Newfoundland & Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador Opinion

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PAM FRAMPTON: You can keep those ‘Newfie’ jokes to yourself

While Newfoundlanders have a sense of humour, we're not interested in derogatory jokes about 'Newfies'

The 1970s were peak “Newfie” years.

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Back then, it seemed like every second house you visited had a book of Newfie jokes kicking around in the bathroom or in the outhouse at the cabin.

Kitschy Newfie souvenirs could be found at any service station — coffee mugs with the handle on the inside, rendering them inoperable; square-sided “rolling” pins intended as home decor; a wooden handle with some upside-down beer caps glued to it, billed as a “Newfie backscratcher.”

Even as a child, I was perplexed by this facet of our culture that promoted the idea that we were inept but good-natured enough to laugh at our own supposed stunned-arsedness.

Now, I know this is a topic that has stirred more than one heated debate. There are those who see the term “Newfie” as an affectionate moniker given to us by Americans who had military bases in Newfoundland during the Second World War. (You........

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