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.

Spot Prawn | edible icon | A delicious creature of the decapoda (literally, “ten feet”) order of crustacean that flourishes along the entirety of British Columbia’s coastline. Largely unfamiliar to Vancouverites until the Chefs Table Society’s development and promotion of the Spot Prawn Festival in 2006 (previously, almost the entire catch was shipped to Japan), it is now one of the best known and widely celebrated seafoods in Canada . Dates for the spot prawn season varies, but it typically falls inside May/June.

Also known as the “Alaskan Prawn” and “California Spot Prawn”.

Usage: “One of the best, most delicious harbingers of summer in Vancouver is the beginning of the spot prawn season…”