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sleeveen
< Irish Gaelic slighbín 'trickster'
DCHP-2 (May 2016)
Spelling variants:sleveen, slieveen, sleiveen,
n. — Newfoundland, slang, informal
a sly, mischievous person; a rascal.
Type: 2. Preservation — In Canada, sleeveen appears most often in Newfoundland and Labrador English (see Chart 2). Deriving from the Irish Gaelic "slighbín", which Dinneen (1927: 1055) defines as 'a sly-mannered person, a schemer, a trickster', the term made its way to Newfoundland with Irish immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries. The term is still in widespread use in Ireland, as reflected in Chart 1, with Canadian usage following second and ahead of the US. Sleeveen may describe not only a person bearing ill intentions but also a mischievous child (see NL Tourism reference). The 1847 quotation marks the earliest Canadian attestation, though in an Irish context. The first clearly Newfoundland attestation is the 1881 quotation. Since Newfoundland joined Confederation in March 1949, the first Canadian attestation is the 1949 quotation. OED-3 lists an 1843 quotation from Ireland as the earliest overall.
See also COD-2, s.v. "sleeveen", which is marked "Cdn (Nfld) & Irish derogatory", DNE, s.v. "sleeveen", and OED-3, s.v. "sleeveen", which is marked "Irish and Newfoundland".
See also COD-2, s.v. "sleeveen", which is marked "Cdn (Nfld) & Irish derogatory", DNE, s.v. "sleeveen", and OED-3, s.v. "sleeveen", which is marked "Irish and Newfoundland".
Quotations
1847
"God be good and merciful to your sowls, I pray! But it was the poor sight!" said a weak sweet voice, coming in at the door. "Oh! you Sleveen! What raumaush is now on the tip of your tongue?" said the widow, in high displeasure. "Lord brake any one's hard cross! it's thrue as as you're there, ma'am," said the little ugly lame man, with a sigh, advancing; and having knocked a bag off a stool, he coolly sat down in the corner, without removing his kersey outside coat or cat-skin cap.
1881
Whether the next election takes place this fall or the following one, we hope the manly and independent voters of Fortune Bay will give this political sleveen a tune on his own fiddle, and make him "dance" out of the District again as quickly as he "danced" into it.
1949
"Why'nt ya larn t' steer before ya ever thinka goin' fer a ride be yerself, young sleeveen," was the advice she gave him, before disappearing through the huge 'big gate' that separated the 'Point' from the rest of Twin Islands.
1953
Pop said he was nothing but an old sleveen, which is certainly the best way I know of saying a fellow is sly and mean and hypocritical without wasting words.
1968
sleeveen, n [...] a sly person, a rogue. "He's a real sleeveen, that fella. He'd steal the two eyes out o' your head." General. (slíbín, 1055, a sly fellow).
1975
When the House rose Mr. Higgins came, as was his custom, to have a quiet smoke and chat in my room. "Tell me," he asked, "what was that sleeveen up to when he went on and on about me, calling me a gentleman and comparing me with Chesteron and Belloc?"
1985
Sleeveen is a wonderfully expressive Newfoundland word for "a sly deceitful man, a mean fellow; rascal; a mischievous child."
1997
Once that mawmouth talked my young Eileen / Out by the river to watch the merry dancers. / An idler, a twister, an outright slieveen. / His mother was a moonlight child; / His father a moonshiner.
2013
Take sleeveen, a word I used to say about guys with long greasy hair and black leather jackets who oozed a charm so pungent women swooned at their feet and offered to buy them a plate of fish and chips or packs of smokes. I hardly remember to say it now, unless I see it on a t-shirt in a tourist shop. Or maybe those kind of guys are harder to find.
References
- COD-2
- OED-3 • "sleeveen"
- DNE
- Dinneen (1927)
- NL Tourism • "Sleeveen - Newfoundland and Labrador Language Lessons"