Hoser
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Hoser is both a slang term and a stereotype, originating from and used primarily in Canada.[1]
Like the very similar term hosehead, it originally referred to farmers of the Canadian prairies, who would siphon gas from farming vehicles with a hose during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The expression has since been converted to the verb 'to hose' as in to trick, deceive, or steal - for example: "That card-shark sure hosed me." Hosed has an additional meaning of becoming drunk - for example: "Let's go out and get hosed."
Alternatively, the term may orginate as a variation of "loser"; in amateur games of hockey the losing team would have to "hose down" the rink, resurface the ice with a water hose.
A third possibility is that it might be related to the term hoosier.
Today, the word hoser evokes - sometimes sympathetically, with gentle ribbing, and sometimes negatively - a stereotypical Canadian male, typically lower to middle class, white and English Canadian. He is especially concerned with drinking beer and watching hockey. The hoser is understood as a product of a poor and white upbringing, whether urban or rural, but never from a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. He is generally assumed to be unemployed, although he may also work in primary industry (manufacturing, mining, forestry, etc.) or as a tradesman or a manual labourer. He is typically not university-educated: if he has any education past high school, it's a college trade program. If he does go on to university, or moves to a city, he will still have preferences for "hoser" food, clothing, music, and sports, and will retain the language inflections of his upbringing.
He's often imagined wearing heavy winter clothing, usually a flannel lumberjack shirt, Kodiak boots and a tuque. He is generally a young adult to middle age, and may be somewhat aggressive given the beer and hockey, but may conversely be passive and amiable, given the beer. In musical culture, he is correlated with classic and mainstream rock music, particularly with Rush, Nickelback and the earlier, rowdier works of The Tragically Hip. If he goes out socially, it's usually to a donut shop.
A hoser's flannel shirt may also be referred to as a "Kenora dinner jacket". (Some regional variations of this term also exist, usually substituting a hoser-stereotyped local community's name in place of Kenora.) [2]
Perhaps the iconic representations of this definition of hoser in Canadian culture are Bob & Doug McKenzie of SCTV and Strange Brew. This model also profoundly informs The Red Green Show, and some sketch characters on Royal Canadian Air Farce (e.g. "Mike, from Canmore", "A Canadian Moment") and This Hour Has 22 Minutes (e.g. Connie Bloor, the Quinlan Quints). Although set in the United States, Wayne's World — which was created by a Canadian, Mike Myers — also shares some common elements with the hoser archetype.
Hoser may also refer more generically to a rude and unkempt person, similar to the more universal terms boor, slob, and lout. However, like other such terms (e.g. jerk) it can also be used in a much more general sense as an all-purpose mild insult. The term is also sometimes used outside of Canada as a mocking term for any Canadian, although this usage may be perceived as offensive because of the word's more particular meaning within Canada. (See Anti-Canadianism)
Bob & Doug McKenzie defined the term as "What you call your little brother when your mother is in the room."
[edit] Other uses
Its use was also popularised in poker circles by Bill Chen, who was once, in jest, famously described by David Sklansky as "the World's Biggest Hoser". The word has become commonly used in poker ever since to describe any "fish" or bad player who is a long term loser at the game of poker.
This term is also recognized as being used to describe something that interferes with or “messes up” something else. In the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, a hoser can be something that destroys, prohibits, or prevents something specific. The card Red Elemental Blast would be considered a “blue hoser” or the card Gloom would be considered a “white hoser,” for example. This term could also be applied to a card or deck that “hoses” or specifically inhibits another deck from operating - e.g. the phase “that’s a real mono-black control hoser” or “that card totally hoses my deck”.
[edit] See also
Similar names
[edit] References
- ^ hoser. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved September 23, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: [1]
- ^ True North strong and plaid. Globe & Mail. Retrieved on September 23, 2006.
