newfie

Newfie. A party-loving, hard-working individual from Newfoundland (pronounced new-found-land' NOT new-fin-land or new-fun-lind as mainlanders seem to keep mispronouncing it....but, then again they also can't even pronounce their main city of commerce, Toronto, properly. ie."I'm from Trawno").

Newfoundland is a very culturally unique and rich community whose physical beauty is unparalleled. The capital, St. John's, has more homosexuals per capita than any other city in Canada, thus it is also the most open-minded city in Canada. Goths, Rivetheads, hippies, and various other freaks are welcome and will feel very much at home, for arts and culture are encouraged and embraced in Newfoundland.

Newfies are noted for their sense of humour, laughing at themselves more often then not. Times were, and sometimes still are, hard in Newfoundland. I guess the Newfie philosophy is "If you can't laugh at it...what CAN you do?".

Some famous Newfies include the band Great Big Sea, Natasha Henstridge (bet ya didn't know that!), Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Kim Stockwood, and Shannon Tweed.

Lastly, numerous Newfies don't consider themselves Canadian, prefering to retain their cultural and historical identity.

Strictly speaking, a Newfie is a slang term for a person who lives on the island of Newfoundland. It is not necessarily derogatory but it is often used in that context by non-Newfoundlanders. Many Newfoundlanders are very offended to be referred to as Newfies, while others find it perfectly acceptable. As a rule of thumb, a "mainlander" should not consider it ok to call someone a Newfie, any more than they would call a stranger on the street a redneck. (the connotation is similar)

I only bring this up because the only times I've heard the word "newfie" outside of my home province is in a nasty context. Examples: "Goofy Newfie", "Stupid Newfie", and "Goddamn welfare suckin' lazy-ass Newfie". Of course, the same people that would say these things swallow their words pretty fast when they find out where I'm from...we don't all wear sou'westers, collect dole, and go drinkin' with our rubber boots on.