Quote:
Originally Posted by harls
WTF's a Gee Gee?
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In case anyone really does not know:
Founded in 1848, the University of Ottawa adopted its official colours Garnet and Grey, and like many nineteenth-century institutions, the athletics teams were known only by the school's colours. Eventually, a connection was made between the shorthand "GGs" and "Gee-Gee", the common British nickname for a racehorse. The unique Gee-Gees name and iconic logo known today is a result of 170 years of history in Ottawa
I could add that that Irish immigrant farmers like my ancestors who settled in the Ottawa Valley used to call their farm horses GeeGees. It was a joke as the farm horses were slow work horses and not racehorses like back in the British Isles. When I was a child in the 1950s my great Aunt and Uncle had property in what is now Kanata and owned an old nag who they named GeeGee.
P.S--Henry Gee was a 16th Century Mayor of Chester England. He owned racehorses and established an annual Derby. The townspeople called his horses "geegees" after Henry Gee. In time, racehorses all over the British Isles were known as geegees.
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