DCHP-2

tarabish Tarabish DCHP-2 (November 2016)

• n. — Games, especially Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton Island

  a card game reportedly of Middle Eastern origin.

  Type: 4. Culturally Significant — The game is believed to be of Lebanese origin (see, e.g. the 1990 and 2000 quotations) and is specific to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia (see COD-2), where it has acquired status as a regional marker within the North American context (see the 1989 quotation). Internet domain searches indicate that the term is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1). Chart 2 shows a dominance in some Martimes contexts, with Central Canada and Saskatechewan following.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "tarabish", which is marked "Cdn (Cape Breton)".

  • The second vowel is not pronounced. Barber (2007: 161) gives the pronunciation"TAR bish".