"Ferda" Is Just One of the Odd Phrases that Is Often Deployed on 'Letterkenny'

Although it's not yet a mainstream commercial success, Letterkenny has slowly and steadily acquired a devoted fanbase that responds very positively to its offbeat sense of humor. In addition to the strange rhythm of its jokes, Letterkenny is also known for introducing American audiences to an entire set of phrases that many were previously unfamiliar with. One of the most prominent is "ferda," which is used on several occasions in the show. 

Before diving into the show's basket of phrases, it may be useful to understand why the characters on Letterkenny speak in a way that may be unfamiliar to American audiences. 

Letterkenny is a Canadian sitcom that was originally developed for YouTube before being adapted into a TV series. The show is set in the fictional town of Letterkenny, a rural community in Ontario that is based on the real town of Listowel, Ontario. 

The show revolves around the problems and lives of this community and was created by Jared Keeso, who also stars in the series as Wayne, one of the two siblings at the center of the series. Its offbeat sensibility has attracted audiences, especially those stateside who are largely unfamiliar with what life in rural Canada is like. The show has already run for eight seasons, and it's been renewed for a ninth. 

"Ferda" is a term most commonly used in hockey, and it's simply an abbreviated form of the phrase "for the boys." It's commonly used on the show as a way to express solidarity, and it's also the name of an episode in the show's eighth season. The episode focuses primarily on the hockey players' attempts to open a new club in town that is only for men, which explains why the episode is called "Ferda." 

The club would be called Club Ferda, and hockey players Reilly and Jonesy spend the entire episode pitching the idea to various potential investors around town. Each investor is uninterested for one reason or another, and Reilly and Jonesy ultimately decide not to move forward with the idea. Even so, the pitching process provides audiences with plenty of hilarity before the idea is discarded. 

As part of its conception, Letterkenny is designed to be a show about intelligent people. The characters in this small town may use unusual language and speak with an accent, but nearly every member of the town has a deep grasp of worldly topics and some skill for wordplay. This helps with the show's comedy, but it also subverts audience expectations about rural areas of the world. 

Instead of suggesting that the residents of Letterkenny are intellectually deficient, the show does the opposite. The comedy doesn't come at the character's expense. Instead, they're the ones telling the jokes. 

Letterkenny is one of the funniest shows on TV, and like Schitt's Creek, it's proof that Canada can crank out great sitcoms if the world wants to watch them.