News about the Strathy Language Unit and Canadian English studies
'Quill Pig': Anatomy of an Entry
Date: September 18, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett | CED Definer
[This is the fifth piece in our series Anatomy of an Entry, an exploration of how we define words for the new Canadian English Dictionary.]
quill pig, n
(also quilly pig)
Canadianism
see PORCUPINE
For my final Q entry, I’m highlighting my personal favourite Canadianism from the Q section: quilly pig. Your friendly neighbourhood porcupine once went by quill pig or quilly pig, especially in Canada in the 1930s to 60s. Though quill pig’s usage has plummeted, it’s important to include obsolete and rare words in our dictionary so that we have a comprehensive list of historical words from at least the last 100 years. I also believe that quilly pig needs a renaissance! It’s time for the majestic, clover-eating, armoured relative of the beaver to shine.
With a case like quilly pig, we need not spend much time on a definition. The term means “porcupine”, so we simply cross-reference the entry for porcupine: "a herbivorous quill-bearing rodent in the family Erethizontidae". Where we do spend time is on the tag: Canadianism, which indicates a distinctively Canadian word or phrase. One of the questions we get asked most often at the CED is, how do you know a word is Canadian? Luckily for us, our partners at theThe Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (DCHP), now in its , have already laid out of Canadianisms:
English Linguistics Conference
Date: September 10, 2025 | Category: News
A contingent from the Strathy Unit attended the recent in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and presented phonetics research based on the .
'Queen Bee': Anatomy of an Entry
Date: August 19, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett | CED Definer
[This is the fourth piece in our series Anatomy of an Entry, an exploration of how we define words for the new Canadian English Dictionary.]
queen bee, n
- the fertile female bee in a hive
- a woman who behaves dominantly in a group
“Dictionaries have always copied from one another.” So says Sidney Landau in his 2001 book Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography (p. 402). Here, Landau identifies the long-held process in dictionary-making where lexicographers look to other dictionaries to help establish the boundaries of their own definitions. After all, there are only so many ways to describe, for example, rand, “the monetary unit of South Africa.” We could try to change the phrasing so as not to appear to be copying other dictionaries … “South Africa’s monetary unit?” “The monetary currency of South Africa?” “The national monetary unit of the country of South Africa?”
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel unless we’re adding something significant. As Landau tells us, routinely checking how other dictionaries have defined a word is a big part of drafting definitions. And it’s a crucial step in our drafting process at the CED. Let’s look at the example of queen bee:
Merriam-Webster.com: the fertile fully developed female of a social bee (as the honeybee)
Dictionary.com: a fertile female bee
Cambridge.org: (insect) in a group of bees, a single large female that produces eggs
Canadian Oxford: (of bees) the fertile female in a hive
Fairly quickly, we can determine the relevant aspects of the definition and include or exclude any details we prefer. In this case, we omit Cambridge’s detail that the queen bee is large (lest we spend time and space defining exactly how large we mean by large, and in comparison to what). And the specifiers “(insect)” and “(of bees)” can be omitted since we’ve incorporated the word bee into our definition. We decided on:
You're Not Delulu...
Date: August 18, 2025 | Category: In the Media
... These slang terms may be here to stay. "Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary," said Colin McIntosh, lexical program manager at Cambridge Dictionary, the world's largest online dictionary.
- (CBC, Aug. 18, 2025)
Yukon English
Date: August 11, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Most of what we know about Canadian English is based on studies of urban varieties in the south. Researchers from the University of Toronto are hoping to change this, with a to document the English spoken in the Yukon.
- (CBC, Aug. 10, 2025)
Thunder Bayisms
Date: August 4, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Are you having a stan and si for lunch and then going to a shag?
- (The Chronicle Journal, Aug. 2)
'Quackgrass': Anatomy of an Entry
Date: August 1, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett | CED Definer
[This is the third piece in our series Anatomy of an Entry, an exploration of how we define words for the new Canadian English Dictionary.]
quackgrass, n
(also quack grass, quick grass, couch grass)
a grass native to Europe and Western Asia, invasive with serious agricultural impact in Canada: Elymus repens
Let’s consider quackgrass. This was the first botanical entry I worked on, and it allowed us to begin drafting a template for flora and fauna entries that goes something like this: lexicographical genus + origin/distribution + physical differentiae + (optional) economic or cultural significance +: binomial name.
Now let’s break down those sections.
Seriously?
Date: July 29, 2025 | Category: In the Media
New research looks at in different varieties of English. The exception is American English, which the models are better at, given that most of the training data is American. How surprising.
The Value of Dictionaries
Date: July 22, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Writing for the New York Times, Alessandro Tersigni makes a in the age of AI, with a shout-out to the CED.
'Quilt': Anatomy of an Entry
Date: July 16, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett, CED Definer
[This is the second piece in our series Anatomy of an Entry, an exploration of how we define words for the new Canadian English Dictionary.]
quilt, n
- two layers of cloth with a layer of padding in between, stitched with cross lines through all three layers
- see PATCHWORK QUILT
- something composed of multiple distinct parts, reminiscent of a quilt
Think of a quilt. That seems easy enough. Maybe you’re picturing a blanket stitched by a parent or grandparent, with bits of fabric from your childhood clothing. Maybe, like me, your family are not quilters, so the only experience you have with quilts are the factory-made bed coverings in shades of safe millennial grey. Or maybe you aren’t even thinking about a blanket—maybe you’re picturing a piece of quilted wall art that has never felt the comfort of a bed. Herein lies the problem. Can you define quilt as a blanket, or is this too exclusive? What are the essential qualities of a quilt that need to be relayed?
How to Spell E-n-g-l-i-s-h
Date: July 7, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Gabe Henry, author of Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Eezier to Spell about his new book, the history of English spelling and the unique conundrums of Canadian English.
Celebrate Canada Day with Canadianisms
Date: July 1, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Celebrate what makes Canadian English Canadian by exploring the .
- (Toronto Star, June 30, 2025)
- (Vancouver Sun, June 30, 2025)
Anatomy of an Entry
Date: June 30, 2025 | Category: Guest Column
Author: Emma Ferrett, CED Definer
How do you start writing a dictionary?
The Strathy Language Unit has partnered with the forthcoming . We’re working hard on drafting definitions, spellings, pronunciations and etymologies for all the words in Canadian English. We begin with the letter Q (find out from our editor-in-chief, John Chew). Q, of course, stands for question—and as you’ll see, I have many.
How do you start defining a word? Some words are easy—there are only so many ways to define kilogram, toonie or pencil. But what about the trickier words? Truth? Quantum theory? Nothing?
There are also words that seem simple but are hard to define because they are such basic units of the English language. Like sit. Try to define sit. It seems to me that we need to define this by the way our bodies are positioned when we sit. So, we need to talk about butts. Is it ok to say butt in the dictionary? Buttocks? Haunches? Ass?? And what about when nonhumans sit? Can a snail sit? And would it have a butt with which to do so?
Clearly, defining becomes troublesome very quickly and it’s easy to fall into hours of research trying to figure out a concrete difference between marsh and bog or to find a usable example of someone using the word quintuplicately…
So, if you’re interested in how dictionaries are put together and how we define the elements of our world, watch out for new posts here in “Anatomy of an Entry”. In this series, I’ll examine a single entry from the letter Q and reveal how we draft definitions in the Canadian English Dictionary. And if you want to know the difference between quotidian, daily and everyday, or how many types of quails there are, or if a quiche is still a quiche if its sweet, you’re in the right place.
DCHP-3
Date: May 20, 2025 | Category: News
The third edition of the is now available! Enjoy pursuing the new entries, such as , and updated entries, such as , as well as the roughly 12,000 entries from previous editions.
Toronto Accent
Date: April 12, 2025 | Category: In the Media
"There are more than 150 different languages that are spoken in Toronto, and over 50 percent of Torontonians speak English as a first language—the Toronto accent is a reflection of the diversity the city prides itself on."
, The Walrus, April 11, 2025
Gigil
Date: March 31, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Thanks to Tagalog for !
Canadian English Dictionary (CED)
Date: March 19, 2025 | Category: News
Strathy liaison to the CED – Basil the dog – invites you to learn more about the dictionary project!
Canadiano
Date: Feb. 26, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Canadian English has not been spared from the changes wrought or inspired by the new administration south of the border. Anyone care for a ?
Language and Community
Date: Feb. 25, 2025 | Category: In the Media
Sociolinguist Sali Tagliamonte and the value of oral histories for understanding language, culture and connection.
Canadian English Research
Date: Jan. 24, 2025 | Category: In the Media
The , the , , ... read about some of the interesting Canadian English research happening at the University of Toronto.
Rawdog
Date: Jan. 13, 2025 | Category: In the Media
“In 2024 folks rawdogged flights, family dinners, and final exams. As one nominator commented this evening, rawdog is a great choice for [American Dialect Society's] as we collectively rawdog the future of American politics in 2025.”
Polarization
Date: Jan. 9, 2025 | Category: In the Media
According to , 2024 was characterized by “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.” What will 2025 bring?