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skidoo
< Ski-doo
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:Skidoo, Ski-Doo
1n. — Transportation, especially Nunavut
a small over-snow vehicle equipped with skis at the front and powered by a motor driving a treaded endless track. See Images at bombardier ((2)) and motor toboggan.
Type: 1. Origin — The term was coined in 1959 by Bombardier Ltd., as a name for one of their snowmobiles. As shown in Chart 1, skidoo is presently more common in Canada than elsewhere, though, as shown in Chart 2, snowmobile is used in Canada more frequently for the vehicle than skidoo (c. 21 points for skidoo and c. 32 for snowmobile). Regionally, skidoo is still most frequently used in Nunavut (see Chart 3), while snowmobile, the more transparent form, shows a spike on Prince Edward Island (Chart 4).
COD-2 lists the terms "Ski-Doo" and "Ski-doo suit", but does not label them as Canadian; neither does ITP Nelson. Both Gage-1 (1967) and Gage-3 (1983) label the term as "Cdn.", however, which is in line with our interpretation. Gage-5 (1997) dropped the Canadian label and only lists "Trademark", which is not confirmed in our data.
COD-2 lists the terms "Ski-Doo" and "Ski-doo suit", but does not label them as Canadian; neither does ITP Nelson. Both Gage-1 (1967) and Gage-3 (1983) label the term as "Cdn.", however, which is in line with our interpretation. Gage-5 (1997) dropped the Canadian label and only lists "Trademark", which is not confirmed in our data.
This form has all but replaced the original trade name Bombardier once used for the vehicle and has become a generic name for motorized toboggans; the name may have been influenced by the North American slang expression skidoo 'go away fast' (COD-2 "skidoo"; but see 2003 quotation). Today, there is strong evidence to suggest that the more transparent term snowmobile is pushing aside skidoo at least in more urban centres and has become the most widely used term in Canada.
Metcalf (2016: 63), considers the verb skidoo as "likely a variant of skedaddle 'to scurry away', which had been around since the [...] [American] Civil War" and is said to derive from an 1861 Union army defeat (ibid: 21).
Quotations
1960
BROOKS EQUIPMENT LTD.
King Edward at Notre Dame
St. James Winnipeg 12. SP 2-2371
Skidoo for winter fun and transportation.
King Edward at Notre Dame
St. James Winnipeg 12. SP 2-2371
Skidoo for winter fun and transportation.
1963
Many mounties, particularly around Churchill, now use the Skidoo for another ironic task; rounding up for destruction stray dogs put out of work by their successor, the mighty little Skidoo.
1963
Fishermen . . . were getting to the choice spots the easy way, using skidoos, power toboggans and aircraft.
1964
Today the Skidoo has Canadian-made competitors with names like Snow Cruiser and Jus-ski and imported rivals like the Autoboggan, Arctic Fox and Arctic Cat, all of them thriving on the discovery that these winter workhorses can also provide winter fun.
1966
Today's prospector is likely to be seen loading his "skidoo" for his journeys into the wilds. That's a type of snowmobile using tank-like tracks and short ski-runners for steering.
1966
A trapper with a fast skidoo is able to cover his lines in a third of the time that it took him to do it by dog-team.
1971
"Eddie Gruen says that he went up to Inuvik in the Bombardier (from Tuktoyaktuk). Half way he got into a whiteout. A skidoo driver in the group became blinded with the heavy blowing snow [....]"
1990
"All my life, I have been traveling this boat," said Bart Sheppard, 61, a settler and self-described "country man" who lives in the little village of Rigolet and camps in "the bush" throughout the year hunting and trapping. "Way back, it was all snow shoes and dog teams. You never saw Skidoos and modern stuff," Sheppard mused one night over coffee aboard the Taverner. "I like skidoos, but I like dog teams better. They're more dependable."
1991
[...] technologies like the birchbark canoe, the snowshoe, the dogsled, the national railway, the bush plane, the tractor train, the skidoo, the national network of radio and television, the communications satellite.
2000
Without even looking back, my grandfather turned on the Ski-Doo. Us kids, we always loved this part. While the snowmobile and the qamutik slowly started moving, revving up, we would run behind the qamutik [...].
2003
Even its best feature, the Ski-Doo name, was probably an accident: Armand apparently favored Ski-Dog. (The brochure announcing the product got it wrong.) The Ski-Doo wasn't even the first small recreational snowmobile. But after its introduction in 1959, it became the first successful model, and Armand's company enjoyed years of financial stability.
2006
Essex's Chris Gubinski won in his 2002 KCS dragster. Tecumseh's Mike Lampron won the sled class with his 2000 SkiDoo over Lakeshore's Ryan Joinville in his 1997 SkiDoo.
2010
It's spread over 32 communities across northern Manitoba, from The Pas to Churchill, Thompson to Gillam, Flin Flon to Oxford House.
"I fly in to remote communities. I've been on a Ski-Doo to get into a community, on a dogsled to get into a community," laughed Henning, president of the University College of the North.
UCN's catchment area is "two-thirds of the province -- 30 per cent of it is fly-in or ice roads."
2015
ANDERSON: Well he wasn't only a political junkie, he was also a daredevil. He got on his skidoo, he could make it go as fast as he could possibly do, or he went bungee jumping. So when he told us he was going to be paratrooper, we weren't all that surprised that he had chosen that particular activity.
2v. & verbal n. — Transportation
to ride a skidoo.
Type: 1. Origin — Mostly used as a verbal noun (see, e.g. the 1968, 2016 quotations), the term is also found as a plain verb (see the 2009 quotation). See meaning 1.
Use as a main verb (see the 2009 quotation) is predominantly a feature of spoken Canadian English. Most Canadians, however, at least those that are not avid skidoo people, would prefer the more traditional to ride a snowmobile/skidoo.
Quotations
1966
. . . a Northerner by choice, she now substitutes skidooing under the Midnight Sun for surfing on sub-tropical seas.
1968
Want to go skiing, skidooing or maybe just toboganning? The place to go this weekend...is the Glen Lawrence Golf and Country Club. There are also five skidoos for rent.
2009
He described his son as a fun-loving person.
"He lived life to the max," Verbeek said. "He Skidooed the mountains, he went where nobody else went. He enjoyed life and if he had to go and he went this way then he's happy, he was doing something he liked."
3adj. — Transportation
pertaining to a skidoo (see meaning 1)
Type: 1. Origin — See meaning 1.
Quotations
1985
Trapper Ken Sheen says he was saved by heavy clothes when he was attacked by a grizzly bear.
"I had a heavy parka and a skidoo suit on, so it kept away a lot of bruises," he said yesterday from Dawson Creek and District Hospital where he is being treated for wounds to his head and arms.
1985
You spend two days in Resolute getting acclimatized. Dressed in downfilled or caribou parkas, leggings and sheepskin boots, you spend the next five or six days travelling over the snow and ice on skidoo-pulled sleds and living in large caribou tents.
2000
Q: What did you usually wear?
A: I am a bit of a safety freak, so generally wore what looks like a Skidoo suit, helmet, gloves and goggles. I needed this clothing in the evening to keep warm.
2010
"A lot of physicians have worked with him day in and day out," he said, adding that it was easier when there was radiologist based in Grand Falls.
"We had X-rays that we asked him to come in at 2 a.m. for, for the last 27 years, for a skidoo accident or a motorcycle accident."
Regional Health Authority A is still seeking a replacement for Jain.
2010
According to the Coroner's Office the post mortum was performed in Edmonton, and Anthony Menacho returned home to his family in Deline on Saturday. The final results of the autopsy are expected to be released in August.
Menacho, 19, was found on a skidoo trail, 2 km outside of the community on March 30.
"At this point in time the investigation has revealed it is not suspicous in nature," said RCMP Sgt. Wayne Norris. "We know he was a visitor to the community, and he was out with friends."
References
- COD-2
- ITP Nelson
- Gage-5
- Gage-3
- Gage-1
- Metcalf (2016)
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 26 Nov. 2015
Chart 2: Internet Domain Search, 26 Nov. 2015
Chart 3: Regional Domain Search, 26 Jan. 2016
