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Only In Saskatchewan
Gibbled: Another prairie contribution to English
By Les MacPherson- Star Phoenix
April 7, 2007
The Lilydale chicken processing plant in Wynyard is well-known for producing tender, juicy breasts and thighs. What is not so well-known is the plant's signal contribution to the English language. It was in and around this plant in the late 1960s that the word "gibbled" was invented.
Along with the bunnyhug and Vi-co, gibbled can now claim its place on the illustrious register of English words that originate in Saskatchewan.
So says a University of Saskatchewan linguistics student who researched the origins of "gibbled." Robin Burlingham is now trying to have the word included in the Oxford Canadian Dictionary as a Saskatchewan contribution. Nothing would delight her more than to see "gibbled" enshrined in the lexicon and know that she had a role in securing its place.
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Just a semester away from graduation, Burlingham undertook the gibbled project for a third-year English class. She got 95 per cent, which is about as solid as it gets in the labyrinthine corridors of linguistics.
Burlingham's interest in "gibbled" was sparked by an ongoing argument between her brother-in-law, Mark Sherwood, and his friend, Thor Bjarnason. Bjarnason claimed that his father Leon invented the word "gibbled" based on chicken-processing jargon from the Wynyard plant. Sherwood scoffed at the idea and tried to refute it, but was unable to do so. Instead, he learned through Internet searches and chat-room polls that "gibbled" is used almost exclusively by people in Western Canada. This not only left open but supported the possibility that the source was in Wynyard.
In Saskatchewan, we're all familiar with the word. "Gibbled" describes something that is broken or wobbly or otherwise dysfunctional. Usually it applies to things physical ("If you run on that gibbled ankle, the swelling will only get worse"), things mechanical ("How can I cut anything with these gibbled scissors?") or things technological ("Ever since I downloaded that software, my fonts have been totally gibbled"). In other jurisdictions, however, they might wonder what we're talking about.
Burlingham began her investigations with some trepidation. She had never before researched a word's origins. Where it would lead, she had no idea. Whether it could stand up as an English term paper, she did not know. What sustained and delighted her was the willingness of strangers to help from near and far. That's how I heard of the project. Burlingham, who grew up in Saskatoon, contacted me to ask if I had ever used "gibbled" in print. She thought for some reason that, if anyone had, it would be me. It so happens I had not. But I was able to find for her a number of published examples from other periodicals in our various databases. These she pursued individually, tracking down the authors and asking where they had encountered the word. The trails always led back to Saskatchewan or Alberta.
Burlington could not find gibbled in any published dictionary, but it does appear in the online Urban Dictionary. The contributor came from Edmonton.
Going straight to the word's alleged source, Burlington tracked down Leon Bjarnason himself. He told her he came up with the word about 40 years ago after talking to a friend who worked in the Lilydale processing plant.
The friend told him about a woman colleague whose job was to handle the giblets, a word she habitually mispronounced with a hard "G". When she needed more of them, she'd periodically holler out what sounded like, "GIBBLETS!" This became a continuing source of amusement among her co-workers.
When Leon learned of it, he joked that, if she got "gibblets" (with the hard "G"), she'd be gibbled. From this, the word quickly evolved into an adjective to describe anything defective, from a machine with a bent shaft to a physical disability.
Leon did not travel extensively, but the word could have been picked up and spread around by relatives from B.C. and Alberta who visited with their families every summer. Burlington finds the story entirely plausible and consistent with all of her other research.
What appeared to be an exception was the use of "gibbled" on the blog of a Los Angeles author and radio personality, Paul Davidson. His biography revealed no Canadian connection. Burlington e-mailed him to ask how he came to know the word.
He replied in a matter of hours. What pleased Burlington even more was his confirmation of a Prairie connection. Davidson told her he'd picked up the word at college in California from a roommate, who picked it up from family friends in Alberta.
Other inquiries yielded similar results. A B.C. woman remembered first hearing "gibbled" in Ponoka, Alta., when she was 14. It was then a friend's signature word. When she moved to B.C., she took it with her.
With "gibbled" since appearing at least a half dozen times in print and hundreds more on the Internet, Burlington wondered why it was not in the Oxford Canadian Dictionary. A senior lexicographer explained that they simply had not encountered the word and graciously invited her to submit her examples. This she did, eliciting a promise that "gibbled" would definitely be considered for the dictionary's next edition.
Burlington also plans to forward to Oxford this column, which should count as several more usages in print of the word "gibbled," perhaps enough to clinch the entry.
Of course, the real credit goes to the woman in the chicken plant and the man who transformed her mangled imperative into a new and delightfully descriptive word.
Our language is enriched by people such as them.
Les can be reached at lmacpherson@sp.canwest.com
By Les MacPherson- Star Phoenix
April 7, 2007
The Lilydale chicken processing plant in Wynyard is well-known for producing tender, juicy breasts and thighs. What is not so well-known is the plant's signal contribution to the English language. It was in and around this plant in the late 1960s that the word "gibbled" was invented.
Along with the bunnyhug and Vi-co, gibbled can now claim its place on the illustrious register of English words that originate in Saskatchewan.
So says a University of Saskatchewan linguistics student who researched the origins of "gibbled." Robin Burlingham is now trying to have the word included in the Oxford Canadian Dictionary as a Saskatchewan contribution. Nothing would delight her more than to see "gibbled" enshrined in the lexicon and know that she had a role in securing its place.
Email to a friendEmail to a friendPrinter friendlyPrinter friendly
Font:
Just a semester away from graduation, Burlingham undertook the gibbled project for a third-year English class. She got 95 per cent, which is about as solid as it gets in the labyrinthine corridors of linguistics.
Burlingham's interest in "gibbled" was sparked by an ongoing argument between her brother-in-law, Mark Sherwood, and his friend, Thor Bjarnason. Bjarnason claimed that his father Leon invented the word "gibbled" based on chicken-processing jargon from the Wynyard plant. Sherwood scoffed at the idea and tried to refute it, but was unable to do so. Instead, he learned through Internet searches and chat-room polls that "gibbled" is used almost exclusively by people in Western Canada. This not only left open but supported the possibility that the source was in Wynyard.
In Saskatchewan, we're all familiar with the word. "Gibbled" describes something that is broken or wobbly or otherwise dysfunctional. Usually it applies to things physical ("If you run on that gibbled ankle, the swelling will only get worse"), things mechanical ("How can I cut anything with these gibbled scissors?") or things technological ("Ever since I downloaded that software, my fonts have been totally gibbled"). In other jurisdictions, however, they might wonder what we're talking about.
Burlingham began her investigations with some trepidation. She had never before researched a word's origins. Where it would lead, she had no idea. Whether it could stand up as an English term paper, she did not know. What sustained and delighted her was the willingness of strangers to help from near and far. That's how I heard of the project. Burlingham, who grew up in Saskatoon, contacted me to ask if I had ever used "gibbled" in print. She thought for some reason that, if anyone had, it would be me. It so happens I had not. But I was able to find for her a number of published examples from other periodicals in our various databases. These she pursued individually, tracking down the authors and asking where they had encountered the word. The trails always led back to Saskatchewan or Alberta.
Burlington could not find gibbled in any published dictionary, but it does appear in the online Urban Dictionary. The contributor came from Edmonton.
Going straight to the word's alleged source, Burlington tracked down Leon Bjarnason himself. He told her he came up with the word about 40 years ago after talking to a friend who worked in the Lilydale processing plant.
The friend told him about a woman colleague whose job was to handle the giblets, a word she habitually mispronounced with a hard "G". When she needed more of them, she'd periodically holler out what sounded like, "GIBBLETS!" This became a continuing source of amusement among her co-workers.
When Leon learned of it, he joked that, if she got "gibblets" (with the hard "G"), she'd be gibbled. From this, the word quickly evolved into an adjective to describe anything defective, from a machine with a bent shaft to a physical disability.
Leon did not travel extensively, but the word could have been picked up and spread around by relatives from B.C. and Alberta who visited with their families every summer. Burlington finds the story entirely plausible and consistent with all of her other research.
What appeared to be an exception was the use of "gibbled" on the blog of a Los Angeles author and radio personality, Paul Davidson. His biography revealed no Canadian connection. Burlington e-mailed him to ask how he came to know the word.
He replied in a matter of hours. What pleased Burlington even more was his confirmation of a Prairie connection. Davidson told her he'd picked up the word at college in California from a roommate, who picked it up from family friends in Alberta.
Other inquiries yielded similar results. A B.C. woman remembered first hearing "gibbled" in Ponoka, Alta., when she was 14. It was then a friend's signature word. When she moved to B.C., she took it with her.
With "gibbled" since appearing at least a half dozen times in print and hundreds more on the Internet, Burlington wondered why it was not in the Oxford Canadian Dictionary. A senior lexicographer explained that they simply had not encountered the word and graciously invited her to submit her examples. This she did, eliciting a promise that "gibbled" would definitely be considered for the dictionary's next edition.
Burlington also plans to forward to Oxford this column, which should count as several more usages in print of the word "gibbled," perhaps enough to clinch the entry.
Of course, the real credit goes to the woman in the chicken plant and the man who transformed her mangled imperative into a new and delightfully descriptive word.
Our language is enriched by people such as them.
Les can be reached at lmacpherson@sp.canwest.com