Canuck

== English == === Etymology === Origin uncertain, often hypothesized to derive from the name or speech of an early Canadian minority, later broadened to denote all Canadians: Since 1975, many scholars have come to think the name is from Hawaiian kanaka (“man”), a self-appellation of indentured colonial canoemen and Hawaiian sailors working off the Pacific Northwest, Arctic, and New England coasts, from French canaque (“indigenous Melanesian inhabitant of New Caledonia, Kanak”); or, more likely, American whalers’ pidgin, then re-interpreted as Can(adian) + a suffix. (More below on that [specific] putative suffix.) Compare English Kanak and German Kanake. Some dictionaries suggest it is derived from the first syllable of Canada, or its etymon Laurentian kanata (“village”), or a related word kanuchsa meaning “villager” in either Laurentian or another Iroquoian language; with the second syllable connected to Inuktitut inuk (“man; person”), from Chinook (“Aboriginal people of the U.S. Pacific Northwest”), or another First-Nation language ending like -oc, -uc, or -uq. Fanciful and unlikely suggestions include German genug von Canada (literally “enough of Canada”) (allegedly uttered by German mercenaries during the American War of Independence), French quelle canule (“what a bore”) (allegedly uttered by the French during a siege of Quebec), or the surname Connaught /ˈkɑ.nəxt/ (supposedly a French-Canadian nickname for the Irish). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /kəˈnʌk/, /kəˈnʊk/ Rhymes: -ʌk, -ʊk Hyphenation: Can‧uck === Noun === Canuck (plural Canucks) (Canada, US, informal, sometimes derogatory) A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent. [from early 19th c.] Synonyms: Canadian, Canajan, Canajun, Johnny Canuck; hoser (derogatory) (ice hockey) A member of the Vancouver Canucks professional ice hockey team belonging to the National Hockey League. (skiing) Chiefly as Crazy Canuck: a member of the Canadian alpine ski team. (rare) A thing from Canada. (aviation, military, historical) The Avro Canada CF-100 fighter-interceptor aircraft, in use between 1952 and 1981. (US, obsolete) A Canadian horse or pony. ==== Usage notes ==== Regarding noun sense 1 (“Canadian person”), in Canada the term is not derogatory, and is considered to apply to all Canadians. When used by non-Canadians, especially in the United States, the term is often considered derogatory, particularly when applied to French Canadians in New England. ==== Alternative forms ==== canuck Canack, Cannack, Canuc, canuc, Canuk, Conuck, Cunnuck, Kanuck, Kanuk, K'nuck (all obsolete) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Proper noun === Canuck (historical, rare) Synonym of Canadian French (“the French language as spoken by Francophones in Canada”). (slang) Synonym of Canadian English (“the variety of the English language used in Canada”). ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === Canuck (comparative more Canuck, superlative most Canuck) (originally informal, sometimes derogatory) Of, belonging to, or relating to Canada, its culture, or people; Canadian. Synonyms: Canajan, Canajun, (slang, derogatory or humorous) Canuckistani, (slang, derogatory or humorous) Canuckistanian Antonym: non-Canadian (ice hockey) Of or relating to the Vancouver Canucks professional ice hockey team belonging to the National Hockey League. ==== Usage notes ==== Regarding adjective sense 1 (“of, belonging to, or relating to Canada, its culture, or people”), see the usage note in the noun section above. ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === Canuck on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Jacob Adler, Mitford M. Mathews (spring–summer 1975), “The Etymology of Canuck”, in John Algeo, editor, American Speech: A Quarterly of Linguistic Usage, volume 50, numbers 1–2, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press for the American Dialect Society, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 158–160. James Sledd (autumn 1978), “What are We Going to Do about It Now that We’re Number One?”, in John Algeo, editor, American Speech: A Quarterly of Linguistic Usage, volume 53, number 3, Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press for the American Dialect Society, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 171–198. Irving Lewis Allen (1983), “Ethnic Ideology and Folk Etymologies”, in The Language of Ethnic Conflict: Social Organization and Lexical Culture, New York, N.Y.; Guildford, Surrey: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, pages 128–129. “Canuck, n.”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. Katherine Barber, editor (1998), “Canuck”, in The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN. William Safire (2008), “Canucks”, in Safire’s Political Dictionary, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 100.