Welcome to the Vancouver Lexicon. Its purpose is to pin down the patois of the City of Vancouver by recording its toponyms, nicknames, slang terms, personalities, places, and other Van-centric things. Full A-Z here.

Chevron Barge | colloquialism, relic | A marine gas station that has been floating in Coal Harbour – in one form or another – since 1936. Daily feeding the engines of local marine craft with marine oil and gasoline, the station – officially “Chevron Legacy Fuel Barge” – is unique in that the fuel it pumps comes from tanks contained on site rather than being fed via lines tethered to a shore-based source. The double-hulled station was rebuilt in 1956 and rebuilt again in 2009.

Usage: “When I was a kid I thought the Chevron Barge was full of cigarettes because my Mom bought smokes at our corner Chevron…”