1. Prince Edward Island is the 104th largest island in the world.
2. Nova Scotia means "New Scotia."
3. Halifax is where the floatees remains of the Titanic victims **that were recovered are buried. (**Those that were not recovered are not buried at Halifax.)
4. People who are from Newfoundland pronounce it New FOUND lund. Not NEWfunlund.
5. The French settled the island of Nova Scotia, only they called it Acadia. Actually, the island we now call Nova Scotia was PART of the old Acadia. (If you are ever on a game show and they ask you that question.)
6. The French Acadians departed Acadia right after the British came and kicked them out.
7. Actually, the French Acadians left Acadia during the American Revolution because all the American Loyalists fled America and a heap of them went to Acadia. Only they called it Nova Scotia. (Which, loosely translated, means "Tory Heaven.")
8. So the French Acadians fled south to French Louisiana to live and still be French. However, a few years after the migration, Napoleon sold Lousiana to the new United States out from under them, and so the Acadians were screwed again. They mostly slunk back into the bayous and kept speaking French while the Americans came in and took all the oil and stuff. The Americans couldn't understand the Acadians' speech and thought they said "Cajuns" so they started calling the Acadians that. Then the Acadians gave up and started calling themselves Cajuns, too. They still swear at you in French, though, if you intrude on their fishing waters back in bayou country. Only the French can't understand them anymore, either. It's a long story. Beaucoup and merde are about the only words you can make out anymore. Except for some basic early Anglo-Saxon words mixed in. Sorry this odd fact was so long.
9. As far as I know, there are still no statues of William Tecumseh Sherman in downtown Atlanta.
I'm going to leave this list at 9 because 9 is a lucky number and also because it will piss off the metricheads who think everything should come in units of ten.
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As an added bonus to those loyal readers who actually read down this far, the following is more for you to read if you want to. You will probably have to click on it to make it large enough to read unless you enjoy squinting. Did any of you see the movie "Water Boy" with Adam Sandler? Remember them biting the heads off barbecued baby alligators at the picnic? Anyhow, that's how Cajuns talk, sort of (in that movie.)
:P
ReplyDelete9 and 19 are my two favorite numbers. By all means, start a measurement system using them. I haven't had my morning laugh yet.
(Sorry, none of this trivia quite did the trick).
1. Duly written down.
ReplyDelete2. I can hardly believe it!
3. The bank? I'll remove my savings forthwith, not that I had enough to be put in the vaults.
4. I must be from Newfoundland.
5. Noted.
6. & 7. Yes, all right.
8. Beaucoup and merde seem very apt. If you could give us a little more vocabulary, this would be interesting.
9. Nor in Halifax, that I know of.
NewFOUNDland was not part of Canada until after the Great War.
ReplyDeleteAmericans stole Cajin oil. How unusual.
ReplyDeleteThe 'British' didn't kick the French out, the Scots did.
ReplyDelete@Stephanie - I just did measure my post in a numeric system of nines. It is a reasonable measuring system for posts. One post = nine thingies. And since there are 11 mm in one (average) thingie, it goes to show that not ALL metric measurements are in 10s. But still you argue. I'm sorry the trivia was over your head this time. :)
ReplyDelete@A. - Number 3 threw me. I'm guessing you have a bank by that name? The Grand Banks are in NewFoundLand. I'll go with a bank by that name. :)
@Addulamite - Actually not a province until after WWII, if you want to get technical. Still, the pronunciation didn't change. It belonged to England (later GB, later UK) since 1583-2001. What the heck Great War are you talking about anyway? Well, yes, you are right: 1949 WAS after the Great War. Calm down. This is about pronunciation. :)
Just because the Acadians migrated to America doesn't mean they took possession of any of our oil. I said took "the" oil, not "their" oil. Nobody knew about oil back then, anyway. And by the time we learned about oil, the Cajuns already were milking their shrimping monopoly. Prawn to you, I think. The oil technically belonged to France before they sold Louisiana. Did we ever pay them, btw? Well, doesn't matter, does it. Napoleon lost all he owned at Waterloo anyway. You are just being belligerent again.
You think the Scots kicked them out? Do you? You think the British didn't kick them out? Well, not to be a redneck, but:
1. British conquest of Acadia = 1710.
2. Scotland became british in 1707. (I was going to say Scotland officially surrendered to England most recently in 1707, but that would be impolite.)
You are an educated man, though, so there is probably some truth to what you say about the Scots persecuting the Cajuns' ancestors. Enslaving them. Stealing their land. Or whatever it was the Scots did back then. Probably took their damn oil too.
Bet you didn't know the Penny Acade was named after the Cajuns, either.
ReplyDelete@Adullamite - I have decided, for no particular reason than you seem to spell Max correctly, to begin spelling your name as "Adullamite". I will no longer use the American spelling. Unless you say something about stealing oil.
ReplyDeleteAs a balance, I will find it necessary to begin spelling Soubriquet as Soubrikite, and A. as B.
This is just a notice, though it may soon become official.
The 'Great War' occurred between 1914 and 1919. You will recall the US turned up three years late and made films about how they won it. The US usually turns up late for important wars and demands everyone joins in their imperialist or oil stealing wars today.
ReplyDeleteNova Scotia was name after the Scots. The English attempted to call Scotland 'England' so they would not stea...deliver any piece of land and call it 'Scotia.'