1a n. — Ethnicity, French relations, derogatory, extremely offensive, very rare
a French-speaking descendant of the settlers of New France or Acadia; a Canadian of French ancestry.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — The meaning of this term of abuse derives via metonymy, where one item associated with a group is taken to represent the entire group (see, e.g. kraut). The slur derives, as noted in OED-3 (s.v. "pea-soup" (2)), ITP Nelson (s.v. "pea soup" (2)), and DARE (s.v. "peasoup" (2)), from a long association of French Canadians with the meal of pea soup. This connection is distinctive for the use of dried yellow split peas rather than green peas in Francophone cooking (Colombo 1976: 195), and was often commented on by foreigners in early explorers' reports (see the 1806-1808 quotation, which is the ordinary nominal use for 'type of soup' and documents the original source). The mid-1800s were a peak time for emigration from Britain to Canada. Anglophone-francophone tensions were on the rise in central Canada during that time, and found linguistic expression in the creation of slurs. DARE lists its earliest quotation from 1897, quoting a French-Canadian speaker of English, followed by a 1930 quotation from the Pacific Northwest.
The use as an attributive adjective (see meaning 1b) is documented three decades before the nominal meaning, yet the noun is likely the original use.
See also COD-2, s.v."pea soup" (3), which is marked "Cdn", Gage-1, s.v. "peasouper" (1), which is marked "Cdn.", and OED-3, s.v. "pea soup" (2), which is marked "N. Amer.".
See also: French Canadian (def. 1) habitant peasouper francophone (meaning 1) kraut crawfish square head (meaning 2)
- The term is included for reasons of historical accuracy and completeness. It is not intended, as clearly indicated in the usage labels "derogatory" and "extremely offensive", as a term for current use or a term, meaning or usage that is in any way condoned.
1b adj. — Ethnicities, French relations, derogatory, extremely offensive, very rare
relating to Canadians of French ancestry (see meaning 1a).
Type: 3. Semantic Change — Peasoup is used as a pejorative adjective that refers to francophone descendants of the settlers of New France or, more broadly, French Canadians.
See also: square head meaning 2
- The term is included for reasons of historical accuracy and completeness. It is not intended, as clearly indicated in the usage labels "derogatory" and "extremely offensive", as a term for current use or a term, meaning or usage that is in any way condoned.