Did you know that Americans named Newfoundland screech?
During the second world war, an American service man was rumoured to have taken a big drink of the local drink (rum) and hollered out a great screech, and the name was born.

To be Screeched in, in Newfoundland is an honour not given to just anyone. The practice includes kissing a cod, taking a shot of Screech and reciting a Newfie phrase. Over the years, Bernard and I have Screeched in many a mainlander, in fact, we used to do it regularly at Makokibatan Lodge during Happy Half hour. After the Screeching in, we would have the person recite the following sentence:

“Long may your big jib draw” -any guesses as to what this means? And no cheat’n now either

And so, with this phrase, begins my weekly column, which I’ve decided to call “Guess dat Newfie word, b’y. Every week I will be introducing a Newfoundlander word or slang term and I invite you all to FaceBook, tweet, or email me back your guesses. The winners from each newsletter will be entered into a draw for something really great…more details to follow. Don’t forget to like us on FaceBook or follow us on Twitter. As Bernard would say, we’d love to hear your twitters or comments on our page.

Until next time…see ya!
Meryl