Tod MaffinCanadian Commentator, From Far and Wide · Emotional Support Canadian

ELBOWS UP: Where It Came From (Totally)

9 Nov 2025 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

2:01

In a tongue‑in‑cheek monologue, the speaker invents a fanciful history for the modern expression “elbows up.” The tale is set in the fictional Newfoundland hamlet of Clam Bucket Cove, Two Jug Harbour, near Screeches Rest and Moose Elbow Junction. According to the story, villagers would gather each February on the frozen harbour to listen for the first creak of spring ice. Because the ice was slippery, people fell, and they discovered that holding their arms out helped them stay balanced – a habit that evolved into the phrase “elbows up,” meaning “stay alert, don’t slip.” By the 1940s the phrase became a local greeting and wedding chant. In the 1950s Mayor Sheila Codswoggle launched an “Elbows Up Festival” featuring a stage on the ice and a competition where participants stood still with elbows raised while seagulls were encouraged to defecate on them. The 1960s saw a local inventor claim the phrase could summon aliens, building an “Elbow Resonance Machine” that merely caused people to jump from frostbite. The town later opened a mock “Elbow Museum,” a shed with a sign asking for a key from a never‑present Gerald. Over time the expression’s meaning softened, becoming a casual warning before crossing slush or making risky decisions. The narrator ends with a sarcastic disclaimer that the story is “completely true and accurate,” urging viewers not to look it up.

Chapters

You probably know the saying "elbows up," but do you know the history of it? So it actually dates back to 1891 in this tiny Newfoundland village called Clam Bucket Cove in Two Jug Harbour, which is just outside of Screeches Rest and the Moose Elbow Junction. The town already had an annual event, and it was every February when the harbour froze, the whole village would walk out onto the ice to listen for the first creak of spring. This was considered thrilling entertainment. They would stand there in silence for a few hours in the bitter cold waiting for the ice to crack, but Because the ice was slippery, people would often fall and crack their head, and then they'd have to get pushed politely to the side so they weren't blocking the excitement. Eventually though, they learned that they could balance on the ice better by holding their arms out, and people that were traveling through the village picked up on it, and then "elbows up" came to mean like, "stay balanced, pay attention, don't slip on the ice." By the '40s, it had become central to the town's identity. Instead of saying hello, people would say "elbows up." Elbows up. Elbows up. At weddings. "do you take this person?" the crowd would shout it out. Elbows up! And then in the '50s, the mayor Sheila Codswoggle held the first annual Elbows Up Festival to attract tourists. They built a small stage on the harbour ice, which was a questionable decision, and then they held a competition where the participants had to stand perfectly still, elbows slightly raised, while seagulls were encouraged to crap on them. In the '60s, one local inventor insisted that the phrase was summoning aliens, And to prove it, he built something called the Elbow Resonance Machine, which did make people jump, though that was mostly from frostbite. The town eventually opened the Elbow Museum, which was literally just a shed with a sign that said, "Please ask Gerald for the key," but Gerald was never there. Then eventually, as these things happen, the meaning softened. People started using it casually, before crossing a patch of slush. What was that? Before making a decision that would haunt them financially. So yeah, there you go. The completely true and accurate, go look it up, history of elbows up. Don't look it up.