The Phoebe date story concludes. And Phoebe remains forever single, for the fans’ sakes. (Kind of like Jackie Chan. Ever hear those stories about Japanese girls committing suicide in the 80’s because Jackie Chan started dating someone? Then they decided that Jackie could never publicly date anyone? Well, it’s not quite that big a deal here.)
Now, I have to explain the word ‘tuque’ here. A tuque is a Canadian term that refers to a knitted winter hat. I thought that all English-speaking countries used this word, but I’ve since found out that this is not the case. It’s pronounced ‘tewk’ (rhymes with ‘puke’) and I think it’s a good word. Pity it’s not more widespread.
Nah. We call ’em beanies here… ‘cept apparently THAT word is used for a different sort of hat in america… and the confusion never ends.
And I have like… 4 of them… of different sizes and shapes. All black.
Beanies have propellers on them over here. And no one wears them. But ‘tuque’ (or ‘toque’) is a Canada-only word. I forget what the Americans call them.
Knit cap. Ski hat. Watch cap.
Up here, it’s just a tuque. (Or a toque.) Weird but true.
Stocking cap. Tuque/Toque sounds French, and I seem to recall such caps as part of the stereotypical French-Canadian costume. It’s an inexpensive and warm head covering, very practical for someone who works outside in cold weather – such as fur trappers, loggers, and farmers in Canada.
Very French. And very very Canadian.
I actually heard the term “tuque” recently, from a let’s player on youtube. And I saw one comment, from another person from the US, asked what it was. Because of you, I was able to explain it to him. 🙂
I’m glad that I’m educating people on ridiculous Canadian terms that have no real merit or value outside Canada.
Heh. I’ve known this one for years, but then I spent many of my formative years watching Second City Television, which featured such great recurring skits as ‘The Great White North’, eh? Take off, you hoser!
Classic Canadian comedy indeed.
I watched Degrassi high in the late 80s, do I count?
Had a thing for Spike …
Sure. It counts. It’s for that reason that Kevin Smith is an honorary Canadian.
Man, we’re like brothers, educating foreign people in the ways of our proud and native land.
It’s really hard. They know so little.
It’s actually pronounced to rhyme with “pook”, not “puke”(which is pronounced “pyook”)…jus’ fyi.
Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I should amend that pronunciation guide.
We used ‘tuque’ here in Oregon until the end of the 90’s. By 2000 the Californian invaders had successfully replaced it with ‘beanie’. They also replaced our term ‘pop’ with ‘soda’, amongst others. They also replaced loggers and farmers with hippies and lawyers. But I’m not bitter, not at all…
Oregon is tied with Minnesota as the most Canadian state in the union. And ‘beanie’ is a stupid, stupid name. Damn Californians.
They’re called beanies in america. Never heard em called anything else. I was SO confused at this strip until I read the comments and stuff. Haha. I didn’t know if you meant his coat or what. Didn’t even notice he had anything on his head tbh >.<
Beanie is … a silly name. And not at all French Canadian. And that’s unfortunate, because French Canadian stuff rocks.
agreed, some of my best friends have been French Canadians. unfortunately I have no contact with any of them anymore, which is sad because I miss them more than I have ever missed anyone T_T
Oh you said stuff…well people are stuff too! 😀
also agreed on the beanie thing…goofy name…
All said and told, whatever you call it, it’s a bit of a silly hat.
We’re so awesome.
I’m from Colorado (and several other western U.S. states), and I would call it a stocking cap.
That’s way better than a beanie.
Yup. Easy pun to make too.
“You say this guy has been following you around for weeks? What’s he look like?”
“Well, he’s always wearing a stalking cap…”
“That would figure, yes…”
Heh.
What I called a knit cap in the northeast got turned upside down when I moved to the midwest and my roomate started looking in a chest of drawers for his Toboggan!! I was half asleep cause I worked nights and the idea of him finding a toboggan in a small drawer made no sense. Then he pointed to his head and said he wanted to wear it on his head!!! Believe it or not in the South of the US some call a knit cap a toboggan. I had imagined him running around with a toboggan on his head and thought he had an awful strong neck if he could do that.
A toboggan? Seriously? Those southern types gotta check their definitions.
It’s even a brand name. $1, one size fits all.
I don’t know what they’d call a flat-bottomed sled made of bent wooden boards, though.
The South is weird. It took somebody about fifteen minutes once to explain to me that in the South, ‘Coke’ refers to all soft drinks. So the question “What flavor of Coke do you want?” is a common one down there.
Y’all need to git yer speakin’ straight!
being a southerner the toboggan thing is news to me, on that note some people just give less than a rats ass on word speaking right as long as they get the words out, if the other person doesn’t get it, that’s their fault. Luckily the majority of my family actually enjoys the correct usage of words…
What possible use would a southerner have for a “sled” such as you describe?
toboggan?
great now I have a winter version of the old “Mr Canoe-Head” bit stuck in my brain.
You’re welcome to it!
I think by toboggan, they mean toboggan cap, which is a term I recognize, along with a bunch of others. Kansas is a weird area, where the language is fluid from use to use.
Lots of weird Canadianisms also pop up in various odd ways in the American Midwest. Though I guess that depends on whether you’re a ‘Kansas is a Midwest state’ person, because I hear that’s a common argument.
Yeah first term I ever heard use to describe them was beanies as well. I live in California though so that might be why. I think it might be racial-slur derived since I first remember seeing them on mexican gang types.
I don’t think so. There’s a ‘beanie cap’ hat that has British origin, and there aren’t many Mexicans there. The ‘true’ beanie, though, is a close-fitting cloth cap, like a baseball cap without a brim. Somehow you Americans got it all mixed up.
I love this strip taken into context considering I see hipsters and skater kids wearing tuques (even in summer!!) all the time nowadays. But back in the early 2000s, not so much.
When I first gave Marie-Neige a tuque (circa 2000) I thought it was a silly thing to add, but it kinda worked.
A tuque is a powerful fashion statement now. Though once upon a time, not so much.
Wow, just Wow.
I never thought this strip would be the one to shock.
Skimming through the comments, it seems everybody chipped in (not that I read names or even paid particular attention to icons). My only contribution to this page’s comments, is that wikipedia has a large page on these, plus another 2-4 pages (hard to remember so far back, I didn’t look in the last twelve months) on similar and related headwear.
So many hats. So many names.
such a long thread
Oh, they get WAY longer here. Just wait.
Jeez! I just can’t figure out WHY Phoebe can’t find the kind of man she wants. It’s beyond my ability to comprehend. I mean, she’s so open-minded.
After this point, it basically became apparent that Phoebe wanted and/or needed no man. And I’ve held to that ever since.
Proving once again my contention that Phloebles is no succubus. She dresses in those scanty outfits because she really could care less whether they attract masculine attention and she likes them
Exactly.
He also looked like a character from Yellow Submarine. Fishy.
Heh. I wish I was still in contact with Chris Watson so I could tell him you said that.
I’m originally from Michigan and I think those garments are called “hats”. Possibly stocking caps if something more specific is needed.
Hats? Just hats? Or stocking caps?? What is this, the Night Before Christmas? Michigan is WAY more 19th century than I anticipated!
Ah, good old Canadian terms, along with pop and washroom. One that I haven’t used, like, ever is chesterfield, I just call it a couch
Chesterfield is only for really old Canadians. Like my wife’s grandmother who was about 100? She said Chesterfield.