Tuque

A bright green tuque

A tuque (Canadian French: tuque, also spelled toque in English) is a knitted hat, originally usually of wool though now often of synthetic fibers, that is designed to provide warmth in winter. All tuques are tapered and brimless, and they are often topped with a pompon. The tuque is usually considered Canada's or Quebec's national winter hat, much like the Russian fur hat.

Experts differ on whether the word tuque is etymologically related to the name of the chef's toque, although tuque is often spelled "toque" (though still pronounced /tuk/) by assimilation, or misspelled touque.

The tuque is similar to the Phrygian cap, and as such, during the 1837 Patriotes Rebellion a red tuque became a symbol of French-Canadian nationalism. The symbol was briefly revived by the Front de libération du Québec in the 1970s.

Bob and Doug McKenzie with their famous hats.

Today some consider tuques to be somewhat lacking in sophistication, though they are indispensable in cold climates. They have become the common headgear for stereotypical dockworkers and sailors in movies and television. The most famous media characters to sport this kind of hat are the SCTV characters, Bob and Doug McKenzie. Michael Nesmith of The Monkees also wore this hat in his television series. Bill Murray wore this type of hat in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

In the United States, this type of hat is more commonly referred to by other names: knit hat or knit cap, sock cap or stocking cap, watch cap, toboggan, or sometimes as a ski cap. A beanie is a similar type of hat, and although tuque and beanie can be synonymous in some regions, a beanie is normally more rigid, not made of a knitted yarn, and usually made up of structured panels of felt, twill or other tightly woven cloth. The lack of a consistent term for the tuque is often cause for comedy among Canadian comedians.

There is also a town known as La Tuque, Quebec, named after a nearby hill that resembles a tuque.

References

Katherine Barber, editor (2004). The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, second edition. Toronto, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-541816-6. — "Toque" is a main headword, "tuque" considered a variant spelling, "touque" does not appear.
[Merriam-Webster states it derives from toque]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.