Noun, “a person who stays longer than intended.”
Or, alternatively, “an Irish immigrant railroad worker who … drilled holes in rock to blast out railroad tunnels [school website].” You know, the subject of the 1888 American folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill”? … Yeah, I never heard of it before either.
That said, why use something like that as your mascot?
Well, it actually seems to tie back to Charles Wright, the school’s namesake. He effectively founded Tacoma by making it the western terminus of the Northern Pacific railroad, of which he was the president. So, railroad president, railroad workers … Well, it makes some kind of sense (kind of like the Tarblooders, I suppose).
Today, the private school has 600 students. They’ve shone in things like sailing, robotics, knowledge bowls, and something called an envirothon. They also have standard sports such as football, baseball, basketball, and ultimate frisbee.
All of that is supported by “a mascot named Spike, a man wearing a plaid shirt and a bowler hat while holding a mallet.”
The school website grudgingly admits that “Due to the obscure nature of the term ‘tarrier’ and it being a homophone of the small dog, the ‘terrier,’ the Charles Wright Academy community spends a great deal of time explaining their mascot and its origins.”
Google isn’t exactly helping here any:
Especially when clicking on that gave me stuff like this:
Damn, I think I see what they mean.
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