A Sled on the Head
"When winter comes, our morning walks don't end, but they are no longer a casual tiptoe through the woods. Winter walks are a deep-sea dive into cold and dark, in a submersible of wool and down. Peeking out from toboggans like diving helmets, we trudge heavily against the stern and biting currents of polar air that washes like waves over us. Without our encumbering spacesuits our frail pink flesh would turn blue and brittle as December leaves, and our expedition would never be heard from again."
This is a paragraph from a fragment from three winters ago. And I have decided NOT to make any changes, even though perhaps only those of the southern persuasion will understand: a toboggan is a knit cap.
No, says my son, after living north a few years. It's a tuque, he tells me on his first visit back to Virginia from Vancouver. Say what? I had to decide: tuque or toboggan. Here's the take on tuque (pronouced took with the vowel sound as in fool, for those what have never heard such a word:
A tuque (Canadian French: tuque, also spelled toque in English) is a knitted hat, originally usually of wool though now often of synthetic fibers, that is designed to provide warmth in winter. Sometimes considered Canada's national hat, all tuques are tapered and brimless, and they are often topped with pompons.
The word tuque is not etymologically related to the name of the chef's toque, although tuque is usually spelled "toque" (though still pronounced /tuk/) by assimilation. The word is also commonly misspelled "touque".
During the 1837 Patriotes Rebellion a red tuque became a symbol of French-Canadian nationalism, a symbol that was briefly revived by the Front de libération du Québec in the 1970s.
Today some consider tuques to be somewhat lacking in sophistication, though they are indispensable in cold climates. The most famous media characters to sport this kind of hat are the SCTV characters, Bob and Doug McKenzie. Michael Nesmith of The Monkees also wore this hat in his television series.
In the United States, this type of hat is usually referred to as a knit hat, knit cap, sock cap, watch cap or stocking cap, and sometimes as a ski hat. In the southern United States, it is sometimes called a toboggan.
A beanie is a similar type of hat, although tuque and beanie can be synonymous in California.
There is also a town known as La Tuque, Quebec, named after a nearby hill that resembles a tuque. link
Comments
Growing up, we just called them "boggans" (but more like "boggins")- you know, like coons and possums. I didn't find out they were toboggans until I moved away. Guess we're just linguistically lazy. (grins)
Posted by: M. Lawless | January 27, 2006 6:35 AM
Up here a toboggan is a piece of wood curled up in the front used as a sled. So as I was reading your piece I had a pretty odd image in mind.
Posted by: zuleme | January 27, 2006 7:58 AM
>A beanie is a similar type of hat, although tuque and beanie can be synonymous in California.
:::giggle:::
FYI-A beanie is an abbreviated motorcycle helmet and a tuque is a bong hit.
Posted by: BJ | January 29, 2006 12:36 AM