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across
DCHP-2 (Apr 2016)
in the expressions go across or come from across
adv. & used nominally with 'from' — Prince Edward Island; rare, possibly dated
to or from Nova Scotia or New Brunswick (from the Prince Edward Island perspective).
Type: 3. Semantic Change — A specialization of the word across, referring to the crossing of the Northumberland Strait between Prince Edward Island and the Canadian mainland. DPEIE is the best source and reports the following from interviews in the late 1970s/early 1980s (s.v. "across"):
"The [DPEIE] Common Word Survey included the question ‘If someone lives in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia he or she is from…?’ Across was favoured by 7% of the informants, chiefly rural users, over such choices as the other side or the mainland."
Formerly used for ferry traffic; since 1997 primarily referring to the crossing of the Confederation Bridge.
See also DPEIE, s.v. "across", which labels it at "mainland, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick".
"The [DPEIE] Common Word Survey included the question ‘If someone lives in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia he or she is from…?’ Across was favoured by 7% of the informants, chiefly rural users, over such choices as the other side or the mainland."
Formerly used for ferry traffic; since 1997 primarily referring to the crossing of the Confederation Bridge.
See also DPEIE, s.v. "across", which labels it at "mainland, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick".
See: away
Oral data is difficult to come by, especially of young PEIers; it stands to reason that the 1997 opening of the Confederation Bridge, which connects PEI with mainland Canada, would have had an effect on the use of across.
Quotations
1979
Sometimes it was a horse-buyer, familiar figures then - one maybe 'from across the Strait,' come in to inquire where he might 'pick up a driver, and perhaps a low-set one for the mines,' to set my fancy adrift.
1979
We bought one of these [hockey pads] across.
1979
'Are these peaches from the Island?'
'No, they're across'
1981
The findings didn't surprize [sic] me a lot but I would imagine they would if I was to go to the other side of the Island or across and asked the same questions.
1988
People here definitely think that, that if someone is going to come from across, they've got to be better because they're 'from away'.
1988
I don't think, by listening to the bands across, I don't think it's going to be hard for me to get jobs.
2005
In many parts of Canada, there is a special sense for the word "strong" when referring to a measurement slightly larger than the stated amount, such as a "strong quarter of an inch."
Some of the distinctive senses of common words are restricted to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland. In Prince Edward Island, "to go across" or "come from across" refers to movement to or from New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.
References
- DPEIE