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zunga
DCHP-2 (May 2016)
n. — Sunshine Coast (British Columbia)
a rope hung close to shore so that the user can swing out from the bank and plunge into the water.
Type: 1. Origin — The term is specific to the Powell River Regional District, BC (see the 2009 quotation) and has acquired status as a local linguistic marker. It appears to be a phonetically adapted loan word from Swedish "svänga" or "gunga", "swing" in English. Swedish was an important early immigrant language in the area. For instance, Lund, an unincorporated village thirty kilometres north of Powell River, was first settled by Swedish brothers Charles and Frederick Thulin in 1889 (Akrigg & Akrigg 1997: 158), and is, together with Powell River, home to many of Swedish descent. The term is mostly used in the spoken domain (but see Image 1).
Quotations
2009
You know someone is from Powell River when they know what the word zunga
means. The term elicits confused expressions
from those who had not grown up knowing
the joy of swinging at the end of a rope and
dropping into refreshing lake waters. It's exhilarating.
2012
Having first tried their Zunga blonde ale, it is a bit like a Transformer, there is more than meets the eye! There was a lot that made it seem like the least exciting of the range. BC isn't exactly a hotbed of great blonde ales but then, this isn't really a blonde ale in the North American sense. The name is not, as we initially thought, a reference to a dance based exercise craze (silly us, that is Zumba). As stated on the bottle, it is a reference to a local word for a rope swing, a much cooler story! We really like that they kept it local.
2015
If you want my opinion, the world’s greatest zunga is the one that was tied to a steep bank about halfway up Goat River. It was the quintessential zunga. Unless you know of one that was better?
2015
Zunga - Slang A make-shift rope swing that arcs over a refreshing body of water. This is especially the case in Powell River, where the term originated. The town's own Townsite Brewery honours the local patois' contribution to the English language with a summery golden ale. A rite of passage for BC youth.
References
- Akrigg & Akrigg (1997)
Images
