Can you tell me the History of the Derogatory Term for a Canadian
"Kanook"? Where did the term come from, why?

Thanks for your question.

Kanook can be spelt many different ways. Both the online Oxford
English Dictionary (OED) and online Merriam Webster
(http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary) prefer “Canuck”.

The OED says that the term apparently derives from the first syllable
of Canada, and means a Canadian or French Canadian; a Canadian horse
or pony; or the French-Canadian patois. Their earliest citation dates
from 1835. The OED notes that the US usage is generally derogatory.

According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary (3rd edn, 1995)
the term may derive from the Hawaiian “kanaka”, meaning man.

According to the online Canadian Encyclopedia, “Johnny Canuck” is the
Canadian equivalent of Uncle Sam or John Bull, and dates from cartoons
in the 1860s:

http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&ArticleId=A0004144
	
I had a look at some Google Groups postings: there is some
disagreement over whether Canadians perceive the term as derogatory or
not:

“"Canuck" is slang for "Canadian", pure and simple.  The Canadian
alpine ski team used to (and still doees at times) refer to themselves
as the "crazy canucks". CTV hosts during the Olympics commonly refered
to "canuck athletes" and "canucks is in the audience"…I do not
consider it negative in any way and would be proud if someone called
me a canuck.”

I hope this is helpful. You might like to browse Google Groups
(http://groups.google.com/) for some further discussion of “Canuck”.

Kind regards
blackbird-ga



Google search strategy:

	kanook
	canook
	Canadian dictionary online

Google groups:

	Canuck definition