Riggerfrutch and Pwelgas

Years and years ago, I read a neat book called the Canadian Book of Lists.  They've printed several editions over the years, and I cannot recall which year had the entry I'm about to refer to.

The Book of Lists had all kinds of Canadian trivia and top ten this and that.  One that stuck with me was a list called "Ten Uniquely Canadian Words".  One of the words was "riggerfrutch" which - according to the list - was a Canadian swear word, derived from God knows where.  It doesn't seem to have caught on, damn it.

Another word on that list was "pwelgas," and this word is the real topic of this post.  According to the book, PWELGAS is an acronym that has become a word itself (much like "scuba" and "laser" are common words now, but originally came on the scene as acronyms).

PWELGAS is the acronym for the seven deadly sins:
Pride
Wrath
Envy
Lust
Gluttony
Avarice
Sloth

I have never heard of anyone using the word PWELGAS but it strikes me as a handy word for mystery writers.

More on PWELGAS in my next post...