Regimental nicknames of the Canadian Forces

Many regiments have over the years earned nicknames; some laudatory, some derogatory, but all colourful. Sometimes, the nicknames themselves have overshadowed the actual regimental title, e.g. the "Van Doos" for the Royal 22^e Régiment. In some cases the nickname actually replaced it: in 1881, the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot became officially known by its nickname, The Black Watch.

What follows is a list of nicknames of Canadian regiments, arranged alphabetically by regimental title. A brief explanation of the origin of the nickname, where known, is included.

Regimental nicknames

#


Regiment	Nickname(s)
1st Hussars	1st Hosers^[1]
5th (British Columbia) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA	Five Tribe^[1]
7th Toronto Regiment	7 Guns^[1] 7 Tor The Black Hand
8th Canadian Hussars	Crazy 8s:^[2] after the card game.^[1] The Hussies: a general military slang for Hussar Regiments Eight C.H. Channel 8
12^e Régiment blindé du Canada	12th Rubber Boot Company^[1]
48th Highlanders of Canada	The Glamour Boys The Dirty Four Dozen^[1]

A-G


Regiment	Nickname(s)
The Algonquin Regiment (Northern Pioneers)	The Algoons (from World War II) The Gonks^[3]
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)	Ash Cans^[3]
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own)	Big Chinese Restaurant Billion Chinese Regiment: Derogatory. In reference to the large Asian population to inhabit Vancouver. BCR's The Dukes
The Brockville Rifles	The Brocks The Broken Rifles^[3]
The Calgary Highlanders	Calgary Highgranders^[3] The Cal Highs
The Canadian Grenadier Guards	The Guards Canadian Girl Guides Can’t Get Girls^[3] Can't Goddam Graduate
The Essex and Kent Scottish	Eeks and Squeaks^[3]
The Fort Garry Horse	The Garry’s^[3]
Governor General's Foot Guards	GooGooFooGoos^[3] / Gugga Fuggas Gustav Gone For Good
The Governor General's Horse Guards	Gugga Huggas^[3]
The Grey and Simcoe Foresters	Farmer Johns The Gay and Simple Farmers^[3]

H-Q


Regiment	Nickname(s)
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment	Plough Jockeys: from World War II, bestowed because of the regiment's rural roots^[4] Hasty P's: a play on their name and the short 'bathroom breaks' during wartime^[3] Hasty Pasties: another play on their name. Hasty Preedies^[3]
The King’s Own Calgary Regiment	Kay Ohs^[3]
The Lake Superior Scottish Regiment	The Lake Sups / The Lake Soups^[5]
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment	The Lincs The Lincoln Welders The Lincs and Winks^[3]
Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)	Lady Strathcona’s Riding Club^[6] Strathcona's Strats Straths (WWII era)
The Lorne Scots Regiment	The Forlorn Scots^[6] Horny Lornies: Derogatory. this likely originated from an urban legend regarding their yellow hackles, thought to be a battle disgrace (I can't find any record of such a disgrace).
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment	The Loyal Eds The Loyal Eddies^[6] The Eddies
Ontario Regiment	On Tars
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry	Ping Pong Champions of Long Island^[6] The Patricias^[6]^[7] The Princess Pats^[6] The Pats^[1] Dirty Cowboy:^[8] likely referring to the region their primary HQ resides in. The Picklies. Derogatory, in reference to the unit acronym "PPCLI" being pronounced as one word.^[6] The Vicious Patricias. The PPCNR, a play on words from the initials of the regiment and one of the railroads to their western HQ
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada	The Queen’s Own Rentals^[6] Quickest out of Ridgeway:^[9] Derogatory: referring to the Battle of Ridgeway.

R-Z


Regiment	Nickname(s)
Royal 22nd Regiment	The Vandoos Les Vingt-Deux^[6]
The Royal Canadian Dragoons	The RCD’s ^[6] Dragoon
The Royal Canadian Regiment	The RCR: the official short title of the regiment The Royals^[6] The Junior Royals Rocking Chair Rangers^[6] Shino Boys: a First World War nickname given to The RCR by soldiers of other units, noting the regiment's high standards of dress and deportment ^[10] Run Chicken Run: Derogatory, a play on words deriving from the regiment's acronym and the purported illegal activity of a soldier^[6]
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)	The Riley’s^[6]
Royal Newfoundland Regiment	The Blue Puttees^[11]
The Royal Regiment of Canada	The Royals
Royal Regina Rifles	The Regina’s^[6] The John's: from the Second World War most members were from Saskatchewan farming backgrounds ie "Farm John"
Royal Westminster Regiment	The Westies^[6]
Royal Winnipeg Rifles	The Little Black Devils^[6]
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada	The Seaforth’s The Bullwinkles^[6]
South Alberta Light Horse	The Sally Horse Sally Ho^[6] Sally H.
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders	Then Glens Sand, Dust & Gravel^[6]
The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own)	The Tor Scots The Trot Scots^[6]
The Sherbrooke Hussars	Sher H The Sherbie Herbies
Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke	Fuzz de Sher The Fuzzy Wuzzies
West Nova Scotia Regiment	The West Novas^[6]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Montague, Art (2011). Canadian Forces: An Historical Salute To Those On The Front Line. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-1-926916-09-5.
^ Wiktionary Appendix:Canadian English military slang
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Montague, Art (2011). Canadian Forces: An Historical Salute To Those On The Front Line. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-926916-09-5.
^ Regimental website: The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
^ "The Lake Superior Regiment, A History". Thunder Bay Museum. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Montague, Art (2011). Canadian Forces: An Historical Salute To Those On The Front Line. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-926916-09-5.
^ "Chapter 1", Regimental Manual (PDF), pp. 1–3/13, archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2011, retrieved February 23, 2011
^ Wiktionary Appendix:Canadian English military slang
^ Wiktionary Appendix:Canadian English military slang
^ Cited in Fighting the Hun From Saddle and Trench by Sgt. William R. Jones
^ "The Royal Newfoundland Regiment". 2007-10-16. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2022-08-15.

References

Montague, Art (2011). Canadian Forces: An Historical Salute To Those On The Front Line. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.
Mowat, Farley (1955). The Regiment. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.

[:0-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Montague, Art (2011). Canadian Forces: An Historical Salute To Those On The Front Line. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-1-926916-09-5.

[2] Wiktionary Appendix:Canadian English military slang

[:1-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Montague, Art (2011). Canadian Forces: An Historical Salute To Those On The Front Line. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-926916-09-5.

[4] Regimental website: The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment

[5] "The Lake Superior Regiment, A History". Thunder Bay Museum. Retrieved 2022-08-15.

[:2-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Montague, Art (2011). Canadian Forces: An Historical Salute To Those On The Front Line. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-926916-09-5.

[7] "Chapter 1", Regimental Manual (PDF), pp. 1–3/13, archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2011, retrieved February 23, 2011

[8] Wiktionary Appendix:Canadian English military slang

[9] Wiktionary Appendix:Canadian English military slang

[10] Cited in Fighting the Hun From Saddle and Trench by Sgt. William R. Jones

[11] "The Royal Newfoundland Regiment". 2007-10-16. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2022-08-15.

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