View source for Canuck

{{Short description|Term for a Canadian}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Kanak people}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
[[File:JackCanuckOYes.jpg|thumb|An editorial cartoon, c. 1910, portraying [[Johnny Canuck]]]]
'''''Canuck''''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|n|ʌ|k}}) is a [[slang]] term for a [[Canadians|Canadian]], though its semantic nuances are manifold.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, Third Edition, s.v. "Canuck", def. (1a) |url=https://dchp.arts.ubc.ca/entries/Canuck |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=dchp.arts.ubc.ca}}</ref> A variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of the term.<ref name="Orkin2015">{{cite book |last=Orkin |first=Mark M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrsBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT175 |title=Speaking Canadian English: An Informal Account of the English Language in Canada |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1970 |isbn=978-1-317-43632-4 |page=175}}</ref>  The term ''Kanuck'' is first recorded in 1835 as an Americanism, originally referring to [[Dutch Canadians]] (which included [[German Canadians]]) or [[French Canadians]].<ref name="Orkin2015"/><ref name=":1">Dollinger, Stefan (2006). [http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/hsl_shl/DCHP-2/DCHP-2/DCHP-2.htm "Towards a fully revised and extended edition of the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (DCHP-2): background, challenges, prospects"]. HSL/SHL Vol. 6.</ref> By the 1850s, the spelling with a "C" became predominant.<ref name="Orkin2015"/> Today, many Canadians and others use ''Canuck'' as a mostly affectionate term for any Canadian.<ref name="Orkin2015"/><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001031 |title=The Mavens' Word of the Day|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010417151050/http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001031 |archive-date=17 April 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[Johnny Canuck]] is a folklore hero who was created as a [[political cartoon]] in 1869 and was later re-invented as a [[World War II|Second World War]] [[action hero]] in 1942.<ref name="Bachle Kulbach Dak 2015 p.">{{cite book | last1=Bachle | first1=L. | last2=Kulbach | first2=A. | last3=Dak | first3=P. | title=Johnny Canuck | publisher=Comic Syrup Press | year=2015 | isbn=978-0-9940547-0-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4IxrgEACAAJ | access-date=2023-02-15 | pages=17–21}}</ref> The [[Vancouver Canucks]], a professional [[ice hockey]] team in the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL), has  used a version of "Johnny Canuck" as their team logos.<ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2019">{{cite web | title=Canuck | website=The Canadian Encyclopedia | date=2019-07-08 | url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canuck | access-date=2023-02-15}}</ref>
The Canadian military has used the term colloquially for several projects: [[Operation Canuck]], the  [[Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck]] and the [[Fleet 80 Canuck]].
[[Captain Canuck]] is a [[Canadian comics|Canadian comic book]] [[superhero]] who  first appeared in ''Captain Canuck'' #1 (July 1975).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |title=Captain Canuck |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/canuck.htm |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref> The series was the first successful Canadian comic book since the collapse of the nation's comic book industry following World War II.<ref name=edwardson>{{cite journal|last=Edwardson|first=Ryan|title=The Many Lives of Captain Canuck: Nationalism, Culture, and the creation of a Canadian Comic Book Superhero|journal=The Journal of Popular Culture|date=November 2003|volume=37|issue=2|pages=184–201|doi=10.1111/1540-5931.00063}}</ref>
==Origin==
Historically the [[etymology]] was labelled as unclear,<ref name="Orkin2015"/> with its most likely origins according to the 2017 [[A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles|Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles]], 2nd edition being:
* ''kanata'',<ref>''[[Random House Dictionary]]''</ref> "village" (see [[name of Canada]])
* ''Can''ada + -''uc'' ([[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] [[noun]] [[Affix|suffix]])<ref name=":1" />
* ''Kanaka'', derived from the Hawaiian ''[[Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)|Kanaka]]''.<ref>Allen, Irving Lewis (1990). ''Unkind Words: Ethnic Labeling from Redskin to WASP''. pp. 59, 61–62. New York: Bergin & Garvey. {{ISBN|0-89789-217-8}}.</ref>
According to ''The Etymology of Canuck'' by Jacob Adler with contributions from Mitford M. Mathews, the word ''Canuck'' connects back to the term ''kanaka'', which is defined as someone indigenous to Hawaii.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DCHP-3 {{!}} Canuck, definition 1a |url=https://dchp.arts.ubc.ca/entries/Canuck |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=dchp.arts.ubc.ca}}</ref>  The term spread beginning in the 1800s however, when ''kanaka'' acquired a racist connotation, and was used to refer to Polynesians with darker skin tones negatively.<ref name=":1" />
==Usage and examples==
Canadians use ''Canuck'' as an affectionate or merely descriptive term for their nationality.<ref name="ChengBarlas2009">{{cite book|last1=Cheng|first1=Pang Guek|last2=Barlas|first2=Robert|title=CultureShock! Canada: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6QaJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA262|year=2009|publisher=Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd|isbn=978-981-4435-31-4|pages=262–}}</ref>
If familiar with the term, most citizens of other nations, including the United States, also use it affectionately, though there are individuals who may use it as a derogatory term.
===History===
* ''Canuck'' also has the derived meanings of a Canadian [[pony]] (rare) and a French-Canadian [[patois]]<ref>''The Oxford Companion To The English Language''</ref> (very rare).
* [[Johnny Canuck]], a [[personification]] of Canada who appeared in early [[political cartoon]]s of the 1860s resisting [[Uncle Sam]]'s bullying. Johnny Canuck was revived in 1942 by [[Leo Bachle]] to defend Canada against the [[Nazism|Nazis]]. The Vancouver Canucks have adopted a personification of Johnny Canuck on their alternate hockey sweater.
* As the historical nickname for three Canadian-built aircraft from the 20th century: the [[Curtiss JN-4#Variants|Curtiss JN-4C]] training biplane, with some 1,260 airframes built; the [[Avro CF-100]] jet fighter; and the [[Fleet 80 Canuck]] two-seat side-by-side trainer.
* One of the first uses of ''Canuck''{{snd}}in the form of ''Kanuk''{{snd}}specifically referred to [[Netherlands|Dutch]] Canadians as well as the French.
* [[Operation Canuck]] was the designated name of a British [[Special Air Service|SAS]] raid led by a Canadian captain, Buck McDonald in January 1945.
*The [[Canuck letter]] became a focal point during the US 1972 Democratic primaries, when a letter published in the Manchester Union Leader implied Democratic contender Senator [[Edmund Muskie]] was prejudiced against French-Canadians. He soon ended his campaign as a result. The letter was later discovered to have been written by the Nixon campaign in an attempt to sabotage Muskie.
* A brand of firearms engineered and distributed by O'Dell Engineering Ltd since 2014 includes the Canuck 1911, Canuck Over Under and Canuck Shotgun.
===Media===
* In the opening of Thornton Wilder's 1938 play [[Our Town]], Polish and "Canuck families" are mentioned as living on the outskirts of the prototypical 1901 [[New Hampshire]] town.
* In 1975, in comics by [[Richard Comely]], [[Captain Canuck]] is a super-[[espionage|agent]] for Canadians' [[security]], with Redcoat and Kebec being his sidekicks. (Kebec is claimed to be unrelated to Capitaine Kébec of a French-Canadian comic published two years earlier.) Captain Canuck had enhanced strength and endurance thanks to being bathed in alien rays during a camping trip. The captain was reintroduced in the mid-1990s, and again in 2004.
* The [[Marvel Comics]] character [[Wolverine (character)|Wolverine]] is often referred to affectionately as "the Ol' Canucklehead" due to his Canadian heritage.
* [[Soviet Canuckistan]] was an insult used by [[Pat Buchanan]] in response to Canada's reaction to [[racial profiling]] by US Customs agents.
===Sport===
* The [[Canada national rugby union team]] (men's) is officially nicknamed Canucks.
* The [[Canucks rugby]] Club, playing in Calgary since 1968.
* The [[Crazy Canucks]], Canadian alpine ski racers who competed successfully on the World Cup circuit in the 1970s.
* The [[Vancouver Canucks]] professional [[ice hockey]] team, with their former goaltender, [[Roberto Luongo]], having a depiction of Johnny Canuck on his goalie mask.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/44BertZilla44/Canucks_Concept2.jpg |title=Johnny Canuck |access-date=2009-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214180717/http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/44BertZilla44/Canucks_Concept2.jpg |archive-date=2010-02-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The full body Johnny Canuck was then updated in 2009 by graphic designer Evan Biswanger.
* During the [[2010 Winter Olympics|Vancouver 2010 Olympics]] official Canadian Olympic gear bore the term.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Canuck}}
* [https://dchp.ca/dchp2/ Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles], Second Edition, UBC, 2017.
* [http://www.canuckscentral.com/history.html History of the Vancouver Canucks] National Hockey League team
* [http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/biblio/americas/canada/canbib05.htm Canuck Unlimited] Canadians airplane crews who operated in [[Southeast Asia]] during [[World War II]]
* [http://www.skypoint.com/members/schutz19/jcanuck.htm Johnny Canuck]: with a stamp illustration
* [http://www.skypoint.com/members/schutz19/ccanuck.htm Captain Canuck]: with a stamp illustration
* [http://www.word-detective.com/082498.html#canuck The Word Detective]
{{Ethnic slurs}}
[[Category:Regional nicknames]]
[[Category:Canadian demonyms]]
[[Category:1830s neologisms]]