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emmet
DCHP-2 (Mar 2014)
Spelling variants:immit
n. — Newfoundland, dated, Fauna
an ant.
Type: 2. Preservation — The term emmet is a dialectal name in Newfoundland and Labrador English for a type of small insect, the ant. Deriving from Old English "ǣmette" (see AHD-5, s.v. "emmet"), the term is a preservation from British English, marked as both "Engl dial" (see DARE, s.v. "emmet") and "now chiefly Brit. regional" (see OED-3, s.v. "emmet").
The preservation of the term emmet can be contextualized by Clarke's (2010b: 103) discussion of the conservative nature of the NLE lexicon. The term is often labelled as archaic or obsolete in British dialects, while it is still in use in NLE (see the 1991 quotation).
See COD-2, s.v. "emmet", which is described as "common in Newfoundland."
The preservation of the term emmet can be contextualized by Clarke's (2010b: 103) discussion of the conservative nature of the NLE lexicon. The term is often labelled as archaic or obsolete in British dialects, while it is still in use in NLE (see the 1991 quotation).
See COD-2, s.v. "emmet", which is described as "common in Newfoundland."
Quotations
1925
JULY 4 Under the influence of the broiling sun all sorts of strange insects are swarming about the house. Large ants, called locally "emmets," are the most objectionable.
1946
R: Neither did I, but I've seen emmets cut down a tree, just as completely as if they had used a buck-saw or an axe to do it.
1952
Jos rocked placidly in the corner, the squeak of his chair keeping time with his haws as he chewed. But when Tobin finished mopping the back of his neck and started for the stairs, the old man was out of the rocker and scuttling through the door as nimble as an emmet.
1972
Ants carrying eggs, which happened when their nest was disturbed, were termed "emmets with their puddings".
1982
Put your sandwich in this container so that the ants and mosquitoes won't get at it. Lodge your sandwich in this chummy where the emmets and nippers won't get at it.
1991
Emmet still pops up in certain British dialects - in northeast Scotland it's eemock, which also means a tiny person, or fairy - but not even the scholars who put together the superb Dictionary of Newfoundland English seem to have known that, as recently as 1976, this word, which was in use in England during the Dark Ages, still sprang easily from the lips of 4-year-old boys in outport Newfoundland.
2001
I read something a long time ago and keep the clipping in my Bible, my source of strength: "Education does not commence with the alphabet; it begins with a mother's look, with a father's nod of approbation, or sign of reproof, with a sister's gentle pressure of the hand, or a brother's noble act of forbearance; [...] with creeping ants, and almost imperceptible emmets; with humming bees and glass beehives [...]."
2007
ANT The word 'ant' started out in Old English as amete, and in some regions, Newfoundland being one, ants are still called 'emmets'. Amete got squished down to amte, which is hard to say, so the m got changed to an n, leaving us with 'ant'.
2013
It is not only the inn that is being talked about. There is a lot of associated buzz about our rocks, for God's sake; there was even a conference on rocks. It has been said that our rocks are pre-Cambrian, if you can believe that. Our dialect is cute, we use 'heave' instead of 'throw' and we call ants 'emmets', we used to build our houses on stilts, and on and on it goes.
References
- AHD-5
- OED-3
- DARE
- COD-2
- Clarke (2010b)