n. — Food, Newfoundland, obsolete
melted pork fat or fried cubed pork fat.
Type: 2. Preservation — Vang is a preservation from British English, where it is attested as far back as 1742 (see EDD, s.v. "fang"). In Canada, the term seems to be most often used in the Maritimes, especially Newfoundland, and is attested by the Dictionary of Newfoundland English back to 1828 (see DNE, s.v. "vang"). The term is most likely outdated, since the 2008 recent quotation places the term within an alphabet rhyme, while most uses appear to be found in the 1800s. The term seems to have been used often with "fish", as in "fish and bang" (see the 1828 and 1836 quotations).
See also: scrunchions
- Note the variation in the initial consonant, from bilabial stop [b] to fricatives [v] and [f]. Following a well-established sound change in the history of English in many context, this variation points towards an older dialect word staring in [b] as the source of vang.