-=DoW=- MauryMac
October 18th, 2003, 23:22
Prince Edward Islanderese - English dictionary
Accents/Mispronunciations
across ... acrosst
aunt ... ont
bad ... ba' - ud
bilge ... bill' - age
calm ... cam
calves ...cailves
co-op ... kwop (said quickly - one syllable)
cousin ... cousint
creek ... crick
drowned ...drownded
film ... fill'-em
fishing ... fishin (dropping final 'g's from -ing is very common on
the Island)
Gaudet ... Goody
goalie ... goldie
H ...haich
lawn ... lawnd
leg ... laig
milk ... melk
pillow ... pellow
pint ... point
potato ...puh-tay'-tuh
right ... roight (substitution of oi instead of i happens in many
words on the Island)
sorry ... so' - ry sounds (like Tory, but with a longer o sound)
stole ... stold
tour ... tore (same sort of o sound as in sorry)
wash ... warsh
won't ... woon't (see sorry and tour)
yes ... yay'us
yours ... yers
yeah ... yah (said by sucking in air, almost whispered)
Unique Island words
Froze ... Frozen
Gym pants ... Track pants
Kit bag ... Knapsack
Scribbler ... Notebook
Slippy ... Slippery
Sneakers ... Running Shoes, Runners
Stormstayed ... No real equivalent word - means that a storm has
come up and made the travelling so bad that you're stuck somewhere for the night.
Yuz ... You (plural)
Yer guyses ...Yours (plural)
Unique Island phrases
From Away - someone who is "not from the Island" or who has moved here recently. For some people "recently" means any time after birth. E.g."She wouldn't know that, she's "from away"
THE water ... Either the Northumberland Strait or the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. E.g."Our house is on a hill; you can see the water from our living room."
THE boat ... The car ferry. E.g."We have to make the 6 o'clock
boat", "We'll have lunch on the boat"
THE bridge ...The Confederation Bridge. In Charlottetown, it also
can mean the Hillsborough Bridge.
Right hot (or roight hut) ... Very hot. Right is often used to mean very, as in "right close" (roight close), "right slippy" (roight slippy)
Some good ... Very good. Some can sometimes be used instead of right
to mean very, but not always.
From acrost ... From New Brunswick or Nova Scotia
Something or other ... This phrase is usually run together, more
like "som-n-r-uthr"
No I nevered ... I didn't. You also hear "I never" for the same
thing
Throw me up my / down my ... Instead of "throw my... down to me"
Sock feet ... Wearing socks, but no footwear.E.g. "Get off the grass
in your sock feet!"
Desperate cold ... Very cold. Can be used, like some and right, with
a wide variety of words
Handy the school ... Near the school
Grade Twoers (Thre-ers, Fourers, etc) ... Children in Grade Two (three,four, etc). You also hear "Grade Twos", etc.
Going acrost ... Going to the mainland (NB or NS)
Island turn ... A right turn that involves going left into the
oncoming traffic lane before taking a sweeping wide right turn, as if one had a thirty foot trailer attached to the car.
Accents/Mispronunciations
across ... acrosst
aunt ... ont
bad ... ba' - ud
bilge ... bill' - age
calm ... cam
calves ...cailves
co-op ... kwop (said quickly - one syllable)
cousin ... cousint
creek ... crick
drowned ...drownded
film ... fill'-em
fishing ... fishin (dropping final 'g's from -ing is very common on
the Island)
Gaudet ... Goody
goalie ... goldie
H ...haich
lawn ... lawnd
leg ... laig
milk ... melk
pillow ... pellow
pint ... point
potato ...puh-tay'-tuh
right ... roight (substitution of oi instead of i happens in many
words on the Island)
sorry ... so' - ry sounds (like Tory, but with a longer o sound)
stole ... stold
tour ... tore (same sort of o sound as in sorry)
wash ... warsh
won't ... woon't (see sorry and tour)
yes ... yay'us
yours ... yers
yeah ... yah (said by sucking in air, almost whispered)
Unique Island words
Froze ... Frozen
Gym pants ... Track pants
Kit bag ... Knapsack
Scribbler ... Notebook
Slippy ... Slippery
Sneakers ... Running Shoes, Runners
Stormstayed ... No real equivalent word - means that a storm has
come up and made the travelling so bad that you're stuck somewhere for the night.
Yuz ... You (plural)
Yer guyses ...Yours (plural)
Unique Island phrases
From Away - someone who is "not from the Island" or who has moved here recently. For some people "recently" means any time after birth. E.g."She wouldn't know that, she's "from away"
THE water ... Either the Northumberland Strait or the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. E.g."Our house is on a hill; you can see the water from our living room."
THE boat ... The car ferry. E.g."We have to make the 6 o'clock
boat", "We'll have lunch on the boat"
THE bridge ...The Confederation Bridge. In Charlottetown, it also
can mean the Hillsborough Bridge.
Right hot (or roight hut) ... Very hot. Right is often used to mean very, as in "right close" (roight close), "right slippy" (roight slippy)
Some good ... Very good. Some can sometimes be used instead of right
to mean very, but not always.
From acrost ... From New Brunswick or Nova Scotia
Something or other ... This phrase is usually run together, more
like "som-n-r-uthr"
No I nevered ... I didn't. You also hear "I never" for the same
thing
Throw me up my / down my ... Instead of "throw my... down to me"
Sock feet ... Wearing socks, but no footwear.E.g. "Get off the grass
in your sock feet!"
Desperate cold ... Very cold. Can be used, like some and right, with
a wide variety of words
Handy the school ... Near the school
Grade Twoers (Thre-ers, Fourers, etc) ... Children in Grade Two (three,four, etc). You also hear "Grade Twos", etc.
Going acrost ... Going to the mainland (NB or NS)
Island turn ... A right turn that involves going left into the
oncoming traffic lane before taking a sweeping wide right turn, as if one had a thirty foot trailer attached to the car.