I hadn't received a post from the Word Lady for a little while - they would come in every few months.
They aren't coming in again - today in the Globe and Mail is her obituary. She died at the end of April from a virulent and rapid form of brain cancer.
She is the founding editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. She was Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Dictionaries for the Oxford University Press in Canada from 1991 to 2008, when OUP closed the Canadian dictionary department. We owe the creation and publication of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary to her.
The Canadian oxford Dictionary Edited by Katherine Barber
‘a unique reference book for all Canadians’, Robert MacNeil, Time Magazine
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary was the runaway bestseller of 1998, spending over a year on the Globe and Mail's bestseller list and winning the Canadian Booksellers Association's Libris awards for Non-fiction Book of the Year and Specialty Book of the Year. The dictionary combines coverage of international English with information on English as it is particularly used in Canada. Definitions are presented so that the meaning most familiar to Canadians appears first and foremost.
The Dictionary features 2,200 uniquely Canadian words and senses, 350 usage notes, 7,000 idiomatic expressions, and so on.
What would be typical Canadian expressions?
Double-double A common way for a Canadian to order their coffee—double cream, double sugar.
Eh Pronounced ‘ay’ and used in 99.99% of sentences uttered by Canadians, it is the most versatile of the Canadian slang words. Most popularly posed as a question to mean ‘pardon?’ or ‘don’t you agree?’, it can also be used to affirm or emphasize just about anything it follows.
Fill yer boots This hospitable saying comes from the island of Newfoundland off the east coast of the Canadian mainland, meaning ‘do whatever you want’ or ‘help yourself to as much as you’d like’.
Molson muscle Molson is a common brand of Canadian beer, and the muscle being referred to is the belly. It’s simple math: Beer + Belly = Molson + Muscle.
Don't you find these such comforting expressions? A clear indication of being Canadian.
Baxter looks like a thinking cat here. His location does not indicate that to be the case: There's a chipmunk nest nearby, and I think the bunny nest is below the bird's nest spruce.
