LIST OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
IN A MANNER OF SPEAKING
Our Speech
Commonly Used Expressions and Explanations
Self-Explanatory Expressions
Exclamations
Ironic Sayings and Oxymorons
English and Irish Proverbs
A Way With Words
Conversational Speech
One- Or Two-Liners
NEWFOUNDLAND MEDICINE
Home Cure
Folk Cures
Words Associated With Health
Strange Remedies and Charms
SUPERSTITIONS
Protection
Good Luck
Bad Luck
Strange Beliefs
Strange Signs
CUSTOMS
Pancake Night
Old Customs
Christmas and Mummers’ Terms
Sunday Don’ts from the Past
Some Unusual “Kept” or “Noted” Days Relative to Newfoundland and Labrador
Funeral Customs
Burial Terms
Religious Terms from the Past
THE WEATHER
Weather Lore / Wind Barometers
Descriptions of Wind
Signs of Rain
Ways to Describe Rain in Newfoundland and Labrador
Degrees of Cold
Ice and Snow Terms
OUR HISTORY CATCHERS
Port de Grave
Picturesque and Intriguing Place Names
Names for the Island of Newfoundland
A GEOLOGICAL MIRROR TO OUR PAST
Rock of Newfoundland
A Rock by Other Names is Still a Rock
LIFE ON THE WATER
Types and Descriptions of Vessels Used in the Province
The Beulahland in the 1980s:
Steps to Building and Launching a Longliner
FISH IN NEWFOUNDLAND WATERS
Got Me Fish, B’y
Fish Have a Number of Names
Names for Codfish
Other Fish by Other Names
What Newfoundlanders Mean by “Making” Fish
Many Terms for “Made” Fish
The Weather Watcher
Seals (Swiles) Go by Many Names and Descriptions
A WAY OF LIFE
Gunning: A Spring Ritual
Logging in the Olden Days
WHAT WE ARE CALLED
Local Epithets for People of Various Stripes
AGAINST THE ELEMENTS
Names and Nicknames for Clothing and Footwear
Shelter Terms
A TASTE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
Food Terms
Names of Local Drinks
A Cup of Tea
Newfoundland Kettles
THE UNEXPLAINED
Turning Back the Clock
The Southern Cross and the Labrador Box
A Dream That Came True
Warts Charmed Away
The Charm
Black Ghosts
A Cat and a Dream
Lost and Found Gloves
A Garden Token
Boy’s Love and a Man’s Silhouette
OTHER PEOPLE’S FACTS OR FANCIES
The Ghost in the Lighthouse
Sarah’s Ghost
Ghostly Steps
The White Bird
Kit’s Light
An Old Woman With an Aladdin’s Lamp
Three Knocks
Night Blindness
A Mother’s Token
A Mysterious Path
A Buzz in the Wall
The Blue Jacket
The Dance
WORDS TO ADD TO AN AFICIONADO’S COLLECTION
THE FISHERS’ BEACHES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS