DCHP-2

liquor commission DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Administration, especially Prince Edward Island and Nunavut

  a regulatory body controlling the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages.

  Type: 5. Frequency — Chart 1 shows that the term liquor commission has a Canadian dimension with twice the frequency of the US attestations. It was in widespread use in the earlier part of the 20th century (see the quotations from Quebec, Ontario, BC, Nova Scotia), but is today used in more restricted contexts. Chart 2 shows that this term for a regulatory body today usually referred to as liquor board in spoken Canadian English, is still attested in all provinces as part of official language use. In PEI and in Nunavut, however, the term is very frequent for two reasons: first, some hits derive from the term liquor control commission, which seems to be a PEI term. Second, and more importantly, however, the term appears to be a preservation on PEI (comparable to table cream) and in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and possibly Nova Scotia of earlier language use in Canada and North America. This more conservative term is in line with PEI's relative geographic isolation. The case is clearer for Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, but it also applies to PEI and, perhaps, other Maritimes locations. It will remain to be seen whether the Confederation Bridge, which has spanned that Strait between PEI and NB since the late 1990s, will have a measurable effect on PEI's linguistic usage.
  COD-2 marks the term as "Cdn" and limits it to "in the territories and certain provinces".

  See also: liquor control board  bond store  liquor board  

  • In Alberta, NWT and Nunavut, liquor commission is the official name for the alcohol control board. In Manitoba and PEI, it is liquor control commission.