Preparing our May cover story, our editors faced the question – “What should you call people from Bridgewater?”
A “demonym” is a noun describing the inhabitants of a place, like the Haligonians of Halifax.
To update our Barnacle Style Guide, we asked Patrick Hirtle, Communications Coordinator with the Town of Bridgewater – what’s Bridgewater’s demonym?
“This is actually a great question and one for which there isn’t a clear and definitive answer!” writes Hirtle.
“Over the years, I’ve seen Bridgewaterites (probably the most common), Bridgewaterians, and (my personal favourite but uncommon) Bridgewavians used.”
“So, while there’s no official answer, I think it’s fair to say that Bridgewaterites is the most popular.”
Given there’s no official term, we’re motivated to use the fun and elegant Bridgewavian. (Next time you hear the seagulls calling by Fresh Cuts, that’s an avian Bridgewavian.)
