The late 1980s found me doing some work at the Fisheries College in St. John's, NL. One day I required a cylinder of dry nitrogen for a demo, and my contact at the college offered to take me to get some over the noon hour. After the pickup we stopped for lunch. It was a rainy-snowy, dreary day. Over the meal we talked about our lives, families -- normal small talk. He told me how he had recently remarried and how much he enjoyed being in the woods, hunting etc. When we left the restaurant, it had turned into a gorgeous sunny day. "Great!" my friend said. "If the weather holds, I'll get me slut and me dog and go to the woods." As we drove along I asked if his wife liked the woods as much as he did. "No, b'y. Why do you ask?" "Well," I replied, "you said you would get your slut and your dog and go to the woods if the weather held." He took to laughing so hard he drove the vehicle onto the shoulder of the road and back. "No, no! Me slut, it's me kettle!" He went on to explain that a slut was a tin kettle with a large flat bottom so it could be heated quickly in the woods over a birch bark fire. They were often made at school as a project in shop class. I apologized, which only made him laugh more -- making me feel better, as he was a very large man and had he taken offence he could have broken me in two! When I left the Lester Hotel, the desk clerk handed me a box. Inside was a tin kettle and a note: "Art, this is a slut! Thanks for the course." Over the years I have related this story to many people and have come to believe that the word "slut" meaning kettle is a localized term because a lot of Newfoundlanders I have met are unfamiliar with it. I still have the kettle and note, and whenever I look at it I can't help but smile. - Submitted by Art Keeble   Submitted By: NULL