in a satisfactory way; to a considerable extent, largely.
| Example | Meaning |
Interviewer: So would the whole family go out or- Speaker: Pretty well, yeah. Interviewer: You didn't- were- did you guys go church first then, or were you not particularly religious? |
pretty much |
Interviewer: So what would you do to kill time until you could swim again. Speaker: Oh well, then a-- after we ate it was pretty well time to come back home. |
pretty much |
| Example | Meaning |
And as I said, ah, I grew up on the farm and we had, ah, cattle but we never used beef. Beef was something that was only sold for, um, money. And, ah, our milk was the same thing. We grew- all- pretty well all of us grew up, ah- sure there was milk and certain times we could have milk but most of the time we could- we didn't have it because mom was selling the milk for money ... |
pretty much |
Interviewer: Do you remember any of the biggest fights that you had with your siblings? Speaker: Oh yeah, that would be- that would be quite- quite occasional. We were fighting about, ah- pretty well about anything. Ah, especially like, ah, ah, stuff from the garden, eh? Like, ah, if we happened to snitch some, ah, ah, cucumbers or- or carrots, eh? |
pretty much |
... we didn't have, ah- like, our high school at that time didn't teach computers, you-know, when she was in school. So everything was self-taught, you-know? ... So I- I was glad anyway. ... So I guess that's- that's- that's pr-- pretty well everything I have to tell you on this- |
pretty much |
| Example | Meaning |
Speaker 2: You wouldn't really know who is all coming. 'Cause, you-know, he- they're invited but they didn't say yes or no. Speaker: Yeah. Whether or not they're coming. ... But I imagine then you'd invite pretty well the whole town. Speaker 2: Well all the relatives. Whoever was a relation- ... Unless you cut out the cousins. |
pretty much |
(Under bee) In allusion to the social character of the insect (originally in U.S.): A meeting of neighbours to unite their labours for the benefit of one of their number; e.g. as is done still in some parts, when the farmers unite to get in each other's harvests in succession; usually preceded by a word defining the purpose of the meeting, as apple-bee, husking-bee, quilting-bee, raising-bee, etc. Hence, with extended sense: A gathering or meeting for some object; esp. spelling-bee, a party assembled to compete in the spelling of words.
| Example | Meaning |
And also, in the- in the winter-time, well she didn't relax all that much. Because I remember they also had what they call quilting bees. In the wintertime, that's all the women- they all get together, and they would quilt. Ev-- you-know, in the wintertime. And it'd take up the- the dining room- t-- the dining room was all- you-know, the frame for the quilt was put on there, and they would quilt, and quilt, and quilt, and quilt. |
Communal quilting session. |
In various fig. phrases, as to raise the Devil , to raise the mischief , to raise (Old) Ned (U.S. slang, now rare), etc.: to create a disturbance; to cause trouble, uproar, or confusion. to raise Cain, hell, hob: see the final element.
| Example | Meaning |
Speaker: You could go out there and make- raise Cain, but y-- we didn't want to do that. Interviewer: Raise Cain? Speaker: Raise Cain, you know, raise- be a little wild. |
In various fig. phrases, as to raise the Devil , to raise the mischief , to raise (Old) Ned (U.S. slang, now rare), etc.: to create a disturbance; to cause trouble, uproar, or confusion. to raise Cain, hell, hob: see the final element. |
In parts of Canada: the elected leader of the council of a town or other rural municipality.
| Example | Meaning |
Speaker: Now you were- you were the reeve I think of Ratcliff at the time right? I think if you- yeah before amalgamation right? Interviewer: I'm sorry, what exactly is a reeve? Speaker: Same as a mayor. Interviewer: Same as a mayor. Speaker 2: Okay yeah sa-- s-- yeah just the title got- the name really is the change and-all-that, but it used to be ah reeve, so th-- so he was the reeve, but you-know, basically mayor, of ah Ratcliff... |
In parts of Canada: the elected leader of the council of a town or other rural municipality. |
a young person who spends a great deal of leisure time at a rink; spec. a young person who seeks casual work at an ice (or occasionally roller) rink in return for free admission, etc.
| Example | Meaning |
And, ah, had a rink down, way down there by the- by the lakeshore. And I used to be what you call a rink-rat. |
a young person who spends a great deal of leisure time at a rink |
| Example | Meaning |
And I was a rink-rat at one time |
a young person who spends a great deal of leisure time at a rink |
A house or barn for storing root vegetables.
| Example | Meaning |
Speaker 2: Each kid has- you-know, like for instance, ah, some of the boys had to carry water. I know I had to go in get the potatoes from the, ah, um, underground- what do you call that building? Gosh I'm forgetting. Eh? Speaker: Root-house. Speaker 2: Root-house. Yes. (laughs) |
A house or barn for storing root vegetables. |
| Example | Meaning |
Speaker: Each kid has- you-know, like for instance, ah, some of the boys had to carry water. I know I had to go in get the potatoes from the, ah, um, underground- what do you call that building? Gosh I'm forgetting. Eh? Speaker 2: Root-house. Speaker: Root-house. Yes. (laughs) |
A house or barn for storing root vegetables. |
Speaker: From the root-house. I would have to go and get the vegetables from the root-house and, ah, peel them for supper and, ah, you-know, different things-like-that. And my older sister, well she would be making c-- bread or cookies or-something-like-that. |
A house or barn for storing root vegetables. |
N/A
| Example | Meaning |
No ski-boots or anything, just like little rubber-gumboots, and you-know you'd be dressed up like the Michelin-Man. |
Rubber boots. |
Rye whiskey.
| Example | Meaning |
And ah it depends, what booze I was drinking. You-know, if I was just drinking beer and you-know I'd be having a good time or if I was just drinking rum it'd be a good time, but if I switched to rye or scotch, and then it's just like Jekyll-and-Hyde, kind of fact, right? |
Whiskey made from rye grain. |
N/A
| Example | Meaning |
Interviewer: Do you remember any of those picnics? Speaker: Oh, my father- oh, here I go again! My father was- they had sand-baked beans- Interviewer: They had what? Speaker: Sand. Baked. Beans. ... You know, you dig a hole, put the pot in the ground, heat up the s-- s-- heat up the s-- ... Heat- heat up the sand. You'd cover the whole pot right up |
Baked beans cooked by surrounding a cooking pot with sand (or any other inorganic material with low oxygen content), and then heating the sand. (The sand distributes heat well; dirt will not work well.) |
... the picnic was held on a Sunday. You'd have to start on Friday night to heat this thing up. And then, ah, by, ah, Sunday, the beans were baked, and lovely. That's the bag- sand-baked beans! He used to do that. |
Baked beans cooked by surrounding a cooking pot with sand (or any other inorganic material with low oxygen content), and then heating the sand. (The sand distributes heat well; dirt will not work well.) |
And then his brother took over and, ah, he used to travel all the way to Belleville and all over that and show people- you-know, people wanted baked- sand-baked beans, he'd go and do it for them. But the picnics, there would be the- they'd set up little stalls, and I remember the ice-cream truck would come in from Pembroke. |
Baked beans cooked by surrounding a cooking pot with sand (or any other inorganic material with low oxygen content), and then heating the sand. (The sand distributes heat well; dirt will not work well.) |
A workman whose business it is to saw timber, esp. in a saw-pit.
| Example | Meaning |
Speaker: They'd either come on a chain and go to the sawyer, or there'd be a trolley come down and you load five or six logs and you pull it up. And the sawyer cut them, and then you- you got the lumber there. |
A workman whose business it is to saw timber. |