry room - entry foyer in a house where shows and wet outdoor clothing are removed or put on; see also "joey room".
  • dumb as two short planks - not very bright.
  • dyke - in addition to the widespread meanings both standard and slang, also used occasionally to refer to a hedgerow.

F

  • faller - logcutter
  • fiddlebitch - (v) to adjust something without knowing what one is doing; to make oneself look busy at work without actually doing anything; to putter about.
  • finner - a £5 note.
  • flying low - a verbal signal to someone that the zipper (fly) of their trousers is down.
  • full deck - a stack of four pancakes.

G

  • gap - a pass or saddle in a mountain range.
  • geargrinder, gearjammer - a lorry driver.
  • gibbled - (adj) descriptive of equipment which has malfunctioned.
  • give 'er - (v) to fly at it; to set to a task with enthusiasm. Often as an imperative. "'Ight, give 'er!" = "Alright, do it!"
  • gorbie - a person who asks too many stupid questions.
  • grass hockey - the sport called "field hockey" elsewhere in North America.
  • gumboots - rubber boots.
  • gunnysack outfit - a poorly financed or badly organised operation where frequent repairs of equipment are necessary, usually of the spit and twine variety; a notoriously unsafe workplace.
  • gurdy - a winch.

H

  • hand-bombing - loading or unloading a lorry or railcar by hand, as opposed to with e.g. a forklift or skid jack.
  • handsocks - gloves.
  • hayrick - a haystack
  • heehee - laughter, fun, playfulness. "We're just doing it for a heehee" = "we're just doing it for a laugh" (from Chinook Wawa)
  • high-bladed - (adj) refers to a poorly graded 'metal road' (q.v.)
  • high test - petrol with a high octane number (97 or higher); colloquially, beer with a high alcohol content (7% ABV or higher)
  • hog fuel - sawdust and bark waste from sawmills used for fires.
  • hootch, hootchinoo - any inferior liquor. Named for the village on Admiralty Island where Tlingit people brewed it for sale to sailors and prospectors.
  • hooter - blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus).
  • hot-wrench - (v) to use a blowtorch to loosen corroded or stiff bolts.
  • hurdyhouse - low-end brothel
  • hyack - (interj) hurry up! Move it! Let's go! (from Chinook Wawa "hyack", meaning 'fast', 'quick').

I

  • 'ight - (interj) short form of "alright".
  • interdiction - formerly, a legal instrument forbidding someone from buying, selling, or consuming alcohol. Nowadays used in various expressions such as "'ight, you're on interdiction" = "alright, you're cut off". "Interdiction" or "Interdiction time" = last call at a pub or bar. Also used by teenagers who are under the legal drinking age (18 for hard alcohol and high test beer, 16 for regular beer under 7% ABV) to refer to one's parents being permissive, e.g. "let's go to Jane's, there's no interdiction" would mean that Jane's parents don't care if Jane and her friends drink there; by extension, also used by teenagers to mean "grounded" - "Lexi's not coming - she's on interdiction" or "she's interdicted".
  • in the sticks - in the back country or bush; an exceedingly remote place - Atlin, to a Vancouverite, is "off in the sticks". Also used in the sense of being lost somewhere, e.g. someone from Pitt Meadows who seldom goes to Vancouver might ask for directions in Downtown Vancouver, apologetically adding, "I'm from Pitt, I'm in the sticks here". Also used figuratively to describe someone who is zoning out - "his mind's off in the sticks" = "his mind is wandering" (from Chinook Wawa "sticks", meaning "forest")
  • in the toolies - similar to "in the sticks", but with the additional meaning of accidentally driving off the road: "he drove off into the toolies" = "he accidentally drove off the side of the road into the ditch"

J

  • jackpot - aka "some mell of a hess". An undesirable situation of any kind.
  • jinglepot - A piggybank; a treasure trove. Originally a mining term for a rich vein of mineral. Also used to mean anything of great value - "a jinglepot of great ideas".
  • Joey shack, joey room - same as "dry room", but used primarily in the North and around Prince Rupert, Kitimat and Kemano.

K

  • Kanaka - Hawaiian-British Columbians descended from Hawaiian Islanders who came to BC as labourers and servants between 1830 and 1870. Primarily live in the Fraser Valley in Lytton, Spences Bridge, Boston Bar, Kanaka Bar, and Yale.
  • kickwilly - the basement of a house. (from Chinook Wawa "keekwillee", 'underneath')
  • kinggeorgeman - from the Chinook Wawa word for a British person, nowadays used in BC English to refer to someone being as steadfast, reliable, honest. Also used as an exhortation, e.g. "'ight, push like a kinggeorgeman!", or "do it like a kinggeorgeman!" = "give it all you've got!"
  • kiss-me-arse - Marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratum)
  • kitling - kitten.
  • kittycorner - diagonally across
  • klahanie - countryside; a rural area. (from Chinook Wawa 'outside; exterior')
  • klahowya - a Chinook Wawa greeting meaning "welcome", used in English as a casual "hello" or "howyadoing?"
  • klootch - a girlfriend or wife, similar to "old lady". (from Chinook Wawa "klootchman", 'woman; wife')
  • kloshe - interjection, "great!", "good!", "alright!", used generally as an agreement to a suggestion. (from Chinook Wawa)
  • Kootenay Laking - to drive without regard to lane markings. This expression was originally restricted to the southern and central Interior, but has since spread all over BC.

L

  • landing - the loading/shipping dock of a building; a place where logs are loaded onto a lorry or rail car. In the interior, was used to refer to beaches where flat-bottomed steamboats came to shore without the aid of a pier.
  • leaverite - worthless rock
  • longstocking - originally a pejorative referring to upper class English settlers on southern Vancouver Island, it has since been broadened to refer to any Islander. Used only by Mainlanders.
  • loonshit - the silt or muck on or from the bottom of a lake.

M

  • the Mainland - the mainland of BC. Used only by Mainlanders - Islanders call it "the Continent".
  • meadow muffin - magic mushroom (Psilocybe pelliculosa)
  • mesachie - evil, bad. (from Chinook Wawa)
  • muckamuck - food. Compare "grub", "chow", Australian "tucker", etc. (from Chinook Wawa "muckamuck", 'food; to eat')

N

  • Ninety-Niner - a Canadian, especially whilst driving. Upon reaching BC, Canadians - not having any road curves in their flat country - will invariably go 90 on the straightaways, but slow to 9 mph on the bends.
  • North Shore - the area on the north side of Burrard Inlet, collectively referring to West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Deep Cove.
  • nosebag - lunch box

O

  • oolichan - smelt, oilfish (Thaleichthys pacificus)
  • Outside - 1) used by mariners, refers to the western side of coastal islands, or sailing there. 2) used by residents of isolated communities on the central coast to refer to Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and Prince Rupert collectively.
  • over town - residents of the North Shore use this to refer to the south shore of the Burrard Inlet, i.e. Vancouver, Burnaby, etc. "I'm going over town" = "I'm going to Vancouver"

P

  • packrat - used internationally to refer to a rodent (Neotoma cinerea), in BC it is used to refer to a petty thief, as opposed to the "hoarder" sense used elsewhere.
  • pass - in the mountains, as in general English worldwide, but in BC it is also applied to a short marine channel that on the east coast of North America is called a "gap" or an "out".
  • peckerpole - a very short or thin tree.
  • pick-me-up - a pickup truck.
  • porchclimber - cheap, low-quality wine.
  • potlatch - from the Chinook Wawa word meaning "to give", in BC English it is used to refer to a ceremony or party where gifts are exchanged. It is also used in either a friendly or slightly pejorative sense (depending on context) to refer to an extravagant party hosted by someone of limited means, or someone (usually a man) spending beyond his means to impress a date. "He ain't rich, he's just potlatching to get under your skirt!"; "You don't have to potlatch for me? I've already married you, haven't I."

Q

  • Queen's Cowboys - the Royal BC Constabulary. Previously, the "King's Cowboys"; this phrase dates back to the 19th century in reference to the North West Mounted Police.

R

  • rancher - rookie; newbie. Originally used by loggers and commercial fishers to mock those new to the work.
  • rancherie - originally used to refer to a Native settlement, it is now used to refer to a hobby farm.
  • rapattack (team) - rapid-response firefighters deployed by helicopter to fight wildfires in remote areas, rappelling from the helicopter to the ground.
  • redeye - in addition to the common North American sense of an overnight flight, in BC also refers to a beverage of beer and tomato juice (also called a Calgary redeye).
  • rime - hoarfrost.
  • Rocky Mountain deadshot - pancakes.

S

  • safe - (interj) excellent!, awesome!, cool!
  • salal, shalal - a shrub (Gaultheria shallon)
  • saltchuck - saltwater; the ocean. (from Chinook Wawa)
  • Saskabush - specifically refers to the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, but sometimes used in a more general sense to refer to western Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), or even Canada as a whole.
  • saskie - edible shoots of the salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis). (from the Squamish language)
  • saskieberry - salmonberry.
  • saskiebush - salmonberry bush. These words - saskie, saskieberry, and saskiebush - are restricted to the Lower Mainland; elsewhere in BC, the word 'salmonberry' is used.
  • sawbuck - sawhorse.
  • scissorbill - a dimwit.
  • severe clear - a cloudless sky.
  • shagpoke, shixpoke - Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
  • shaker - a fish too small to keep; a small child.
  • shithawk - seagull
  • shmuck - to hit, to smack. "Hush up or I'll shmuck you!" Probably derived from the Yiddish "shmuck" used widely in North American English.
  • shore pine - lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)
  • siffler - hoary marmot (Marmota caligara). (from French "siffleur")
  • siwash - Chinook Wawa word for a Native person. Though a perfectly acceptable word when speaking Chinook Wawa, if used in English it is considered derogatory. If you are not Native yourself, calling a Native person a "cultus siwash" will most likely start a fight.
  • skid road - the word originated in Seattle, but was picked up in Vancouver, originally referring to corduroy roads of greased logs along which timber was skidded to the waterfront. Later, when loggers came out of distant camps to spend their wages, they favoured the cheap bars and brothels that sprang up around these roads. Nowadays it is used to refer to the poorest part of Vancouver, the Downtown East Side, in a derogatory sense.
  • skitterways - diagonally across from
  • skookum - a Chinook Wawa word meaning "big, strong, powerful". In English, usually used as an adjective to mean "terrific, fantastic, great", or as an interjection equivalent to "cool!", "awesome!", "excellent!", etc. Though "cool!" and other such words are well known and used in BC, "skookum", "choice", "safe", and "sweet" are the most commonly heard.
  • skookumchuck - whitewater; rapids (from Chinook Wawa)
  • skookumhouse - prison (from Chinook Wawa)
  • skunk room - an outdoor shed for garden equipment, etc.
  • slippy - slippery.
  • sliver - splinter.
  • slough - on the Coast, a grass-lined shallow estuary; in the Interior - and on the Canadian prairies - a marsh on a river, a backwater channel, or a small pond.
  • snoose - chewing tobacco. (from Swedish "snustobak")
  • snort - a drink of hard liquor.
  • snowshed - a structure built over a road or railway to carry avalanches into the valley below without blocking traffic.
  • soaker - 1) to take a soaker - to accidentally fall into water. 2) to go a soaker - to go for a swim, or take a soak in a hot spring, or to take a bath. 3) to get a soaker - to get one's shoes drenched (implying getting soaked to the socks)
  • soopalally, soopolallie - In Chinook Wawa, this is the name of the soapberry (Shepherdia britannocolumbiensis {RW: canadiensis}). These were often whipped in water to produce a foamy drink much enjoyed by First Nations; it was a bit too bitter for European tastes and began to be sweetened with honey or sugar, thus becoming quite popular. Later, they began to be made with other fruits, and nowadays the word is used to refer to any non-dairy smoothie.
  • squawfish - Ptychocheilus oregonensis.
  • stabies - stabilisers on watercraft.
  • stinkpot - small motor-powered pleasureboat - called thus by sailboaters; in more general speech, it is used to refer to a decrepit motorboat or car (compare "jalopy")
  • stump ranch - originally a logging term, nowadays used to refer to any poorly run operation.
  • submarine races - as in, "watching the submarine races" - making out in a car parked in a spot overlooking a moonlit body of water.

T

  • tap 'er light! - "take it easy", typically said in parting from a friend. Derived from an old hardrock miner's saying regarding dynamite. Primarily heard in the Kootenays, but has spread further afield - even as far as Vancouver, where, though the expression is not common, it is heard now and again.
  • Tweed Curtain - a play on words derived from "Iron Curtain", referring to the line that divides the very British Oak Bay from the "common culture" (the "colonials", as Oak Bay residents might say) of the rest of Greater Victoria.
  • tyee - a Chinook Wawa word meaning "chief; superior". Hyas Tyee = King, Hyas Klootchman Tyee = Queen. Colloquially, "boss".

U

  • up the stump - pregnant.
  • upcountry - a Lower Mainland term for anything "beyond Hope", i.e. east of Hope or north of Whistler.
  • upisland - any place on Vancouver Island north of Victoria.

W

  • wafflestompers - hiking boots with cleated soles.
  • War Department - one's wife.
  • washboard - a very rough, ungraded gravel road.
  • wawa - "have a wawa" = to have a chat or an informal meeting. (from Chinook Wawa "wawa", 'talk').
  • Wetcoast Samsonite - large garbage bags, when used for packing.
  • Willow grouse - Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus)
  • winter road - a seasonal road used over ground too soft to support machines in the summer, or where a bridge would be required to span water. These problems are economically overcome when the soil and water freeze.
  • wobble the job - to incite labour unrest on a unionised worksite.

Z

  • zunga - a rope swing, usually over a swimming hole.
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