![]() ![]() A parody of the Canadian public service announcement A hoser is, to a great extent, the Canadian equivalent of American terms like “hillbilly” and “redneck” – though without the overtly racist connotations of the latter word. The Oxford English Dictionary, meanwhile, notes that as early as the 1920s, “hose” was American slangįor a penis, as in the immortal rhyme: “So now kind friends remember before the water flows / Please adjust the distance according to your hose.” This, too, may be a factor in the word’s beginnings. ![]() Of “hoser” (“a person who swindles or deceives others”) and the Canadian (“an unsophisticated, especially rural, person”). Still, the Collins Canadian Dictionary (2010) makes a distinction between the American meaning Used as a verb, include “deceive, swindle.” On “The Great White North,” Moranis and Thomas occasionally used “hose” with exactly this meaning. So may the fact that in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (second edition, 2004), the meanings of “hose,” ![]() The earliest recorded use of the term “hoser” appears to be in a 1981 Toronto Star interview with Rick Moranis, who defined the word at the time as “what you call yourīrother when your folks won’t let you swear.” The closeness of “hoser” to “loser” may provide a clue to the word’s true origin. Have to hose down the ice after a hockey game.” These suggestions appear to qualify as “folk etymology,” as there is no proof that either one is correct. But in 2010, a writer for the Vancouver Sun declared with equal confidence that, “he term originates from pre- Zamboni days, when the losing team would An article published in the Globe and Mail in 1982 stated that the term “arose shortly after cars and gasoline-powered tractors came into use on the Prairies.” Out on the farm, a person who siphoned gas from a neighbour’s fuel drum using a length of rubber hose would supposedly be known as a It’s unclear if the word “hoser” was in use before “The Great White North.” Various claims to this effect have emerged in the years since. ![]() For example, during one episode, Bob asked a stupid question about a type of beer and Doug replied, “‘Cause it says so on the label, hosehead.” From time to time, Bob and Doug would use the related term “hosehead” to insult each other. “If there was a definition of the lowest common denominator, I think that’s it,” Thomas told Much of the humour in the skits comes from their failure to understand anything outside their little world, and many things inside it too. The two characters wore parkas, plaid shirts and tuques with earmuffs. Originally conceived as filler material, the sketch quickly became the most popular element of the show. The brothers’ lack of pretense, zest for life and rough affection for each other made them lovable to viewers despite their obvious limitations. To come up with two extra minutes of “identifiable Canadian content.” Moranis and Thomas invented “The Great White North,” an improvised weekly sketch in which Bob and Doug would each embody the stereotype of an uneducated Canadian: beer-swilling, bacon-loving,ĭoughnut-munching and frequently inarticulate. In 1980, after SCTV had left Global Television Network and become part of CBC’s schedule, network executives asked the show’s producers May not have been the first to use the word “hoser,” but they are responsible for making it a well-known expression. The comic actors Rick Moranis (Bob) and Dave Thomas (Doug) In Canada, then migrated to NBC in the United States in 1981. The craze was provoked by fictional brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie, recurring characters on the comedy show SCTV. “Hoser mania is reaching epidemic proportions,” remarked broadcaster Leslie MacKinnon on CBC-TV’s The Journal in the early 1980s. ![]()
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