A Cheeky Lot

 

Newfoundland people are a cheeky lot with a wicked sense of humour, and everywhere you go – on the streets, on a house, on a wall, inside or outside, you will see the most clever plays on words. They love taking existing words and using them in a completely different way. Or twisting them into a joke, or just making up phrases to suit their needs.

 

Here are some examples of Newfoundland humour:

[spacer height=”20px”]

[spacer height=”20px”]

[spacer height=”20px”]

[spacer height=”20px”]

Funny Place Names

 

All over Newfoundland, you will see the names of places that make you chuckle. Here are a few of them:

 

Dildo

 

Joe Batt’s Arm

[spacer height=”20px”]

Deadman’s Bay

 

Between A Rock and A Hard Place

[spacer height=”20px”]

Seldom Come By

 

Toogood Arm

 

Giant Lobster Trap and Mummers

 

Everywhere you go in Newfoundland, you will find something a little unusual, a bit surprising, and usually enough to make you smile broadly. We have travelled all over the world, but nowhere have we seen as much effort to make you laugh at every turn. Yup, Newfoundlanders have the best sense of humour we have found anywhere in our world travels.

 

The outside of this little art shop included a little humour, as almost every place in Newfoundland does. The stuffed figures are called Mummers.

The giant lobster trap you see in the background just a lobster trap, but it is about ten times bigger than normal. The one close to the Mummer couple is the normal size.

Mummers are people who practice a Christmas-time house-visiting tradition in Newfoundland and Labrador. They dress in disguise, often covering their faces and visit local homes. If they are welcomed into a house, they might sing, dance, tell jokes and the hosts must poke and prod to try to guess who they are before offering refreshments. Once the jokers are identified, they remove their disguises and socialize. The tradition originally started in Ireland and England in the early 1800’s.

 

 

The Ugly Stick

 

This is an Ugly Stick. The ugly stick is a traditional Newfoundland musical instrument fashioned out of household and tool shed items, typically a mop-handle with bottle caps, tin cans, small bells and other noisemakers. The instrument is played with a drumstick and it has not only a unique look but also a distinctive sound.

 

Parties are still a big deal in Newfoundland. Shed Parties are common, where the men gather and drink in the shed, and the women gather in the kitchen. Music is a big part of almost every party.

 

Modesty and self-deprecation are part of Canadian culture, but it is more obvious in NL. There is nothing much like Newfoundland in any other part of Canada, but there is one thing that they have mastered – they are far funnier than we are in the rest of Canada, and maybe in the world! So if you go to Newfoundland for no other reason, and there are plenty of other reasons, go for the Newfoundland humour.

[mapsmarker marker=”78″]