Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I is for Ice


I'll give you ice! And bear in mind these are only a few ice words selected from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. Ice was a way of life here but now, with climate change and PETA, less so. The following are a few selected words:

Ice-bird – the common dovekie
Ice-blind – temporary loss of sight caused by the glare of ice
Ice-block – blockade of coast during winter
ice boat or ice skiff – flat boat used in sealing
Ice-cat – sled used to haul wood in winter
Ice-chock – heavy lumber used to strengthen the hull of a sealing vessel
Ice clumper – floating pan of ice
Ice-gall – patch of bare slippery ice
Ice gaze – hunter's blind constructed from ice
Ice-glim – glow or brightness seen over a distant ice field
Ice-master – Captain of a sealing vessel
Ice-plant – sea lungwort, a spreading plant with oval leaves, pink-blue flowers
Ice-quar – ice formed from water seeping from or over the ground in freezing temperatures.
Ice skiff – undecked boat 30-40 feet long used in seal hunts
Ice-work – the seal hunt


And my favourite kind of ice? The slab-ice that forms on the shore like piled up paving stones. These are called Bella Carters. A word that still enchants me. I wrote it about it here.

17 comments:

  1. I am loving these alphabet posts.

    Are Ice-glim's the equivalent of the mirages we see in the distance on a road during a heatwave?

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  2. So you have at least 15 words for ice! I love ice, it's very beautiful (except of course when the pipes start bursting). Very topical subject, with the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic just a few days away.

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  3. Ah, they have not yet started calling diamonds as ice. Poor Newfoundland women!

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  4. we are far too familiar with ice here in minnesota.

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  5. In Oklahoma the ice we fear most is an ice storm - something I'd never experienced in England.

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  6. When you live near the sea you've got to think of ice. I learned a few things today from this post.

    I hope you're enjoying the Challenge!

    KarenG
    A to Z Challenge Host

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  7. Mine is ice-cream :D

    Love that visual...of seaside ice.

    --Damyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2012

    Twitter: @AprilA2Z
    #atozchallenge

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  8. GM:
    Yes I would say, it is an accumulation of light on the white ice.
    XO
    WWW

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  9. Nick:
    I only selected a few of the words and the Titanic celebrations are huge here also, though not as big as Belfast.
    Celebration sounds like the wrong word, though.
    XO
    WWW

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  10. True Ramana, I think they would look at me sideways if I mentioned ice as terminology for diamonds, coals to Newcastle kind of thing :)
    XO
    WWW

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  11. Laurie:
    Yes you get your fair share as well!
    XO
    WWW

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  12. T:
    Ice storms terrify me. I just hunker down with the fire and the dog.
    XO
    WWW

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  13. GFB:
    Here's to yer elbow, fine sir!
    XO
    WWW

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  14. Karen:
    Yes I am enjoying this and I love ice on the sea though with climate change we're getting less and less of it.
    XO
    WWW

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  15. Damyanti:
    Ben & Jerry's?
    And btw they actually sell the iceberg water and make iceberg vodka.
    XO
    WWW

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  16. Re the Titanic, nobody's talking about a celebration here, more a commemoration. People are being very careful to respect painful memories.

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