Scoutman Loc: Orlando, FL

Having lived and worked there for several years, I thought I would share a few wonderful and unique things about it.

Pronunciations very: NEWfunland NewFUNDland NewfunLAND. The latter preferred by the natives. My dog was a LabraDOOR Retriever.

Just a Small Sampling of Wonderful Place Names: Paradise, Port du Grave, Dildo Run, Seldom Come By, Come by Chance.

Non natives are known as "come-from-aways" even Canadians.

Returning home by air, Gander and St. John's airports were frequently fogged in, forcing return to Canada. Halifax usually. Sometimes more than one day. Rarely, you'd have to take the ferry home. Generally Air Canada would cover the accommodation and put you in a Crown Corporation hotel.

Newfie Joke:

Q: "Know how to get twenty-five Newfoundlanders in a Volkswagan Beetle?
A: "Ask them if they want a ride to Toronto." Only after putting the car on the ferry, or course.

Fried cod tongues are a delicacy. They don't really have tongues.

It gets REAL windy. When they had a narrow gauge railroad on the island, there was one place where it would occasionally be blown off the tracks.

Places reachable only by sea, are called outports. Check a map. Vast stretches on barren land. Noteworthy is the expanse from St. Anthony Southward along the coast. Lots of vacant oceanfront property. Outports slowly diminishing. In some of these, as their populations dwindled, families are encouraged to resettle. Incentive could be as high as $250,000.00. per family. When that was a cheaper alternative than maintaining services. These became ghost tones, but some homesick folks might return for a spell during summer. Which is generally July.

It has its own time zone. Always a half an hour later. Friends calling us from America NEVER believed this.
While it's 4:00 pm in New York, it's 6:30 in Newfoundland(Eastern Time Zone-Atlantic Time Zone-Newfoundland Time Zone.

I'll add a sample on Newfoundland speech in a few minutes. Characteristic might be fast, clipped, with a noticeable inhalation at the end: "baddaybywe/gottagettaouttathisdirtyweathermeson." followed by a slight sucking sound. [Bad day we are having. Got to get out of this weather my son.]

Shortly after we arrived there, my then wife tried to order firewood for the fireplace. The guy she spoke to kept saying he could bring her a load of chips and junks. After repeatedly asking for clarification, he finally said "Mam, ya puts in yer fireplace and ya burns em!"

Want to explore the photographic wonders? Tourist industry has really developed since I lived there. Check this out and order a kit with map and guidebook:

http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/

Big Stopper Loc: London

I can't imagine I'll ever go there (never say never) but I enjoyed reading that. Thanks, Bob

Scoutman Loc: Orlando, FL

Here's the YouTube sampling of speech:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqLuIXwsLDw

Scoutman Loc: Orlando, FL

Thanks.

Lagniappe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqLuIXwsLDw

Two Newfoundlanders conversing.

Big Stopper Loc: London

I followed a little of the conversation and it was interesting hearing about the dropped aitches and added aitches. Thanks, Bob

Scoutman Loc: Orlando, FL

One more sampling, and then I'm no longer to here.
"What's after happening now?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHB32ll7Ce8

Big Stopper Loc: London

Funny, and now I know what "What's after happening now?" means.