505th Post - Nova Scotia English And Something Ugly

Someone who regularly reads this blog asked me today what "run the roads" means. Since I now have an international readership, it occurs to me that perhaps I should take a few paragraphs and explain what some of these phrases mean, the ones I use in the blog, that is. Take notes. There will be a quiz later.

Over the weekend, Patricia and I ran the roads, and it sure did tucker me out. I had a long nap after work this evening, and I know it will throw off my sleep for the night, when I eventually get there. But "running the roads" just means that I drove my car a lot this weekend, driving all over the place. Since my signal lights are now working properly, I had them on for every gentle curve in the road. I guess I am a show off.

Do you want to hear some more expressions? Well, do ya, punk?

"Fill your boots" is an expression that I didn't hear until I moved to Halifax in 1988. If it is used where I am from, I certainly didn't hear it. It means to take your fill of something, to do something until you don't want or need to do it any more. "You need some hay? There's lots over there. Fill your boots!"

In Nova Scotia, "some" is an intensifier, like very. "That's some good pie!" "You're some smart!" "That's some good movie!" There is even a cookbook up here called, "Some Good".

The something ugly I promised in the subject heading deals with a story I probably should not mention here, but will anyway. In the 1980's, there was a family that were... unkind to their children, abusive in the kind of way I cannot bring myself to express here. Extreme poverty, isolation, poor education, and the most despicable family tradition passed down from one generation to another all contributed to make the Goler family notorious in these parts, and their reputation became well known to those who study that kind of thing, world-wide. The eventual trial in the 1980's proved embarrassing to prominent people who had allowed this to happen for as long as they did. There was a book summarizing this story in the late 1990's. It is called "On South Mountain". I own it, but have never brought myself to read it. I do not know if it remains in print or not. I suppose you could still find it in a used book store or on abebooks or something.

I am not going to list any of the jokes here. I want this to be a friendly place to hang out. It is just that they exist.

On that jovial note, I wish you a pleasant evening.

Bevboy