It snowed a lot here this winter.
In fact, the general consensus is that we had a ridiculous amount of snow. Most of it fell around Christmas, causing almost unprecedented chaos in a city that just isn’t prepared for a proper Canadian winter. The snow was eventually manipulated into massive piles and banks that no longer impeded human and vehicular movement, and we all got on with our normal lives while it melted.
Veeery slowly.
A few more snow showers1 added an inch or two here or there, but it was the sheer size of the existing piles that kept them present for weeks and weeks after the original big falls.
Gradually, the piles diminished and started to disappear. Until about three or four weeks ago there were still some small patches of white visible on the higher parts of my ride to work. But they, too, eventually melted away.
With one exception.
I kept seeing one lonely pile of snow. Every day, there it would be, on the other side of a neighbourhood park, the sole reminder of the festive chaos.
“Wow”, I would think as I cycled past. “They must have made a really, really big pile of snow for it still to be there now. Probably with a bulldozer or something, to clear the football field in the park”.
It was when the pile was still just as big after a week of rain that I really started to question things. Every day this week, it niggled at me briefly as I glimpsed it in my frozen and rain-soaked peripheral vision. But something must have been percolating away in my brain, because this morning it finally hit me:
Attentive followers of other blogs will have learned Zamboni from my post Beam me up
If not – get with the program, people!!! Why aren’t you studying? What if there is a sudden unexpected test about things you learned from NN blogs? Well, if you fail, it’s not going to be my responsibility!
…this is why I’m not a high school teacher.
We were all too focused on the beamer thing, and didn’t realise the other words were going to be on the test.
I learned the word Zamboni from some guy in a bar in Whistler who claimed that he was the Zamboni guy for the Vancouver Giants (lower division hockey team). It might have worked if his friends hadn’t laughed quite so much.
“Beemer”, Cath, “Beemer”. Except in racing circles, where Bimmer is apparently acceptable.
Once you’ve lived here for long enough, they let you drive the Zamboni. 100% fact.*
*veracity of said “fact” is in some dispute
No, not that kind. The one that beams.
“Once you’ve lived here for long enough, they let you drive the Zamboni.”
Is that part of the citizenship ceremony, or will I need to apply separately afterwards, like with the passport?
Now I’m confused. I’d go back and read the “beamer” post, but I despair of ever finding anything in the dismal pit that is the NN archives.
Cath – no, it requires a separate application that takes approximately forever. Welcome to Canada. Please stand in line.
Links in your rearview mirror may be closer than they appear.
I knew what a Zamboni is (even before reading your beamer post, Dr. Amsen)! US and Canada compatible word. Oh, and Richard: I’ve found that the most effective way of finding something on NN is to google it…..
Ooo, Cath, how did you do that?
@Steffi – I was being facetious (yes, yes, I know)… but you are right (and Jenny suggested site-Googling to me too). :)
“Ooo, Cath, how did you do that?”
I am omniscient. And also omnivororous.
“_US and Canada compatible word.”_
Oh, definitely, but it’s something I associate very strongly with Canada, having never heard of such things before I moved here. The closest ice rinks to me while I was growing up were in Bradford and Doncaster, not really very attractive places (apologies to those that grew up there. I like the museum of film, photography and television in Bradford, and the curries are outstanding. But that’s about it).
You know, I have no clue what a Zamboni is called in Dutch. They exist, there is lots of ice skating going on. I thought it was “ijsveger” (lit: “ice wiper”) and Googling that certainly gives me relevant hits but there are only 163 hits… There must be another word for it, and I would probably recognize it when I saw it, but I normally would say “ijsveger” (and I guess the journalists at the news sites that popped up as hits do to, so I don’t think it’s a wrong word per se.)
OH! I found it! It’s “dweilmachine” (Lit: “mopping machine”) because it mops rather than wipes. And it’s also called zamboni, too.
You’d use the same word for a thing that cleans regular floors, suggests Google image search.
I believe Zamboni is the trademarked name, I’ve no idea what the generic term would be in English. Everyone just calls it a Zamboni.
My Dutch friend tells me that speed skating is immensely popular in the Netherlands. Her husband’s cousin is on the Canadian women’s team and has won several gold medals at the Olympics. The poor woman was practically swarmed by all the Dutch guests at the wedding, it was hilarious!
Here we go:
“The machine is not “a Zamboni,” it is a ZAMBONI ice resurfacing machine. The name must be capitalized and spelled correctly and should never even remotely be used in a generic sense. Never use “Zamboni” as a verb or in the plural, such as “Zambonis.”
As the configuration of the machine is also a federally registered trademark, it should be shown with the ® symbol to the right side of the image, with the following notice appearing on the page: “ZAMBONI and the configuration of the ZAMBONI ice resurfacing machine are registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as the trademarks of Frank J. Zamboni & Co., Inc.”"
Oops.
It’s true: Speed skating is only slightly less popular than socc…football in Holland. Ask your friend about the Elfstedentocht (and how often it occurs, and where, and what kinds of people participate and win) if you haven’t already. I can’t be bothered to type it all out. Or Google it =P
Is that the really long one that only happens when all the rivers/canals have frozen over enough?
Yes! And the last one was in the 90s I think.
Stupid climate change.