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Vernon and Bluenosers

Give a gander to Vernon Oickle's new book and you'll see it's pritnear all you need to understand Nova Scotia's vernacular and it ain't half bad.

In his book, Bluenoser's Book of Slang: How To Talk Nova Scotian, the Liverpool author informs his readers that rappie pie is a meat or chicken casserole that goes well with molasses, and that "can't get blood from a turnip" refers to getting money from someone who's flat-out broke.

These would be some of the book's... shall we say... less colourful expressions.

"I think it reflects how the culture evolved over time and when you have a place like Nova Scotia that is a melting pot of different cultures communicating together over the last 200 years, the way we speak is a reflection of that," said Oickle. "It reflects who we are, it captures our past."

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THE BOOK SHELF: This book of Bluenose slang is right nice

Allison Lawlor- The Chronical Herald, Published: Oct 12, 2018

Nova Scotia, like every region in the world, has its own distinct linguistic shorthand. These words and phrases become meaningful over time and help to not only inform the people who speak them about themselves but bind them together.

"Nova Scotia is blessed with a rich language. It is littered with words and expressions that vary from county to county, and from fishing community to farm town," Oickle writes in his book's introduction.

Whether it's someone on the South Shore asking, "Are you comin' with?" or a Cape Bretoner declaring "Right some good, you," Oickle's book, which is organized like a dictionary with words and meanings grouped in alphabetical order, is filled with expressions that might leave you wondering what you've just read.

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Allan Safarik

A fond look at Saskatchewan hockey and the lives it inspires | battlefordsNOW

Edited by Allan Safarik, Saskatchewan Hockey the Game of Our Lives is a collection of stories detailing the great impact the sport has had in the lives of people throughout the province. 

Click here to read more on the Battlefords NOW website

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Writers Fest 1         Writers Fest 2

Lindy Mechefske at the Kingston WritersFest podium and with author patrons Judith Irwin and Richard Henriksen

Lindy Mechefske, the author of Out of Old Ontario Kitchens, was honoured to be part of the line-up at the recent Kingston WritersFest 2018 – widely regarded as one of the biggest and best literary festivals in Canada.

"It's fabulous to see food writing finally being taken seriously," says Lindy. "We've long paid homage to other literary genres while regarding food writing, like food preparation, as primarily 'women's work.' The truth is, food stories are the real stories of our lives and there is little more fundamental or important to the human race or the future of the planet than food." 

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Five Questions for Lindy Mechefske, author of Out of Old Ontario Kitchens

 Lindy Mechefske

What inspires you to write about food?

My love affair with food, and even more specifically, with the combination of food and history, began when I was three years old, rolling out the pastry for jam tarts in my grandfather's ancient Yorkshire kitchen. What I remember is this: food, love, joy.

Food is so often our first (and our last) memory of life. Food is community, culture, love. Food is our most fundamental necessity.

We are part of a global food community and food connects us — all of us — the whole immense global population. And the thing is, food is not just the world's largest industry, but it is also one of the ways in which we make the biggest impact on the planet. The way we eat and the food we choose to buy, grow, and cook, has staggering implications for the future of the world.

It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of food.