Interesting and curious generic terms used in Canada

 

Blow me down

• Abrupt or isolated hill or headland rising steeply from the water and subject to sudden down-drafts of wind
• Common in Newfoundland and Labrador, usually simply as "Blow Me Down"
• Some related terms: hill, head, cape, cliff, bluff
• In French: promontoire (m.)
• Examples:
  • Bay of Islands Blow-Me-Down, N.L., 49° 04' - 58° 17' (12 G/1)
  • Blow Me Down, N.L., 49° 31' - 55° 09' (2 E/11)

Brandies

• Partly submerged rocks; a reef
• Originated from the word "brandise", an iron tripod used for cooking (in Ireland); probably originally used to refer to a group of three rocks. Usually "The Brandies".
• Used only in Newfoundland
• Some related terms: rock, reef
• In French: rochers (m.)
• Example:
  • Change Brandies, N.L., 49° 22' - 54° 24' (2 E/9)

Buffalo jump

• Vertical side of a coulee, hill, or river bank
• Place where Plains Indians killed herds of bison by driving them over steep cliffs
• Used in Alberta, but rare
• Some related terms: bank, cliff, bluff, escarpment
• In French: escarpement (m.)
• Example:
  • Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Alta, 49° 43' - 113° 39' (82 H/12)

Canyon

• Deep narrow valley with precipitous walls
• This generic term is widely used across Canada
• Western examples are mainly gorge-like with fast-flowing watercourses
• In early days, canyon was used in the Spanish form "cañon"
• Some related terms: valley, ravine, gorge, trench, coulee
• In French: canyon (m.)
• Examples:
  • Bowdoin Canyon, N.L., 53° 34' - 64° 16' (23 H/9)
  • Roaring River Canyon, Man., 51° 52' - 101° 13' (62 N/14)
  • Maligne Canyon, Alta., 52° 55' - 118° 00' (83 D/16)
  • Grand Canyon of the Stikine, B.C., 58° 07' - 130° 38' (104 J)

Cone

• Cone-shaped hill
• Used in Newfoundland, Labrador and British Columbia. A few in B.C. (e.g. Cinder Cone) are young volcanic vents
• Related terms: hill, sugarloaf, tolt, pingo
• In French: colline (f.)
• Examples:
  • Vargas Cone, B.C., 49° 05' - 125° 52' (92 F/4)
  • Hayes Cone, N.L., 56° 41' - 61° 10' (14 C/11)

Cratère

• More or less rounded, bowl-shaped depression
• A cratère can be either volcanic or meteoric in origin
• Used in Quebec.
• In English: crater
• Example:
  • Cratère des Pingualuit, Que., 61° 17' - 73° 40' (35 H/5)

Échouerie

• Blocks of flat rock extending into the sea
• In Canadian French, the term "échouerie" means a place where herds of seals and walruses rest, whereas in international French it refers to a place where vessels might go aground
• Descriptive term used in Quebec
• In English: ledge
• Example:
  • La Grande Échouerie, Que., 47° 22' - 61° 52' (11 N/5)

Gulch

This generic term can have several different meanings!

(1)

• Deep, steeply graded, V-shaped valley, sometimes containing a stream
• Generally smaller than a ravine but larger than a gully
• The generic is widely used, but is particularly of note in the gold mining areas of the Yukon in the late 1890s
• Related terms: ravine, valley, gorge, pup
• In French: ravine (f.)
• Examples:
  • Grub Gulch, B.C., 53° 02' - 121° 42' (93 H/4)
  • Gold Bottom Gulch, Y.T., 63° 54' - 138° 59' (115 N & O)
  • Bears Paw Gulch, Man., 49° 39' - 98° 53' (62 G/10)
  • Arch Gulch, N.S., 45° 21' - 64° 52' (21 H/7)

(2)

• Narrow cove with steep shoreline
• Used in Newfoundland and Labrador
• Related terms: cove, bay, hole
• In French: anse (f.)
• Examples:
  • Guys Gulch, N.L., 49° 33' - 53° 49' (2 F/12)
  • Bear Gulch, N.L., 49° 44' - 56° 48' (12 H/10)

(3)

• Saltwater channel
• Used in Nova Scotia
• Related terms: passage, narrows, channel, pass, gut
• In French: goulet (m.)
• Example:
  • Camp Island Gulch, N.S., 44° 53' - 62° 09' (11 D/16)

Mal bay

• Tidal pond almost completely cut off from the sea by a bar
• Used in New Brunswick, but rare
• Related terms: lagoon, barachois, pond
• In French: barachois (m.)
• Example:
  • Windsors Mal Bay, N.B., 47° 57' - 64° 29' (21 P/15)

Oxbow

• A horseshoe-shaped loop, either part of or detached from a meandering watercourse
• Used in New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba, but uncommon
• Related terms: bend, elbow
• In French: boucle (f.), but no examples of this generic term are found in Canadian geographical names
• Examples:
  • Lower Oxbow, N.B., 45° 34' - 65° 01' (21 H/11)
  • Maxwell Oxbow, Man. 49° 57' - 97° 38' (62 H/13)

Pingo

• Isolated, conical, ice-cored mound occurring in areas of permafrost
• Use is limited to the N.W.T., and includes some seabed examples in the Beaufort Sea
• Related terms: hill, mound, knoll, cone
• In French: as this term is of Inuit origin, the word "pingo" would remain the same

• Examples:

  • Ibyuk Pingo, N.W.T., 69° 24' - 133° 05' (107 C)
  • Kugmallit Pingos, (seabed - Beaufort Sea), 70° 45' - 132° 40' (see Canadian Hydrographic Service chart 7651)

Plée

• Area of land devoid of trees
• "Plée" would seem to be the noun derived from the adjective "pelé" (devoid of vegetation) or else a phonetic variant of the term "prée" (f.) used in French-speaking areas of the Maritime Provinces for "pré"
• Used in Quebec
• Related terms: champ, pré
• In English: meadow
• Example:
  • Grande plée Bleue, Que., 46° 46' - 71° 03' (21 L/14)