Hey Kevin...I use "Canuck" all the time. It's one of my favourite self descriptives.
I like to think that Prince Charles, if and when he gets to be King of Canada, will be known as Canuck Chuck.
And other noir fantasies,
Kerry
----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin Burton Smith
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:39 PM
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: The Horsemen
So, it looks like we all know agree on what "the horsemen" means. But
it doesn't seem to be an expression actually used by most Canadians,
except possibly crime writers (and Vancouver hockey fans).
So would-be writers beware: its use to imply a sort of Canadian hip
street credibility might backfire.
Sorta like the term "canuck," which is used mostly, in my experience,
by Americans. And by a few Canadian friends out west.
And then there's the word "shamus," which I mentioned before, and
which also is currently rarely heard outside of crime fiction circles
(and id it ever really catch on?). I just came across a reference
suggesting Hammett himself might have coined the word -- at east,
that's what Erle Stanley Gardner came to believe.
And I'm still not sure where the term "Canadian bacon" comes from...
maybe once there was some actual type of pork product (back bacon?)
that bore the name, but it's now identified, at least in the States,
with some dubious thinly sliced processed bacon-flavoured substance
favoured as a pizza topping that seems to be closer to bologna than
any actual smoked and cured pork cut.
Hmmmm... maybe it's made from horsemeat... which might mean the
horsemen are actually the guys who make Canadian bacon. But I digress...
Kevin
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 10 Mar 2009 EDT