DCHP-2

saving saving trip, saving voyage DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• adj. — Fishing, Newfoundland, dated

  a profitable fishing or sealing endeavour; in combinations saving trip and saving voyage.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — In Newfoundland, the adjective saving, in conjunction with the nouns "trip" or "voyage", describes a fishing or sealing excursion that is 'moderately successful or profitable' (see COD-2, s.v. "saving voyage", see, e.g. the 1946 quotation). The OED-3 lists a precursor to this definition, 'incurring neither loss nor gain; not winning or losing', with quotations dating back to 17th-century England (OED-3, s.v. "saving" (a.3)). The expression was likely carried to Newfoundland with southwest English settlers and then semantically narrowed to the fishing context (see Clarke 2010b: 118).
  As Chart 1 shows, the term is most frequently used in Canada, with Newfoundland taking the overwhelming lion's share (though a provincial chart is not possible).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "saving voyage", which is marked "Cdn (Nfld)", DNE, s.v. "saving", and OED-3, s.v. "saving" (a.3)), which is marked "Canad. (Newfoundland)".