Do you just want to hang with the boys, doing something fun together? Or have you, on the other hand, noticed groups of boys or men chilling together, perhaps engaged in activities you'd consider silly and exclusionary?
The phrase "ferda" could help you out in both bases. We'll take a closer look at the meaning and origin of "ferda" below.
Meaning
Ferda means "for the boys". It is an rough abbreviation of this phrase — when you remove the last word from "fer da boys (or bois)", and take out the spaces, it simply becomes "ferda".
The phrase can be used simply to say that something is for the boys. Ferda is also used to denote teamwork, solidarity, or brotherhood, especially in the context of sports (and then, particularly hockey). Ferda can be synonymous to "taking one for the team" when it's used in that way.
Example Usage
You could put "ferda" in action in any context where you could say "for the boys" instead. For example:
- Nah mom, I can't come to that stupid family picnic on Sunday. Sunday's reserved ferda, you know?
- We're going to win this match! Who are we doing it for? That's right! Ferda!
- Get out of my room sis, it's just ferda.
- Wanna get together later this week and do something just ferda?
- Wow, thanks for taking the blame for that thing I did, that was very ferda of you.
Origin
The phrase ferda is commonly said to come from the Canadian sitcom Letterkenny, written by Keeso and Jacob Tierney and released in 2016. The sitcom, which follows the lives of different groups of people — including hockey players — living in the fictional small Canadian town Letterkenny, was originally created to be aired on YouTube but was later released on TV.
It was widely appreciated for portraying people living in small rural towns as intelligent and highly informed about current affairs and cultural trends.
The hockey players in the series decided to start a hockey club just for boys, which they called "Ferda". The phrase was used many times in the show Letterkenny, and from there, some say, real-life hockey players began to adopt this slang, along with internet users and others who aren't interested in hockey.
This version of events seems, however, to be incorrect — the Urban Dictionary, one of the most interesting places to look at if you are investigating the rise in popularity of any slang term, first gained an entry defining "ferda" as meaning "for the boys" as far back as 2013. This means that ferda predates Letterkenny and the screen writers had likely heard the phrase somewhere else before incorporating it into the show.
As it stands, ferda is mostly used as hockey slang, but is also sometimes adopted by others who see the phrase as cool.
Phrases Similar to Ferda
Instead of ferda, you could:
- Simply say "for the boys", or "fer da bois".
- Use the abbreviation "FTB", which also means "for the boys".
- Say you're "taking one for the team".
Phrases Opposite to Ferda
There are no phrases directly opposite to ferda (meaning "for the boys"), but some people do use the phrase in a more inclusive way. Letterkenny itself released a special edition "ferda super fans", and the phrase "ferda girls" can also be seen in action on the internet.
What Is the Correct Saying?
The correct saying is ferda, with FTB and ferda boys being alternative ways to say it.
Acceptable Ways to Say Ferda
You could use ferda to talk about a block of time or an activity that you've reserved solely for the boys — but you could also use ferda to mean brotherhood or solidarity. This is particularly common in the context of sports. If you're skipping family time to train because you want your team to win, for instance, you might say you're doing it "ferda".