Casselman's Canadian Words: A Comic Browse Through Words and Folk Sayings Invented by Canadians

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Canadians suffer from an identity crisis when it comes to language.
Determined to prove that we are not stuck with either British or
American English, we keep a sharp ear out for any words we can claim as
our own. And Casselman has the sharpest ear of all when it comes to
finding Canadianisms.

We’re not talking about “bannock” here. That tired test for a
dictionary’s Canadian status

has been replaced by the likes of “hoser,” “fishocracy,” “sky
pilot,” “nerdvana,” or even “zamboni.” Casselman has found
hundreds of words and folk phrases for which Canadians can take at least
some credit and with a nice light touch gives forth with a little blurb
on each, covering origins, usage, anecdotes, and just plain interesting
stuff. If a word can help us keep up our pride in our linguistic
uniqueness, it’s included.

There’s a section of Canadian words for monsters and things that make
the flesh creep, lots of terms for the wild brews we drink (moose milk
by any other name is still vile), all-Canadian words from the plant and
animals worlds, the Canuck contribution to consumerism, unique place
names, some political fuddle-duddle, some terms for the things we eat,
and so on.

The collection is great rainy-day browsing: perfect for summer
cottages. It also helps to collect our collective identity, so every CBC
staffer needs a copy. People who read dictionaries will consume it for
dessert.