n. — Newfoundland, derogatory, rare
an unkempt person, esp. a woman.
Type: 2. Preservation — The term streel is used to describe someone who is dirty or unkempt (see the 2001 and 2011 quotations). The word streel is a likely preservation from Irish English (Clarke 2010a: 106-107), as a result of 18th and 19th century immigration from southeast Ireland to Newfoundland, and most significantly to the Avalon Peninsula. Streel likely derives from Irish "straoille", defined as 'an untidy, awkward or bewrayed person' (Dinneen 1927: 1110). Moreover, the connotation of streel is sometimes one of female promiscuity, possibly deriving from the Irish Gaelic word "sraoilleog", which is defined as ''a slut, a slovenly woman, a "streel"' (Dinneen 1927: 1110). Clarke (2010b: 107) lists streel as one of the few terms that "younger present-day residents of St. John's would probably recognize" in her discussion of the obsolete nature of many Irish terms on the Avalon Peninsula that would have been known only a couple of generations prior. This observation coincides with Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism's decision to include the term streel as one of the words in their Language Lesson series (see NL Tourism reference).
See also DNE, s.v. "streel".
- The term appears to be found in the Ottawa Valley as well (see the 1982 quotation), which has a settlement history involving Scottish and Irish immigrants (see Pringle & Padolsky 1983).