Endorsation

Filed Under January 2007, columns 

Not wrong. Just Canadian.

Dear Word Detective: Recently, I attended a meeting during which it was announced certain municipal candidates received “endorsation” from our group. The word was used repeatedly throughout the evening, while “endorsement” was not used at all. I Googled it and received over 10,000 returns on the word, but no definition. My spell check was appalled. Is this an old word that fell out of favor, or is it yet another example of our marvelously evolving language? Alternatively, is it just some bizarro Canadian thing? — Sallie Caufield, Canada.

You’re writing from Canada, so you can get away with saying “bizarro Canadian thing,” but if I tried it I’d be inundated with hate mail, probably written in maple syrup on hockey pucks. Just kidding. I love Canada. But, since you are Canadian (or at least hiding out up there), perhaps you can answer a question that has bothered me for a long time. Why does all the coffee sold by Tim Hortons shops taste, in my opinion, vaguely of fish? The doughnuts are great, but the coffee is just plain weird.

As far as I can tell, “endorsation” is not solely a bizarro Canadian thing, but it does appear to be more established there than elsewhere on the planet. My copy of The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (I knew it would come in handy someday) notes “endorsation” as a specifically Canadian alternate form of “endorsement.” The American Heritage Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), on the other hand, seem to be choosing to ignore it (and my spellchecker doesn’t like it either). The OED does, by the way, include the word “indorsation,” a synonym of “endorsement” found today largely in Scotland.

The real question is, of course, why folks don’t just use “endorsement.” The original meaning of “endorse” was “to sign on the back” (from Old French “endosser,” meaning “to put on the back”), as one does when cashing or depositing a check. The sense of “approve, support, recommend or advocate” dates to the 19th century.

Evidently, both the forms “endorse” and “indorse” were in common usage until the 19th century, and both “indorsement” and “indorsation” were at one time popular, although “indorsation” seemed to be more common in Scotland (”Should we say indorsement or indorsation? In England, we always use the word indorsement. In Scotland, the term more generally used is indorsation.” J. W. Gilbart, A Practical Treatise on Banking, 1849).

With so many variant forms of “endorse” and “indorse” floating around the English-speaking world at one time, my guess is that the Scots “indorsation” simply took root in Canada, but with the more familiar “en” prefix. It’s not wrong. It’s apparently just one of those little Canadian quirks, like putting fish in the coffee.

 

 

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