Newfoundland words and sayings
The words I grew up with in Upper Island Cove, and what they mean. Each one is checked against the Dictionary of Newfoundland English or another source, linked on its page.
B
- Bakeapple
- An amber berry that grows low in the bogs and ripens in late summer. Most of the world calls it a cloudberry.…
- Bangbelly
- A heavy pudding or cake made with flour, fat pork and molasses. It started as food for fishermen and men in the…
- Boil-up
- A pot of tea boiled outdoors, with a snack, when you take a rest from work in the woods or on a…
- Brewis
- Hard bread soaked overnight and boiled until soft. Served with salt fish and scrunchions, it becomes fish and brewis.
C
- Colcannon
- A hash of vegetables, sometimes with meat, eaten on Hallowe'en. That's why some places call Hallowe'en colcannon night.
- Coombs' Day
- In Upper Island Cove, a terribly stormy winter day. It comes from the blizzard of February 3, 1868, when John Coombs and…
D
F
- Figgy duff
- A boiled raisin pudding. The figgy means raisins, not figs.
- Flipper
- The front flipper of a seal, prepared for eating. You'll often hear of it as flipper pie.
I
- I'm after doing it
- Means I've just done it, or I've already done it. I'm after making the bread means the bread is made.
L
- Lassy
- Molasses, and also to spread molasses on something. Lassy on your toutons. Lassy bread. Lassy buns.
M
P
- Partridgeberry
- A small, tart red berry picked on the barrens in the fall. Elsewhere it goes by lingonberry or mountain cranberry.
S
- Scoff
- A big cooked meal, especially one at night that turns into a bit of a party. If someone says come over for…
- Scrunchions
- Little cubes of salt pork fat fried until crisp. You spoon them and the fat over fish and brewis or fish cakes.
- Some
- Very. That's some good. I was some glad to see you.
T
- Touton
- A piece of bread dough fried in fat until it puffs up golden. My own recipe has them with jam or molasses.
