O Canada
In honour of Canada Day, UFF proudly presents a brief installment of Canadianisms: The Expressions Edition.
Expression #1: Had the biscuit
Meaning: Is broken or no longer working (electronics), has gone bad (food), is dead/dying (plants, pets). I read somewhere that during wartime, the mattresses placed outside a first aid tent were called "biscuits," and when a soldier died he was placed on the mattress - hence he'd "had the biscuit." It's more commonly attributed to the host used in the Catholic sacrament for the dying.
Usage Example 1: "My watch stopped working again. I think it's had the biscuit."
Usage Example 2: "These cherries have had the biscuit. I'm going to throw them out."
Usage Example 3: "That hydrangea's had the biscuit. I guess that's what happens when you forget to water it."
Expression #2: Fucking the dog
Meaning: It's not what you think! To fuck the dog simply means to waste time. I don't know the origin because I'm old enough to know better than to Google "fucking the dog," but by all means knock yourself out (and don't blame me if you're forever scarred).
Usage Example: "My hard drive at work finally had the biscuit, so I fucked the dog all day."
Happy Canada Day!
4 comments:
Ken used to say "kicking the dog". So maybe fucking is just what we do in Ontario. They're much more cruel out west.
As a bonus to #2, Canadians also call people who shirk duties "dogfuckers", "pooch humpers" (maybe that was just my friends), and the like.
I was just in Canada. If only I had known about this in advance I might have been able to pass as a Canuck myself. Next time...
Interesting. My CDN business partners tend to say "screw the pooch," which means something different; I never heard them say "fuck the dog," and the time-wasting aspect was never indicated.
I have heard "had the biscuit"/"took a wafer" from a Dublin native.
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