DCHP-3

mauzy

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)

Spelling variants:
mausy, mausey, mawzy

adj. — Newfoundland, Outdoors

damp, foggy, cloudy weather, with occasional drizzle.

Type: 2. Preservation — Mauzy is a preservation from British English, where it is attested as far back as the 1890s (see OED-3, s.v. "mosy" for an 1892 quotation, DNE. s.v. "mauzy" for an 1897 quotations) and listed as "now chiefly Newfoundland". The term has been preserved in Canada (see Chart 1), and is almost exclusive to Newfoundland, where it has the highest prevalence (see Chart 2). By the 1930s, the term may have acquired some elements of a linguistic stereotype of Newfoundland, which is quite entrenched today (see the 2005 and 2012 quotations). By the 1930s, the term started to appear in works such as Devine (1937: 33), who defined a "mausey day" as "a cloudy, foggy day with no wind and a little rain at times."
See also COD-2, s.v. "mauzy", which is marked "Cdn (Nfld)".

Quotations

1897
Mausey day, one dull and heavy, with no wind and thick mist.
1955
On a mauzy spring morning some of the cod were still alive and remained quivering even after being skinned and brought to the house for dinner. Nothing could make the mouth water like fresh herring frying.
1969
The Caplin Scull is not just a phenomenon of nature, but also a period of the year, and even a special kind of weather -- 'mausy' weather, with high humidity, frequent fogs or drizzles, easterly winds.
1994
GROS MORNE NATIONAL PARK, Nfld. - On a misty day that Newfoundlanders would call mauzy, I made my first acquaintance with Gros Morne National Park. A clever day - meaning brightly sunny - would have been preferable, but weather patterns play no favorites here in the sub-arctic tundra facing the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
2005
Joan's favorite Newfoundlandism is "mauzy," which the DNE explains is how you describe damp, foggy, misty, or close weather. Other good terms are "floption" (confusion), "caudler" (someone who muddles things up), "hobble" (casual work), and "roaration" (a long, deep-throated noise). You get the idea.
2012
"The weather is kind of mauzy (damp in Newfoundland-speak), but people aren't coming here to lie on the beach. They're coming to be in touch with nature," she says. "They're seeking hard days and soft nights at four-star places."

References

  • COD-2
  • OED-3
  • DNE
  • Devine (1937)

Images

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 24 May 2014

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 24 May 2014

Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 23 May 2014

Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 23 May 2014