Scout Lexicon

Welcome to the Scout Lexicon, part dictionary of received ideas and part etymological project. The goal is to pin down the slang/patois of the City of Vancouver. If you know of a word, phrase or double entendre that you think is unique to our part of the world, please share it with us in the comment field below. If you include the definition and use it in an example sentence, we will do our best to add it to the list…

“A”

“A” | colloquial abbreviation | Short for the hallucinogenic drug “acid”, or LSD | Pronunciation: “Ah” | Usage: “Woah…careful, man…that dude’s totally trippin’ on A”.

Abby | colloquial abbreviation, place | Short for the City of Abbotsford | Many Vancouverites assume from news reports that it’s a diseased, crime-ridden shithole in the Fraser Valley that is sadly but umbilically connected to their city (and therefore bringing in all manner of suburban pestilence), but once you get away from the strip malls it’s a secret hotbed of cool (need source). The population hovers at roughly 240,000. 52,738 of these are assumed to be drug dealers, douchebags, roidfucks and murderers, but the rest are farmers and beyond reproach | Pronunciation: “Ah-bee” | Usage: “There’s no fucking way in hell that I would ever move to Abbotsford.”

Adelphia Group | Company | The owner of Caprice, Venue, Celebrities, Pivo, Dover Arms, The Charles and a pair of liquor stores. Notorious for bar star clientele | Pronunciation: “Ah-dell-fee-ah Groop” | Usage: “The Adelphia Group should totally produce their own reality show based on Jersey Shore.”

Asbalt | Place/Venue | A nickname for The Astoria given when local punk promoter Wendy 13 booked there in lieu of the Cobalt | Pronunciation: “Ass-bawlt” | Usage: “I got wasted at the Asbalt last night.”

Adbusters | Publication | Thoroughly depressing but always illuminating anti-consumerist magazine founded in 1989 by Bill Schmalz and Kalle Lasn right here in Vancouver. Also popularisers of “Buy Nothing Day”. It prints bi-monthly, with a world-wide circulation of 120,000 | Pronunciation: “Ad-buss-ters” | Usage: “Did you check out the new issue of Adbusters?”

Aftershave | Place/Bar | The nickname for Yaletown’s Afterglow lounge, so-named after the clientele’s heavy use of designer man-scents | Pronunciation: “Aff-terh-shaeyv” | Usage: “Did you see those Hawkpanthers leaving Aftershave and getting in that monster Bummer?”

Andrew Andrew Andrew | Individual | Local DJ, promoter and wild man | Pronunciation: “An-dru an-dru an-dru” | Usage: “Andrew Andrew Andrew is spinning tonight at…”

Alf House | Venue | Legendary crusty punk house in East Van that still throws shows | Pronunciation: “Alf-how-ss” | Usage: “I’ve fallen at the Alf House and I can’t get up.”

Amsterdam | Store | A local headshop where the patrons aren’t thrown out for smoking weed (just so long as they don’t ask where they can buy it). Though officially called the “New Amsterdam Cafe”, no one uses the “New” or the “Cafe” | Pronunciation: “Am-sta-damm” | Usage: “Dude…I just left the Amsterdam…wait…what?”

Anti-Social | Store/Gallery | Kickass skateboard and clothing store at 2337 Main St. that stocks good gear for local skateboarders and plays host to a number of community events and art shows every year | Pronunciation: “An-tee-sew-shull” | Usage: “I scored these Vans on sale at Anti-Social…”

APC | Organisation/Acronym/Synonym | Stands for Anti-Poverty Committee | A loose organisation “of poor and working people who fight for poor people, their rights and an end to poverty by any means necessary.” Famous for ransacking former Premier Gordon Campbell’s Vancouver office and getting duped by a cop posing as a journalist in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The acronym is now synonymous with going crazy and wrecking things for effect | Pronunciation: “Ay-pee-see” | Usage: “That’s it. I’m going all APC up in here.”

APEC Riot | Historical Event/Misnomer | A debacle that went down during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit out at UBC in November, 1997. Not a riot, per se, but rather a moment when many local cops revealed themselves to be total dicks with dogs and pepper spray. it also provided former Prime Minister Jean Chretien with the famous dullard quote: “For me, pepper, I put it on my plate” | Pronunciation: “Ay-peck-rye-it” | Usage: “The APEC Riot was the last time Vancouverites acted on something that mattered…”

Arb | Abbreviation | Short for arbitrary | A person, place or thing that is randomly decided upon | Pronunciation: “Ahr-b” | Usage: “Meh, this beer might be cold but it’s so arb.”

Art Fag | Colloquial/Insult | The precursor to the pejorative  “hipster”. Used only by insecure idiots in reference to people they know to be cooler and more cultured than themselves | Pronunciation: “Ahrt-phag” | Usage: “This place is full of art fags, let’s go pick a fight somewhere.”

Asia Imports | Place | A four-story commercial building near Victory Square on the southern edge of Vancouver’s historic Gastown district, half a block from Victory Square.Perennial party space at 151 W. Hastings.

Asshat | Derogatory/Behavioral | A person whose awful behavior suggests they’ve stuck their head so far up their ass that they could easily wear a hat on it | Pronunciation: “Ahss-hatt” | Usage: “Ugh, that dude is such an ass hat.”

Au Petit | Abbreviation | Short for Au Petit Chavignol | A killer little wine, cheese and charcuterie bar at 843 East Hastings. Pronunciation: “Oh-pih-tee” | Usage: “I’ll meet you at Au Petit for some mac & cheese in 20.”

“B”

B-Mac | Nickname | The handle of Barry Macdonald, local sports commentator with Team 1040 | Pronunciation: “Bee-mack” | Usage: “I was listening to B-Mac last night and …”

Bacon Brothers | Individuals/Siblings | Jamie, Jarrod and Jonathan Bacon are brothers/gangsters/role models from Abbotsford whose reputations for alleged involvement in robberies, firearms offensives, drug-trafficking and homicides precede them | Pronunciation: “Bay-kon brah-thirs” | Usage: “What’s a 12 letter word for suburban douchebag?”

Bard on the Beach | Event | A huge Shakespeare festival held every year under tents in beautiful Vanier Park. Runs from June through to the end of September | Pronunciation: “bahrd-on-tha-beech” | Usage: “I saw Macbeth at Bard on the Beach last night…”

Bear | A term used by gay men to describe a husky, over-sized man with a lot of body hair | Pronunciation: “Bay-er” | Usage:  “There were some seriously gnarly-looking bears at The Pumpjack last night…”

Beer Me | Expression/Entreaty | A casual (if abruptly familiar) way of saying “pass me a beer” to a friend. Done at home and at parties, not in bars or restaurants |Pronunciation: “Bir-mee” | Usage: “Work sucked. Beer me.”

Bellingham | Place | A small city in Washington State (that’s in the US, bubba) that is easily accessible from Vancouver, making it a magnet for retail deal-seekers who don’t mind oppressively sad outlet malls and aggressive US Customs jerks. Also the hometown of many cool bands, among them Death Cab For Cutie | Pronunciation: “Bell-ing-hamm” | Usage: “I’m picking up some Adidas in Bellingham. Need a pair?”

Bertuzzi | Individual/Surname/Synonym/Verb | Todd Bertuzzi, currently a Detroit Red Wing, but once a member of the Canucks’  West Coast Express, one of the best top lines iced by the team in franchise history. Yet to recover full form after ending Steve Moore’s career with a sucker punch in 2004. His name is now synonymous with hitting someone from behind | Pronunciation “Burr-too-zee ” | Usage: “I saw some dude randomly Bertuzzi another dude on Granville last night…”

Beyond Robson | Website/Expression | A now defunct Vancouver website that tried to tackle life in Vancouver through the prism of twenty-somethings. Also an expression of irony calling out bourgeois, juvenile enthusiasms | Pronunciation: “Bee-ond-rob-sun” | Usage: “That gallery opening was so Beyond Robson…”

Biltmore | Venue | Legendary music venue that stages a multitude of local and international acts every month. Located at 2755 Prince Edward | Pronunciation: “Bilt-moor” | Usage: “I got kicked out of the Biltmore last night”

Bin | Restaurant/Nickname | Short for Bin 941 Tapas Parlous, the narrow, super loud and borderline obnoxious restaurant on Davie. Home of loud music, medium-sized plates of no small imagination, and diminutive wild man/chef Gord Martin | Pronunciation: “Bihn” | Usage: “I ate this weird-ass invention at Bin last night…”

Binner | Colloquial | A person who collects returnable cans and bottles from recycling and garbage bins | Pronunciation: “Bihn-er” | Usage: “I didn’t sleep last night because the binners were going crazy in the alley…”

Billoch | Slang | A marriage of “bill” and “epoch”. The measure of time from the moment a table in a restaurant is given their bill to when they get the fuck out | Pronunciation: “Bill-ock” | Usage: “This interminable billoch needs to end.”

Blandcouver | Nickname | Used by the socially inept who view Vancouver as an bland place to live. Also the handle of a prodigious local Twitter user | Pronunciation: “Blan-coo-vehr” | Usage: “Yawn, I’m stuck in Blandcouver.”

Blaze | Slang | The act of getting high on marijuana | Pronunciation: “Blaye-zz” | Usage: “Dude, let’s go to the park and blaze a fattie.”

Blood Alley | Place | A Gastown alleyway that stretches from Abbott to Carrall, running parallel with Water and Cordova. Home to old apartment rear windows, back doors, rats and little restaurants Salt Tasting Room and Judas Goat. Used as a toilet by bridge and tunnel douchebags emerging drunk from The Blarney Stone | Pronunciation: “Blud-al-ee” | Usage: “It smells like cheap beer piss in Blood Alley”

Blunt | Slang/Trick | A hollowed-out cigar or cigarillo filled with marijuana. A skateboarding trick that sees a rider mount the top of a right angle with only the tail of the board | Pronunciation: “Bl-unt” | Usage: “Spark that blunt, dude.”

Bogart | Slang | To hog anything, most often a shared cigarette, joint or bottle of alcohol | Pronunciation:  “Boe-gart” | Usage: “Don’t bogart that blunt”

Boosh | Slang | Onomatopoeic exclamation used to describe an impactful delivery. Pronunciation: “Boo-sh”| Usage: “Boosh! Right in the face!”

Bourgy | Slang | From “bourgeois”, meaning a person or thing that conforms to the standards and conventions of the middle class | Pronunciation: “Bore-jee” | Usage: “Let’s blow this bourgy alco-pop stand…”

Bro | Slang | A derogative interchangeable with fratboy, jock or douchebag | Pronunciation: “Br-o” | Usage: “Time to leave, bro.”

Brollywood | Nickname/Place | Term for “Vancouver” employed by people from California. A portmanteau of Hollywood and brolly, or umbrella | Pronunciation: “Brawl-ee-wood” | Usage: “I have to shoot a movie up in Brollywood.”

Bridge and Tunnel (also “BT”) | Slang | A dismissive term of prejudice used to describe presumably boorish people from the suburbs who come into the city for their entertainments across bridges and through tunnels. Often shortened to “BT” | Pronunciation: “Brij-an-tunn-ul” | Usage: “All my tables tonight are BTs”

Brockton Point | Place | Grassy home to Brockton Point Lighthouse and Brockton Oval (cricket pitch) at the east end of Stanley Park. Named after Francis Brockton, the ship’s engineer on board the HMS Plumper who found a vein of coal nearby in 1859 (hence Coal Harbour) | Pronunciation: “Brawk-ton-poynt” | Usage: “BBQ at Brockton Point today!”

Brow | Slang | Any kind of physically intimidating behavior. A bully | Origins: the surname of Andrew Browers, a menace in mid-1980?s Victoria, BC | Pronunciation: “Br-ow” | Usage: “That big guy was such a brow“.

Buckslice | Slang | A slice of questionable pizza that only costs a dollar | Pronunciation: “Buk-slye-ss” | Usage: “I’m broke and hungry. Front me a buckslice.”

Budgies | Place | Short for Budgies Burrito’s, the popular vegetarian burrito joint with huge portions on Kingsway | Pronunciation: “Budj-eez” | Usage: “I have a belly full of Budgies.”

Bummer | Slang/Nickname | Vancouver nickname for that General Motors gas-guzzling monstrosity, the Hummer | Pronounced: “Buh-merr” | Usage: “Dude, let’s key the shit of this motherfucking Bummer.”

Burlesque | Activity |  A live act wherein exhibitionist women dance around in garish, quasi-revealing costume. An increasingly popular substitute for local culture | Pronunciation: “Berl-esk” | Usage: “Who wants to go and see the burlesque show?”

Burr | Nickname/Individual | Short for Alexandre Burrows, a top line winger for the Vancouver Canucks. Has a knack for scoring when it really counts | Pronunciation: “Ber” | Usage: “Did you see Burr go top shelf on that short-handed breakaway last night?”

Burquitlam | Place | A terrifying, strip-malled blend of two Vancouver hinterland cities, Burnaby and Coquitlam. Plays surprising host to a variety of good Korean restaurants | Pronunciation: “Ber-quit-lum” | Usage: “There’s no fucking way in hell that I would ever move to Burquitlam.”

Bute Minipark | Place | The small pedestrian right of way in the heart of the West End | Pronunciation: “Byoot-min-ee-park” | Usage: “Meet you at Bute Minipark in five.”

Butter On The Endive | Code/Website | A codeword that cooks in restaurants with open kitchens use to let their colleagues know that they have seen an especially attractive woman sit down for dinner. Also a very good food blog by local chef Owen Lightly.Pronunciation: “But-er-on-thee-en-dive” | Usage: “Can I please get some butter on the endive for Table 56!”

“C”

Crackhead | Slang | A generalised pejorative term and lazy editorial device used by conservative outlets to describe anyone on the streets who appears to be mentally ill or addicted to drugs | Pronunciation: “Crak-hed” | Usage: “It’s about time the government did something about all the crackheads in the Downtown Eastside”

Cambie | Place/Street | A downtown pub famous for cheap beer and casual Australian backpacker hook-ups. Also a lengthy Vancouver street | Pronunciation: “Cam-bee” | Usage: “I got hammered at the Cambie last night…”

Commodore- synonymous with over-hyped touring bands and expensive beer
Cannots (canucks)
Cougar- in America they use the word MILF
Celebrities
Crab Park (actually name Portside Park)
Coupland
Coconuts! (Go Canucks)
Cut and Cover- what we do when we originally say tunnel.
Cultch- The Vancouver East Cultural Centre
Celebration of Light
Canwest- Media empire once responsible for the National Post, Province, The Vancouver Sun, and Global TV.
Chuck Davis- Local historian
Carnegie Centre
Coilers- Edmonton Oilers and their fans
Coast Salish- Vancouver is on Coast Salish territory
Capilano- Richest First Nations in North America

Coliseum

Crosstown

D

Dine Out-

Danger Bay

Dundarave- not as cool of a place you might think

Dipper- NDP

Dark (The) – Stencil artist

Dunbar

Denali- Climate change denier?

Ditchmond (Richmond)

Dank- Sticky icky

Drupal- what all the nerds in Gastown talk about

The Drive- Commercial Drive

Deacons- popular hangover cure

Dilly- Dilautin

Down- heroin

Downtown Ambassador- Not actually an ambassador, just a private security force and subject of a UN Human Rights complaint

Donnellized- when you’re favourite pub is turned into a haven for douchebags

Dorf- The Waldorf

Dragonboat Races

Duthies- erstwhile book shop

The Dugout- Gastown soup kitchen

Dicks On Dicks

Dishpig

E

Eighty-Sixed- gone, over, done like Expo 86. (I know, I know, it’s cockney slang for nixed).

East Van Cross

Escort Entrance – some older hotels have an escort entrance

Edgewater- if you’re bored just ride around in the shuttle for free

Elbow Room- famous cafe

Exithisside- Local band inspired by the Seabus exit sign.

English Bay-

Eagleridge Bluffs- controversial site of Sea to Sky Highway upgrades resulting in the imprisonment and later death due to ill health of Coast Salish elder Harriet Nahanee

Eatons

F

Fin- Canucks Mascot

Finches- the cafe or the people that go there

The Fraser (bus route)

Food Blogger- another name for vancouver resident

Feast of Fields

Fast Ferries- The measure by which all debacles are measured

Freeway- What we remind everyone we don’t have

Freehouse- Where everyone is free to pop their collars

Flurries- Major panic

Fruit Boots- Rollerblades

Flickr (started in Van)

Flames Fan- fan of the Calgary Flames, open target for humiliation.

Finn Slough

Foundy- Foundation Restaurant

The Fresgo

G

Gelato- Vancouver’s too fit for ice cream

Guu’d- It’s Izakaya for good.

Gassy Andy- Notable pan-handler, busker. RIP

Goody- Secret space near the other secret space.

Goof- what to never call someone in the DTES

Gob- Punk band from the Valley

G-word- PC version of the word gentrification

Granville Strip- the centralization of night clubs along a single strip, synonym for Meat Market.

Grandfathered- the only way to get around Vancouver’s liquor laws

Grandview Cut- Where they got all the soil to fill in false creek, convenient diaper dumping location

Ghetto Mall- Kingsgate Mall

Gorgomesh- An afterhours club

Gordo- Until recently, our smug, obsequious, drunk-driving, welfare-slashing, red mittened wearing, Premier

Georgia Straight- They publish Savage Love, that’s about it

The Garage- GM Place, now Rogers Arena

Gord The Harmonica Man- Friendly polyglot hobo in Gastown

Grizzlies- Another failed attempt at world class city status

Gene

Granville Island

H

Hastings Mill

Hippy Mist- Soy London Fog which is earl grey tea, vanilla syrup, and steamed milk.

Herzog

Hot water and a Lemon -what most Bridge and Tunnelers order during dine-out, subsequently a name for these people

The Hill- Mount Pleasant

Hawaiian High- A high pressure system orginiating over Hawaii, or… you know.

Hick- someone from Mission

Hyack- I have no idea but there is a festival named after it in New Wesminster

Harbourlight- Salvation Army Recovery Centre

Holts – as in Holt Renfrew.

Harry Jerome- that guy that everyone takes pictures of

Hollywood North- The nickname we’ve given ourselves because X-Files was filmed here

Hogan’s Alley- Former city-block dominated by afro-Canadians razed to make room for an eventually aborted freeway.

Howe Street- Synonymous with bankers and the financial district. “That bitch is so Howe Street”

I

The Island- Vancouver Island
IOCO- an actual place named after the Imperial Oil Company.
The Interior- past all those mountains
Ice Mix- what to ask the bus boy to get from the bar on their first shift.
Internment- What we did to the Japanese
Ice- 4methylaminorex, a street drug similar to crystal meth

J

Japadog- Our contribution to the evolution of the weiner

Jane’s Walk- Jane Jacobs

Jacks- Local skateboard toughs

K

Kits- What they mean when they say Lotusland
Knight and Day- The Canadian Swiss Chalet
KK+- Social media guru and photographer
Kanada- how anarchists refer to Canada

L

The Laffs- The Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans

Lions -

Livable- Codeword for the condofication of Vancouver- high density and high costs.

Luv-a-Fair- Legendary nightclub also called Scuz-a-Fair, and Luv-your-Hair alternatively.

The Lido- Former eccentric east vancouver landmark, a grocery stuck in time.

Luuuuuuuuuuuu -They aren’t saying boo.

Little Mountain- The housing project on Cambie recently closed by the Provincial Government.

Lieberals- name given to the oft promise breaking conservative-centrist hybrid party the BC Liberals

Lee Matasi

Leeside

M

Mapletree Square- Carrall and Water, the original six acres of the Granville Townsite was decided here.

Miss604- Notable blogger

McJob- Low paying wage job often in the service industry and often under the 6 dollar ‘training wage’.

Michael J Fox

My! Gay! Husband!

Mark Brand

Murrayville

N

Narrow

NorShore- North Shore, both West Vancouver and North Van

No Flash Corner- Pender and Burrard

Nucks

Nice Cafe

Narwuar

Nine O’Clock Gun

Nimby

Niaby- Not in Anyone’s Backyard, an actual group of residents against a mental health centre

Normie- Normal person

NPA Hack

Night Market- Seriously cheap skewers, sun visors, and bubble tea.

O

OOO- White Spot secret sauce

Oppenheimer Park

Odyssey Imports- Legendary 90s techno record shop

Owelympics- The 2010 Winter Games and the ensuing debt

P

Province

Pauline Johnson

Prince of Pot- Marc Emery, leader of the BC Marijuana Party, extradited to the US.

Pow Pow

The Picnic- secret graffiti spot. we can’t tell you where though. It’s a secret.

Pigeon Park

Pineapple Express- Weather phenom and movie by funny Vancouverite …

Pho Bich Nga- Legendary noodle house with a funny name

Pill Corner- It migrates, but it’s where you get pills in the DTES

Q

R

Roadside- Late night booze delivery

Robsonstrasse- What they used to call Robson when it had some actual heritage

Rapegaze- Term popularized by Radio Zero to connote the genre of dark, dubby, psychedelic, electronic music.

Rockpile- slang term for the legislature

Radner- Ladner

Redgates- Once known simply as 156 this is the last of the true artist warehouses with weekly movie night, a gallery, and an ancient underground boozecan.

Rent-a-cop- Private security guard

Russian Rocket- Pavel Bure

Riot at the Hyatt-

Ricerocket- Racist term for a sports motorcycle

Rub and Tug

S

Seawall

Salish Sea- new name for the body of water that includes the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca, and Puget Sound

Snain- Rain mixed with snow

Schmeagle- the Eagle that hangs out in Strathcona

So Awesome- Tswassen

Six up- DTES slang for “cops are approaching”.

Slurrey- Surrey, in reference to it’s rowdy past

Skypigs- Skytrain police, who now are fully armed and have dogs.

Sleeve- what you get instead of a pint

The Spot- public sex spot in Stanley Park

Skid Row- A term we invented but no longer use

Sophias Books

Slicketies- Slickity Jims, another casualty of arson on Main Street

Spectra- Notorious chain of restaurants that once included the Boathouse, Miletsones, and Macaroni Grill

Shit Hawk- Seagull

Siwash Rock- Part of a basaltic sill that stretches to Caulfield Cove, native legend has it he was honoured in stone

Sisters

Six

T

Third- The Beach

Town Pump- Legendary venue now called Fabric

Tribal- Douche markings

Trounce- What most people call Blood Alley

Tea House- Legendary Stanley Park bistro

U

Uggs

V

Vancity Buzz- Douchey website that features local ‘babes’.

VAJ- art gallery

Vancouver School- A loose grouping of conceptual artists that embody a similar aesthetic, namely contemporary landscape photography the likes of Roy Arden, Jeff Wall, Stan Douglas, Clint Burnham, Christian Dikeakos, Scott McFarland, Ian Wallace, Ken Lum, Rodney Graham.

Vaincouver-

W

West of Denman- An entirely different universe stuck in the 50′s, like Pleasantville
Wastings- Hastings, usually paired with Pain to connote the notorious intersection of Main and Hastings.
William Gibson
World Class City
The World- After-hours club

X

“X”

Xtra

Y

Yippie
Yaletown- Land of small dogs and fake tans.

Z

Zog
Zombie Walk