Newfie
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"Newfie" is a colloquial, and generally pejorative, term used in Canada for someone who is from Newfoundland. It was recorded as early as the eighteenth century, for instance, in the following verse:
OUT O' DORSET
'Tis out o' Poole we been set forth; The wind it came from East by North With main long way to roam.
The Channel seas be steep and green And cold the billows in between When we sets out from whoam.
For some do go to smuggling tea, Or gets cut out to piracy When they goes out to sea;
But Newfie Land's our distant bourne For good salt cod this honest morn. Pray whoam again we see!
O may God's hand a-succour we; Our safeness and good haven be, So we from sea return.
It was more recently recorded in a 1942 dictionary of slang; at the time, "Newfie" was used to refer either to Newfoundland itself, or to the Newfoundlanders (who were also "Newfiers").
The term Newfie has been applied to the Newfoundland people (properly addressed as Newfoundlanders). It also can refer to items of Newfoundland origin such as the "Newfie Bullet" (a nickname created by American military personnel serving at bases in Newfoundland during the Second World War for a former, notoriously slow passenger train named the Newfie Bullet which ran from Port-aux-Basques to St John's)Along the Narrow Gauge Railroad, known as the newfoundland railway, "Newfie screech" (a slang term for a brand of Newfoundland rum) or even a large furry affectionate Newfoundland dog (Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province to have provided the names of two dogs).
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[edit] Usage as a derogatory term
The terms "Newf" or "Newfie" are considered derogatory by many Newfoundlanders. Newfoundlanders are of different views as to whether the term "Newf" is as derogatory as the term "Newfie." As with many ethnic groups saddled with pejorative terms, many Newfoundlanders use the terms to refer to themselves or to each other, and in this context they are less offensive than when used by non-Newfoundlanders.
The word "Newfie" is associated with "Newfie jokes", typical Canadian ethnic jokes told and retold since the days of the bankruptcy of the Dominion of Newfoundland government during the Great Depression. The jokes almost always depict Newfoundlanders as stupid, lazy or both. Many such jokes are identical to ethnic jokes that are used to put down other groups.
In March 2006, an Edmonton police officer was disciplined for using the word Newphie [sic] to describe the apprehension of an individual.[1] This explicitly derogatory usage is particularly prevalent in locations (such as northern Alberta) where large numbers of Newfoundlanders have migrated for economic opportunities.
In the 1970s, the Government of Alberta added the term "Newfie" to a list of words not allowed to be used on personalised licence plates, reasoning that it was an ethnic slur and hateful. In 2006, a man from Newfoundland argued that also a source of pride, and fought to have the word removed from the list, and he eventually won.[2]
[edit] Newfie in Canadian Culture
Canadian popular culture often uses newfies as a charicature or comic vehicle. This is similar to the British use of Cocknies.
