booter

I absolutely love discussing regional dialects and slang words.  Manitoba is full of them.  One distinct Manitoban word that I have heard many times this spring is "booter".  I have never heard this word used anywhere other than Manitoba. 

Booter: Manitoba slang for getting water in your boots. Example: I was so busy sandbagging I didn't watch where I was stepping and the next thing I knew I had a couple of booters.

The term "booter" is used so often in the spring in Manitoba that it almost feels like you can't call yourself a Manitoban until you have experienced a booter for yourself.  Kind of like a rite of passage.

Recently I went fishing with my husband and almost had my first ever Manitoba "booter" experience.  I thought it was a small shallow puddle.  I decided to walk through the puddle to avoid the tall grass and ticks.  It turned out to be a big massive hole filled with mud and water.  I ended up stuck. Every time I tried to lift my rubber boots up I would sink deeper and deeper.  In the end my husband had to help pull me out, and I was spared my first Manitoba booter experience.  I must admit, a small part of me wanted to experience a booter, because then I would know I had truly become a Manitoban and crossed the rite of passage.  There is always next year!

Comments

[Emma]

You are a true kindred spirit - I love regional slang and expressions, too. A similar term (which I learned from a West Coast native) is soaker - when your foot gets totally soaked from stepping in a puddle :) Usually you wind up with soakers, plural.

Just on the topic, have you seen the book "Only in Canada, You Say" by Katherine Barber? Full of little gems like this!

[Little Gray Bird]

Emma - I have not seen that book but I will be ordering it from Amazon - it sounds very interesting. Thanks for your comments and support! Happy Blogging!

[satinka]

Wow, did this story ever bring back memories! When I was a little girl I loved playing in the ditch at our family farm near Sandy Hook, Manitoba. Well, at the culvert there was the greatest looking mud island that I just HAD to get to. Well, I got stuck in the mud with both boots and my dad had to pull me out---while I cried my eyes out! Boy, did I get a couple of booters! ;)