I spen't much of the Thanksgiving weekend in Portland USA. Anyway I found that sometimes people didn't know what I was talking about. I ordered some pop and the waiter looked at me like I was crazy and sometimes they said stuff that I didn't understand.

I've noticed this before its like we speak another language eh.

Whats some other Canadian "slang".

Pftt, americans call car parks "parking lots". I almost always understand what they say though, unless they have that heavy new york or 'southern' accent.

Canadians stand in "line-ups" as opposed to American "lines" and British/Australian "queues"

We also get double-doubles from the local Timmy's

For the most part we also tend to go to the "washroom" or "restroom" rather than the "bathroom" or "toilet".

People in the south don't know what a touque is.
Some of the phrases we speak are different, but thats only natural and will continue to get worse in the future, not a bad thing though.

Maybe Im not getting it , but I think everyone says parking lot ?

I say parking lot, who says car park? I've never heard that.

I have always called them parking lots as well. In fact the only time I have ever heard the term 'car parks' has been online.

I alternate between line and line-up.

I also alternate between bathroom and washroom.

I do not sit on a sofa or chesterfield but rather a couch.

I drink pop (and actually most Americans I've met understand this one).

What?! Nobody uses car park!?! wtf is this!?

Agh, might i draw all your attention to the third line!?:
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/5487/pict00151ve.jpg

lol , just checking. :)

We have have a Canadian accent, so some of the words/prhases used will be different. In Southern Cali i have been asked a few times where i was from. I think that part of the country is closet to ours. When your in New York, New England or the South it pretty obvious they have an accent. So the west coast is probabely the closest. Then there are regional accents in Canada as well so i guess it all depends who you are and where your from.

In the US, to have an accent different from standard "American" is seen as low class, so it often gets nipped in the bud (as was the case with me, my parents refused to allow me to talk in a New York accent). I am not saying this to be snooty, I think that this is the general perception worldwide with all the languages on the planet.

In regards to the standard "American" accent, I feel that it is identical to the standard "Canadian" accent, which IMO is found in the Midwest of the US. Thus, given that Ontario is just on the other side of the lakes (and the center of Canada) this should not be too surprising.

Re: Car Park

It's wierd how you never notice small things like this, but I never hear anyone refer to parking lots as car parks....car parks just sound so wierd.

As for the "pop" thing, it's definitely a regional thing in a North American scope....not a Canadian/American thing. Here's a map of the breakdown on how people refer to soft drinks in the U.S.:

http://pharyngula.org/images/soft_drink_names_lg.gif

some one actually studied this?

:rofl:

it would be sweet to overly that map with others like: voting patterns, church attedence, density, anything!

There are marketing surveys done on all types of industries....it really isn't surprising considering how gigantic the soft drink industry is. Stats like this are very useful for marketing purposes and advertisment campaigns in regional areas.

Lol, I love how the south mostly calls in Coke, I wonder how Pepsi likes that. I always say pop, so Lucky you are right, it does look like a north thing.
Soda seems like an anomaly, its very present in the south-west, but then crosses the country to the opposite north-east. What seems weird to me is that big circle in missouri and Illinois that call it soda, I wonder how that came about.

In Canadian - In American
Serviettes - Napkins
Riding - Congressional District
Bill - Check
Native/First Nations/Aboriginal - American Indian
College - Community College
University - College
Homo Milk - Whole Milk
Brown Toast - Whole Wheat Toast
Peameal Bacon - Back Bacon
Share Holder - Stockholder


Some I remember from a highschool project..... they probably aren't exlusive to Canada... ie Pop - Soda

I went down to California during the march break, tough for people to understand me and vice versa. I had to dumb up my english slightly so I wouldn't confuse people.

^^^ do you really say serviettes? I know i don't!

I'd say it's only Canadians who call parking garages "parkades" isn't it? And as for level parking, I, and everyone I associate with call them parking lots. I don't think I've ever really heard the term "car park". If I did, I probably would have assumed it was American, lol.

Interestingly enough, most of the border states do say pop, so if I extrapolate it up to Canada, most North of the border (minus the Maritimes and Quebec) would say pop.

Oh, and when it comes to food, there are also a couple of differences. It's only here that the term "cheesies" is used, and there are a number of food words that are used in the states that I'm unfamiliar with, such as "twinkies, ho hos, and dingdongs". I think these things are sweets, but I'm really not sure.

And what's a piglie wiglie? I won't even take a guess on that, but I don't think I'd want to eat one. :laugh:

Ugh I can't stand the word serviette lol. Someone once asked for a serviette and I just pretended I didn't hear him, I didn't know what it meant lol.

Never heard of "car park" before. Heard of surface lots before though.

Canadian - American
route (root) - route (rowte) (I say rowte)
roof (roof) - roof (ruf) (obviously its roof)
touqe - "snow hat"

I know that not all Americans and Canadians say these things but in general...

Ugh I can't stand the word serviette lol. Someone once asked for a serviette and I just pretended I didn't hear him, I didn't know what it meant lol.

Never heard of "car park" before. Heard of surface lots before though.
I used to work at a McD's and I was only asked to provide "serviettes" one time, by an older gentlemen. I was kinda like "wtf" for a second, then I remembered the box in the stock room. That bilingual napkin packaging came in handy. :)
Other than that, most people called them napkins.

I also heard that the term mickey as in a small bottle of alcohol is a Canadian thing.

lol... I think where I live, is the most Canadian neutral accent.
(Well the west too I assume)...
I live too close to an American city, but our accents are so much different even though Detroit is directly across the river.

We say Doller, they say Daller.
We say pop, they say pap.

Windsor and Essex County is just a neutral 'media' accent.
People from the rest of Canada, Cuba, etc... ask us if we're American!
No sir.
I have noticed the distinct Canadian accents though... they're interesting.

Here's one.

Pencil Crayons (Canada) = Colored Pencils (US)

I switch between things like route (root) and route(rowte) depending on what words are in the sentence with it, whatever sounds right. I use serviettes quite a bit, but only for the decorated square-ish napkins at finer eating establishments. I say parking lot, and downtown, there's a parcade. I like pop, have pencil crayons, and there is a roof on my house, not a ruf. (We haven't a dog). I buy things with the Canadian Dollar. We have a couch, my landlady has a chesterfield (older weird looking couch. I'm probably the only one who uses the word like that). She calls it chesterfield all the time. It's kinda funny.

I use serviette because most people in my family do, I think it's a northern thing. The term is still somewhat common up here, like Chesterfield. I've never heard car park in Canada, but there was a sign that said "car park" at a hotel we went to in Duluth.

Piggly Wiggly is a grocery store (like A&P) and that yellow blob in the middle is St Louis. :)

Here's one.

Pencil Crayons (Canada) = Colored Pencils (US)

I say coloured pencils. lol
But you spelt it the American way!

Anytime I've ever met an American, they would say "oh, your from Canada?" They never suspected it. I dooon't talk like this eh, no dooot aboot that. However, as soon as I said any word that had an OU in it, they would be like, "ahh, ok I can see now."

It's weird though, because according to them, I say "abOWt, hOWse, OWt" etc...not the stereotypical "abOOt" or whatever it is.

Anyway, in short, American's don't know that I'm Canadian because I guess I don't have a Canadian accent. I just pronounce my OU's differently according to them.

I've met Americans from: Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Homo Milk?!?

That's awesome.

I don't say napkin or serviette though. I usually say paper towel or kleenex. Maybe in a blue moon I'll say napkin.

Homo Milk?!?

That's awesome.

It means homoginized. It's very popular among the elderly.

It means homoginized. It's very popular among the elderly.

Ah, like very old people call radios 'trannies'. :)

I say coloured pencils. lol
But you spelt it the American way!
Wow. I dunno, then. Everyone I know here calls them pencil crayons, and I've never once called them coloured pencils.

And, yeah. I spelled it that way on purpose. Usually I use the extra u. :okay:

Anyway, I switch between route and "rowte" too. Just like I do with words like caramel and "carmel." I always say bathroom, parking lot, napkin, couch, and pop. The words "chesterfield" and "serviette" just sound weird to me.

we call it bacon, americans call it 'canadian bacon'...

^Canadian bacon is a whole different thing...
Canadian Bacon (I call this Canadian Bacon)
http://aggiemeat.tamu.edu/judging/id/103P.jpg
Regular Bacon
http://tomsdomain.com/recipes/images/bacon/baconserving.jpg

^^ canadian bacon looks hard to eat

continuing on with the 'milk' slang here's one that i think is unique to saskatchewan only:
Saskatchewan/Canada
Vico/Chocolate Milk

and i remember saying "homo milk" all the time when i was in elementary lol i think homo milk was where all my extra pounds were coming from when i was a child. =_=''

ahhh you guys are outrageous LOL...we speaks the same way.......there are other languages where the dialects are completely different like filipino langauges and chinese

I say coloured pencils. lol
But you spelt it the American way!

Iv never heard of coloured pencils, I always call them pencil crayons since they are made of wax.

it's called a dialect.. :|

ahhh you guys are outrageous LOL...we speaks the same way.......there are other languages where the dialects are completely different like filipino langauges and chinese
crap you mentioned it before me lol.

JARdan mentioned his OU pronouncing...Yeah, East Coasters say Owt, AbOWt very distinctly. I have family out there, and I had a little observation going while I was up there two weeks ago.
LOL... all because of my Anthropology class...we had a little linguistic intro and I watched a movie on a bunch of American dialects. GOOD LORD there's billions...some you cannot understand at all!

many linguists are hypothesizing that the accent from the southern united states (louisiana, south carolina, missisipi, etc) is actually the true "british accent", since when the puritans (pilgrims) were kicked out of Britain they travelled down there and set up colonies.

JARdan mentioned his OU pronouncing...Yeah, East Coasters say Owt, AbOWt very distinctly. I have family out there, and I had a little observation going while I was up there two weeks ago.
LOL... all because of my Anthropology class...we had a little linguistic intro and I watched a movie on a bunch of American dialects. GOOD LORD there's billions...some you cannot understand at all!
It's funny too, because I can actually hear myself say it... but I can't stop it! It's really weird.

Oh, and I've also met Americans from Kentucky.

It's funny too, because I can actually hear myself say it... but I can't stop it! It's really weird.

lol.

I was downtown one night and some guys from Ohio were in the bar with us, so we were talking to each other and all of a sudden we started making fun of each other's accents! It was hilarious! We wern't being mean about, we were just laughing with each other, it was fun times. :cheers:



BTW JARdan, do you have MSN?
But just remember, you're not human if you don't!

Here's one.

Pencil Crayons (Canada) = Colored Pencils (US)
My grade 8 art teacher said that pencil crayons is an unproper term, as in the "you're insulting art by saying that" kind of way.
She was a bit cooky in the head though, she would flip out whenever we called coloured pencils by the other (better) name.

many linguists are hypothesizing that the accent from the southern united states (louisiana, south carolina, missisipi, etc) is actually the true "british accent", since when the puritans (pilgrims) were kicked out of Britain they travelled down there and set up colonies.

I have heard that too.

Which is interesting because IMO those with the most "English" sounding last names tend to be concentrated in this part of the country. It would not be too surprising, because as this country gained independence, these were the parts settled by the former English colonist. Subsequent waves of immigration either remained concentrated in the north eastern urban cities, or leapfrogged to the West where there was much land available.

My grade 8 art teacher said that pencil crayons is an unproper term, as in the "you're insulting art by saying that" kind of way.
She was a bit cooky in the head though, she would almost flip out whenever we called coloured pencils by the other (better) name.

unproper is an improper term... =_=''

PS: I love pencil crayons.

/\ But those people don't sound anything like the British.
Puritans were set up mostly in New England!

Boston has a group of about 3,000 American born people who retain the British accent they carried over from the 1850s I believe it was. (That shocked the hell out of me)

unproper is an improper term... =_=''

PS: I love pencil crayons.
Please excuse my imprefect english. :dunno:

Pencil crayons forever!

/\ But those people don't sound anything like the British.
Puritans were set up mostly in New England!

Boston has a group of about 3,000 American born people who retain the British accent they carried over from the 1850s I believe it was. (That shocked the hell out of me)

the hypothesis is that the English accent evolved whereas the southern one did not.

the hypothesis is that the English accent evolved whereas the southern one did not.

exactly DonQui... the stereotypical "southern united states" accent may have actually been at first the true British accent, since the settlers in the Southern United states were an isolated group, disconnected from the changes happening in Great Britian.

I had trouble with the whole homo milk deal when I was in Los Angeles. Asked for homo milk, got an "excuse me?", so I asked for 3.25% milk...... then my cousin told me it was called 'Whole Milk'

I had trouble with the whole homo milk deal when I was in Los Angeles. Asked for homo milk, got an "excuse me?", so I asked for 3.25% milk...... then my cousin told me it was called 'Whole Milk'

lol... that must have been an awkward moment for both the cashier and you.

^^ HAHAHA

How well do you know Canadian?

List of Canadian slang words or phrases (from Wikipedia)

* 2-4 — (two four) a case of 24 beer ("Beer" being the plural of "Beer" in much of Canada.)
* 26er (also 2-6, twixer) — a 262⁄3 imperial fl oz (758 ml) in earlier times, or 750 ml (26.4 fl oz) bottle of alcohol
* 40 — a 40 fl oz (1 imperial quart, 1.14 L) bottle of alcohol. (see forty pounder)
* 66er — a former 66.6 imperial fl oz (1/2 U.S. gallon, 1.89 L) bottle of alcohol, probably also applied to 1.75 L (61.6 imperial fl oz) bottles (see gripper)
* "AADAC" (ay-dack) from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, used to refer to any sort of beverage which would get you drunk thus making you prime candidate for alcohol addiction.
* alcool — grain alcohol; everclear (from French, but pronounced as in English)
* The Ballet — Strip club, or exotic dance club.
* Baywop — Someone living in a rural area centered around a bay. Mostly used in Newfoundland. A pejorative term.
* Beaner — Someone living in a planned housing area. Refers to "The Bean", an area of planned housing in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador. "The Bean" is also known as Jellybean Square, referring to the colorful choices of house paint at the time it acquired its nickname.
* Beaver Tail (BeaverTail) — A dessert food basically consisting of a pastry, covered in maple syrup and other toppings. Given its name because it resembles the shape of a beaver's tail. Also known as an Elephant Ear.
* BiWay — see Zellers
* Blochead — A member of the Bloc Québecois.
* Blue Neck, Blueneck — Canadian version of the stereotypical American Redneck. Whereas the American neck derives its red colour from exposure to the sun, it is assumed the Canadian's blue colouring is the result of frostbite.
* Buck — unit of 100, most commonly directly replaces "dollar" ($1.25 — "a buck twenty five", $1.50 — "a buck fifty"), also used to describe highway speed ("I got caught doing a buck-thirty on the 401" meaning "I was caught driving at a speed of 130km/h on Highway 401")
* Buds — the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, also marijuana
* bunnyhug — a hooded sweatshirt without a zipper(Saskatchewan)
* 'by — A term from Newfoundland. The equivelant of "man," "dude," or "pal." Example: Go on, 'by.
* Caker — is short for "Mange Cake" (pronounced manja cake, Italian for "cake-eater") and refers to Canadians of Anglo origin. It is said that the term originated in Italian-Canadian kitchens as a type of mockery of Anglophone Canada's bland cultural and culinary habits.
* Canuck — Canadian. Often used in the US as well, sometimes derogatorily. (properly someone from Vancouver)
* Chinook — A warm, dry wind experienced along the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. Most common in winter and spring, it can result in a rise in temperature of 20 °C (35 to 40 °F) in a quarter of an hour.
* Cherrypicker — Somebody who stays around the opposing teams goalie and does not play defence. Similiar to Goal Suck.
* Chesterfield — a couch or sofa.
* chocolate bar — a candy bar, whether it actually contains chocolate or not.
* click — kilometre or kilometres per hour (sometimes spelled "klick").
* CFA (Comes-From-Away) — a term used in the Atlantic provinces to refer to visitors or residents who were not born and raised in Eastern Canada. This term can be used in an affectionate manner, or an exclusionary manner.
* Constab — pronounced cun-STAB; the police in cities of Newfoundland and Labrador serviced by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
* Cougar — a middle-aged (or above) woman, dressed to the nines, out on the prowl looking for young (20–35 year old) men
* Crappy Tire or Ukrainian Tire— Canadian Tire
* deke, deke out — to feint, to trick or avoid someone "to deke out of a meeting" or, to deftly maneuver around a sporting opponent (esp. in hockey)
* dep — corner store, adapted from Quebec French word "dépanneur", especially by English-speaking Quebeckers.
* dick, dick all — nothing
* Dipper — a member of the New Democratic Party
* Dirty Bird — nickname for Swiss Chalet chicken restaurant
* Dogan — a Catholic; abusive, and now dying out
* double-double — a coffee with double cream, double sugar (especially, but not exclusively, from Tim Hortons). Triple-triple and four-by-four (less common) are three and four creams/sugars, respectively.
* eh — a spoken interjection to ascertain the comprehension, continued interest, agreement, etc., of the person or persons addressed (e.g. "That was a good game last night, eh?"). May also be used instead of huh? or what?. Meaning please repeat or say again.
* Farmer vision (also Peasant Vision, Country Cable or TFC - 'Three Friggin' Channels') — The basic three TV channels that can be picked up almost anywhere (Global, CBC, CTV).
* Fish Police (also Tree Cop and Critter Cop) — Derogatory reference to Federal or Provincial Fisheries or Wildlife Officers.
* F.O.B— - Means fresh off the boat, and can be a derogatory term aimed at newly arrived immigrants, although commonly used affectionately to describe any new resident of Canada. Often used amongst youth to describe exchange students, or fellow long-term visiting peers. Similar to American FES, or Foreign Exchange Student.
* fock — Alternate spelling/pronunciation of "Fuck" used primarily by francophones while speaking english (not to be confused with phoque, the french word for seal)
* forty pounder (forty ouncer) — a 40 oz. bottle of alcohol (see 40)
* Frog — A derogatory name given to French Canadians
* Frosh — A politically correct term for first-year students, derived from freshman.
* French fry — A derogatory name given to French Canadians, particularly in New Brunswick: see Square Head/English Muffin
* Fuck the dog — A term used to indicate doing nothing (e.g. "I fucked the dog all weekend").
* ghetto blaster — a portable stereo system. The term was common throughout North America at one time, but is still common in Canada.
* Gina — a female (usually of Mediterranean descent) who dresses in tight clothing usually with fluffy accents; Ginas are usually only labelled as such because of their association with Ginos (see below) (this word may be considered a racial slur against Italian women, but many young people associate it exclusively with the Gino/Gina subculture with or without a negative connotation).
* Gino — a male (usually of Mediterranean descent) who dresses in tight clothing (particularly denim), uses hair gel, wears gold chains, and has a macho attitude (this word may be considered a racial slur against Italian men, but many young people associate it exclusively with the Gino/Gina subculture with or without a negative connotation).
* Giv'n'r — used to describe any act carried out with extreme exuberance or to its fullest potential. "We were just Giv'n'r last night."
* Giv'er — Used to give someone permission to do something they never really asked to do ie: when speeding and a passenger notices, he says 'giv'er buddy' encouraging the driver to go faster.
* Goal Suck — Somebody who stays around the opposing teams goalie and does not play defence.
* Goler — The name of a family accused of mass incest on South Mountain in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia in 1984. The accusations implicated sixteen adults (both men and women) with incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five. The abuse had been perpetuated over several generations. The term is now used as an insult, e.g "He's a goler."
* goof — 1: cheap sherry or fortified wine; 2: a major insult; 3: to make a mistake (a goof, to goof)
* Grit — a member of the Liberal Party of Canada
* Gripper — a former 66 imp fl oz (1/2 U.S. gal) or a 1.75 L (61.6 imp fl oz) bottle of liquor. So named for either having a looped handle on the bottle neck, or matching indented "grips" on the body of the bottle.
* Habs — the Montreal Canadiens hockey team (from a contraction of habitants, a term for residents of New France). Predominantly used by English fans of the team. (Pronounced as in English, not as in French.)
* honger — Derogatory name for immigrants from Hong Kong used by mandarin-speaking and Canadianized Chinese.
* hose — used as a verb 'to hose' meaning to trick, deceive, steal, etc.
* hoser — a stereotype and a mild insult
* homo milk — homogenized milk, particularly with a fat content greater than 2%, usually 3.25%. Referred to in the USA as whole milk.
* Hoodie — A hooded sweatshirt with or without a zipper (Ontario).
* Horny Tims — Tim Hortons.
* hydro — 1: (except Alberta) commonly as a synonym for electrical service, as in "The hydro bill is due on the fifteenth". Many Canadian provincial electric companies generate power from hydroelectricity, and incorporate the term "Hydro" in their names; 2: Hydroponically grown plants of any type, but especially used to refer to hydroponically grown marijuana; usage: "Manitoba Hydro... It's not just a Power Company anymore."
* Hydrofield — A line of electricity transmission towers, usually in groups cutting across a city.
* idjit — variant pronunciation of 'idiot', particularly in Atlantic Canada.
* jam buster — jelly donut (Manitoba)
* jib — methamphetamine (West/Central Canada)
* jib-tech warrior — drug addict who is awake for long periods looking for things to steal. (British Columbia)
* joggers — a term used for jogging pants or sweatpants
* jono — feeling embarrassed for someone else; a painfully awkward situation
* KD or K.D. — Slang for Kraft Dinner, the macaroni with orange cheese sauce
* Knob — a more serious insult, usually considered vulgar
* The LB — Saskatchewan Liquor Board Store
* LC (Elcee)— Slang for Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (MLCC), the government-run liquor stores in Manitoba; also for Nova Scotia's 'Liquor Commission'.
* "Lick-Bo" — Slang for the Ontario Liquor Control Board (LCBO)
* "Lick-n-Blow" — Slang for the Ontario Liquor Control Board (LCBO)
* Loonie — Canadian one dollar coin
* Lord Stanley — slang reference to the Stanley Cup, awarded annually to the champion team of the National Hockey League.
* Low Blows — Loblaws grocery stores
* Make Me Laughs — Derogatory term for the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team
* May 2–4 — the Victoria Day holiday which takes place on the third Monday in May, on or around May 24. It also refers to the entire three day holiday weekend, which is Canada's "unofficial" start of the summer season, when many open cottages after the winter. (Note that the term May two-four may be used to refer to this weekend even if the holiday falls as early as May 17.) The name is a conscious pun on the date and the case of beer which is traditionally drunk on this holiday. (Ontario).
* Maylong — see above; contraction of "May long weekend".
* mickey — a small (13 oz.) bottle of liquor, shaped to fit in a pocket. Also fits conveniently alongside the calf of a cowboy boot or rubber boot.
* militants — activists, adapted from Quebec French, especially by English-speaking Quebeckers.
* Molson Muscle — A beer belly named after the popular beer.
* Mountie (also Mounty) — a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
* Moving Day derogative term used in Quebec for Canada Day (July 1st) - since most apartment leases in Quebec traditionally expire on this day, Quebeckers use the national holiday as their chosen date for changing apartments. Referring to this day as 'Moving Day' is a snub at the 'Rest of Canada' by nationalist Qubeckers
* N-Dipper — A member of the New Democratic Party.
* Newfie, Newf — a person from Newfoundland; often considered derogatory if used by someone other than a Newfoundlander.
* Nish — racist slang for a person of First Nations ethnicity (from Anishinabe, the Ojibwa word for "Ojibwa")
* "Nob" — Similar to Hoser.
* Pepper — Word used to describe French/Francophone Canadians
* pogey — Social Assistance, Welfare (Especially in Newfoundland.) Employment insurance.
* prolly — A substitution for the word probably. ("Prolly going for a bike ride.") (Especially in southwestern British Columbia.)
* Puck Bunny — A young girl who pursues hockey players; a groupie of hockey players.
* R.C. — a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ("I was pulled over by the R.C.'s.")
* Red Neck or Redneck — derogatory term used in referece to people in the prairie region of Western Canada.
* Rink Rat— Term used to describe people who work at a hockey rink and maintain the building/ice surface
* Rippers — term for strippers or exotic dancers. Derived from the fact they rip their clothes off (eventually). They perform in Ripper Bars.
* Runners — term for running shoes or 'sneakers'
* Sasquatch — a Saskatchewan driver in Alberta, or an Albertan teen with Saskatchewan license plates. Also, a creature similar to Bigfoot or Yeti.
* Scare Canada — a derogatory term used with regards to national air carrier Air Canada
* Screech — a particularly potent brand of Newfoundland rum
* Senaturds — a derogatory term used to describe the Ottawa Senators hockey team.
* "take off" — expression of disagreement or command to leave, similar to "get lost" ("Take off, you hoser!").
* Sixty-Sixer — A term for a sixty-two ounce (1.75 L) bottle of liquor (from the old 1/2 U.S. gallon size, 66.6 imp fl oz)
* Skid — Derogatory term for someone who wears an 80s metal t-shirt, jean jacket, dirty/acid-washed jeans, a mullet, drives a trans-am, and/or lives in a trailer park.
* Skookum — A term used primarily, but not exclusively in British Columbia and Yukon Territory, from a Chinuk word meaning "strong, powerful, good, cool, superlative or first rate" but also currently used to indicate "very good". (Skookum party last night, eh?)
* Sloblaws — Loblaws grocery stores
* Smog dog — hotdog from a Toronto street vendor (also called Street dog and Street meat)
* Snowbirds — a reference to people, often senior citizens, who leave Canada during the winter months to reside in southern states of the U.S. (particularly Florida.)
* spores — Magic Mushrooms
* Sp'ed — A person who is in need of Special Needs Services, derived from the now disused term "special education". (read: mentally deficient).
* Spudhead — a person from Prince Edward Island, in reference to the province's abundance of potato farming
* Square Head/English Muffin — Words used to describe English/Anglo Canadians, the former in French is "Tête Carré". "English Muffin" is often heard in New Brunswick schoolyards with its counterpart, "French Fry".
* Square of Beer — term used to describe a case of 24 bottles, as it resembles a square (used by Bob & Doug McKenzie in Strange Brew)
* Stupidstore — The Real Canadian Superstore (known as Atlantic Superstore in the Atlantic Provinces)
* Swish — Homemade low-quality liquor.
* Swiss Pigeon — nickname for Swiss Chalet chicken restaurant
* Telecaster — Term used in Nova Scotia to refer to a newspaper TV listings publication
* Texas Mickey — A 3 litre or larger bottle of liquor, despite the Texas reference, this is a purely Canadian term.
* Townie — 1: Someone living in an urban area. Mostly used in Newfoundland; 2: Synonym for "a local", often heard in small university towns in reference to the students who are actually from the town. Also common in New England to refer to someone who has lived in a given town all of his or her life.
* Tim's, Timmy's, Timmy Ho's, Timmy Ho-Ho's — Tim Hortons doughnut chain; female employees of same are sometimes (affectionately) known as "TimTarts".
* Tipper — A 3.75 litre bottle of liquor, sold with a metal frame used to support the bottle when pouring.
* Toonie — Canadian two-dollar coin
* Tory — a member of the Conservative Party of Canada; previously used to refer to one of its predecessors, the Progressive Conservatives
* Tuque — A knit winter hat sometimes with a ball of wool or a tassel on it.
* twofer, two-four — a case of 24 beers (see 2-4)
* Ukrainian Tire — a nasty racist slur against Canadian Tire and Ukrainians of Canadian Descent. However, most Ukrainian-Canadians will not take offence, and will actually grin when you refer to the store as such.
* Vico — a small carton of chocolate milk (Saskatchewan)
* Vomit Comet — The first Yonge St. bus going northbound after the subways in Toronto close down for the night and people start to filter out of downtown bars and clubs.
* Way too — Superlative ("That was way too funny"; "It's way too hot out today"). Common in Ontario's Niagara Peninsula.
* Welly-Mart — Wal-Mart "welly" is a derogatory term for welfare recipients, who are often seen at discount stores such as Wal-Mart.
* Wenis — A stupid or intolerable person. Example: "Pewterspoon is such a wenis."
* Zellers — cheap (from the name of a chain of discount stores); is derogatory.

Canadian slang words or phrases for specific places or residents of specific places

* The 416 — Toronto, Ontario, the specific area covered by the 416/647 telephone area codes
* 519er — Someone from the rural areas of Southwestern Ontario that is served by the 519 area code. A nicer way of calling someone a backward country bumpkin
* 7 — Toronto, Ontario, refers to Highway 7 in York Region, often used e.g. "7 and Woodbine"
* The 905 — Toronto, Ontario, the nearby suburbs covered by the 905/289 telephone area codes
* The Ambassador — in Windsor, Ontario, refers to the Ambassador Bridge which links Windsor, Ontario in Canada with Detroit, Michigan in the United States.
* B.G. — Bright's Grove, Ontario
* The Bend, le Coude — the City of Moncton, New Brunswick
* The Big Smoke — the City of Toronto
* Blahttawa — Derogatory name for Canada's Capital (Ottawa), referring to the perceived lack of club scene, lack of culture, and boring postcard-esque perfection.
* Bluenoser — a term for a resident of Nova Scotia
* Bogtrotter — a term for a resident of New Brunswick, also a term used by Newfoundlanders for inhabitants of the other Atlantic Provinces.
* Bramladesh — Brampton, Ontario, Referring to the amount of people of south asian decent.
* The Bridge City — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, referring to the bridges across the South Saskatchewan River that link the east and west sides of the city
* Bumfuck nowhere, Buttfuck nowhere — mostly used in Ontario, refers to rural areas, most often remote villages or hamlets that are far from urban areas and often perceived as boring.
* ByTown — Ottawa, Ontario (Bytown is the former name of the capital of Canada)
* CCR — Canada's Capital Region. It includes both Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Québec
* Canuck — Canadian
* Caper — Someone from Cape Breton (Nova Scotia)
* The Chuck — Edmonton, Alberta
* The Coke — Very local slang for Etobicoke, Ontario, a municipality that is now part of Toronto. The "k" is silent in the pronunciation of Etobicoke.
* Cowtown — Calgary, Alberta
* Deadmonton — negative reference to Edmonton, Alberta
* Dead Rear — Red Deer, Alberta
* Ditchmond — Richmond, British Columbia
* Don Valley Parking Lot — Toronto, Ontario, refers to the constant traffic jams on the Don Valley Parkway into downtown Toronto.
* downhomer — a person from Newfoundland; sometimes refers to a person from any part of Atlantic_Canada.
* Drum — Drumheller, Alberta
* EOA — acronym for East Of Adelaide, Adelaide being a street which (at least metaphorically) divides London, Ontario in two, with the east side being historically viewed as the proverbial "wrong side of the tracks".
* Edmonchuk — A name for Edmonton, Alberta, referring to the large Ukrainian population.
* Edmonotone — negative reference to Edmonton, Alberta
* E-town — Edmonton, Alberta also Esquimalt (for example, E-Town boys)
* The Fax — An amiable name for Halifax, Nova Scotia's capital.
* The Gap — Saskatchewan - referring to the flat prairie that makes up most of southern Saskatchewan. Also that the shape of the province is basically a rectangle and looks like a "gap" on a map. As in, "That Gap between Manitoba and Alberta.
* GOR — frequently used acronym for 'Greater Ottawa Region'. Generally restricted to Ontario, but sometimes includes Gatineau, Québec and surrounding area.
* G-spot — A name for Guelph, Ontario
* GTA — frequently used acronym for 'Greater Toronto Area'
* Hali — Halifax, Nova Scotia
* The Hammer — the City of Hamilton, Ontario
* Happy Rock — Gladstone, Manitoba
* The Hat — Medicine Hat, Alberta
* Heroin Mills — a nickname (in jest) of the suburb of Erin Mills in Mississauga, Ontario.
* Herring Choker — alternately any resident of the maritimes (though most often in reference to a New Brunswicker), or a fisherman in the Great Lakes region (usually of Scandinavian descent).
* Highway 10 — Hurontario Road in Mississauga, Ontario, often used by people who knew it as Highway 10 before it was downloaded to the city.
* The Hill — Richmond Hill, Ontario
* Hogtown — the City of Toronto
* Hollywood North — the City of Vancouver, refers to the high number of American films shot there.
* Hongcouver — derogitory term for the City of Vancouver, refering to the high number of chinese immigrants.
* The Hub — in the city of Kingston, Ontario, refers to the intersection of Princess and Division Sts. where a large confluence of bars is found
* The Hub City — the city of Moncton, New Brunswick, the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
* The Kap — Kapuskasing, Ontario
* K-Country — Kananaskis, Alberta
* KW or Kdub — Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario
* Ktown — Kingston, Ontario
* L.A. — Lethbridge, Alberta
* Lethbian — Citizen of Lethbridge, Alberta
* Lotus Land — British Columbia, especially the Lower Mainland around Vancouver
* Mainland — 1: All of British Columbia except the islands; 2: Used in Cape Breton to refer to the rest of Nova Scotia.
* Mainlander — Used by Newfoundlanders to refer to a person from mainland Canada; often used in the derogatory.
* Manisnowba — Manitoba, referring to the harsh winters with a large average snowfall (see also Winterpeg)
* The MF — Short for Maryfield, Saskatchewan, a little place in the south east part of the province.
* Miseryauga — derogatory term used to describe Mississauga, Ontario
* Monkeytown — Moncton, New Brunswick
* The Mountain — term used to describe the Niagara escarpment that runs along Hamilton, ON. Most decidedly NOT a mountain.
* Mudson — somewhat derogatory but lovingly local name for Edson, Alberta, based on it's marshy underpinnings and substandard paving.
* Newfie, Newf — a person from Newfoundland; often considered derogatory if used by someone other than a Newfoundlander.
* O-Town — Ottawa, Ontario, to some, Oakville, Ontario
* Onterrible — Derogatory Atlantic Canadian slang for Ontario.
* The Peg — Winnipeg, Manitoba
* Peg City — Winnipeg, Manitoba
* the Peterpatch — Peterborough, Ontario
* Pig's Gorge — Prince George, British Columbia, for the sulfide odour from the digestion of pulp that fills the natural bowl like valley the city is located in.
* Redmonton — derogatory name for Edmonton, Alberta, referring to its left-leaning politics relative to the rest of the province.
* River City — Winnipeg, Manitoba
* R.O.C. — "Rest of Canada", often used by Quebecois in conversations with anglophones. (e.g. "This happens only in Quebec and not in the R.O.C.")
* The Rock — Newfoundland (also used for Vancouver Island on the west coast)
* Saskabush — Saskatchewan or in some circles, Saskatoon
* SARSborough — Scarborough, a nickname for the Toronto suburb following the SARS incident.
* 'Sauga — Mississauga, Ontario
* Scarcity — Nickname for Scarborough, used in offence to the Amalgamation of Toronto, North York, and Etobicoke.
* Scarbage — Yet another derogatory name for Scarborough.
* Scarberia — Scarborough, a suburban part of Toronto, a derogatory reference to its desolation
* Scarblackistan — Another name for Scarborough.
* Scar Lanka — Another name for Scarborough.
* Scarlem — Alternative name for Scarborough (refers to Harlem), a derogatory reference to its somewhat high crime rate.
* Scompton — Alternative name for Scarborough (refers to Compton, Los Angeles, California), a derogatory reference to its somewhat high crime rate.
* The Shwa — Oshawa, Ontario
* Singhdale — Reffering to the sub-division in Brampton, Ontario, Referring to the amount of people of south asian decent.
* The Smoke — Toronto
* Speedy Creek — Swift Current, Saskatchewan
* Spudhead — a person from Prince Edward Island, in reference to the province's abundance of potato farming
* Steeltown — the city of Hamilton, Ontario
* S'toon — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
* Stubblejumper — a resident of the prairies.
* The Soo, The Sault — Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
* Tijuana North — Windsor, Ontario, in reference to its reputation for attracting 19 and 20-year old American youth to its numerous bars, pubs and novelty clubs.
* T. O. — Toronto
* Tobacco Belt — refers to the large confluence of tobacco farms in Southwestern Ontario, often around the Tillsonburg area.
* the T-dot — Toronto (from T. O.), adapted in slang for almost any city or town (eg. Ottawa becomes "the O-dot", London "L-dot", Sarnia "S-dot")
* Tundra Bay, T-Bay — Thunder Bay, Ontario
* The Tunnel — in Windsor, Ontario, refers to the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel which links Windsor, Ontario in Canada with Detroit, Michigan in the United States.
* Toon Town, The Toon — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
* Turkeytown — Derogatory East Coast term for Toronto
* Upper-Canadian — A name (usually derogatory) for a person from Southern Ontario referring to the old (pre-1840) name for the province. Usually used by Atlantic Canadians.
* The Valley — Refering to Chemical Valley in Sarnia, Ontario.
* Van (Van-City) — Vancouver. More commonly seen with the regions or suburbs of Vancouver, e.g., East Vancouver, North Van, West Van.
* Vic — Victoria
* Wally-World — [Western Provinces], a common nickname for Wal-Mart
* Winterpeg — Winnipeg, referring to that city's harsh winters ("We're goin' to Winterpeg, Manisnowba!")

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_slang

More Canadian, eh?

all dressed (of pizza or Harvey's burgers)
with all the toppings.

arborite
apparently, few others use this generally to refer to the laminated composite woodlike building material often found in cheap tables and counters.

baby bonus
have a child, get money from the government. This used to be universal.

bird course
at least in this part of the U.S., easy college/undergrad courses are called guts. Incidentally, speaking of undergrads, calling students in four-year programs freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors seems not to have caught on in Canada. Rather, they are referred to as first-year students, second-year students, etc. "Frosh" is used occasionally.

Canadian Tire money
a fine item associated with one of the greatest store concepts ever. Paul paid part of his term bill with it back in Windsor.

chesterfield
a couch

corollary
it seems that Americans like to make this word sound like "coronary" whereas most Canadians put the emphasis on the second syllable.

Deke
a hockey term for faking out an opponent

"dick all"
nothing

eavestrough
gutters are on the ground, not on roofs.

foyer
when Americans pronounce it, it makes us think something's burning in the vestibule. Maybe we just associate with the wrong Americans.

garburator
a great name for a kitchen sink garbage disposal. Some claim that this was once or may still be a trade name. We do not know. We have also seen it spelled "garburetor".

Girl Guides
the Americans call them Scouts, just like the boys. They get confused by the expression "Girl Guides" the same way they do when we talk about Social Insurance Numbers.

housecoat
basically a bath robe

hydro
originally short for "hydro-electric power". Now synonymous with electricity (produced by any method), as in "Get the lantern; the hydro's out again."

idiot string
a thingy string that holds your mittens together

Javex
generally, bleach, in the same way that all facial tissues are called Kleenex, or all antimotion sickness drugs are referred to generically in Canada as Gravol.

keener
a brown nose, or teacher's pet

khaki
Canadians pronounce this as "car key". Apparently the genesis of this pronunciation was any of various wars fought alongside Great Britain. Canadian soldiers heard the word from the Brits and just assumed that there had to be an "r", just like there is in "dark" or "park". This also explains why cork boots have no cork, but are caulked.

Kraft Dinner
the best dinner ever: macaroni and cheese

March break
every school seems to have a week-long break some time around March or April. Study week? Slack week? March break.

Mr. Dressup
hey, this is how kid's TV should be, plus the Friendly Giant. Americans, who are weaned on the hyperactive Sesame Street, tell me that they find the name of this show odd. Incidentally, people are urged to check out the "Exclusive Interview with Mr. Dressup" track on Radio Free Vestibule's album, Sketches Songs and Shoes. [Note: they now go by the name "The Vestibules", apparently the better to appeal to American audiences.]

Parkade
we couldn't believe they had never heard of this: a parking garage

pogey
the dole, or UI.

poutine
in Europe, the French are known for their fine cuisine. Québec is known for poutine, which makes a fine French Canadian meal when served with Pepsi. Poutine is comprised of french fries, preferably fried in lard; a particular sort of gravy; and cheese.

seat sale
a ticket or fare sale (usually for a plane or a bus, but occasionally for an event).

separate schools
parochial schools. Often they get public funding in Canada.

serviette
napkin

shit disturber
a reasonable definition would be an instigator, particularly one who for no good reason turns stones better left unturned. According to "The World This Weekend" of Saturday June 13, 1998, from the CBC, in which was discussed the latest Canadian Oxford Dictionary, this is indeed a Canadianism. A search of the web provided confirmation (the show also claimed that dish soap was a Canadianism, although there is evidence of its general use in much of the Northern United States).

Smarties
the Yankees think these are just the little sugar pills given out on Hallowe'en. Of course, they're essentially M&M's without the 'M' but with a little more wax in the shell. Coffee Crisp bars make a nice light snack but don't get their own entry here since the Americans don't confuse them with another product. Shreddies are yet another Nestle product that doesn't seem to have made it to the States.


snarky
the meaning is “somewhere in the marriage between sarcastic and offensive”, as delightfully defined by Jonathan Sheff. There's an element of irritability in there as well. Although this word is not strictly Canadian, Americans tend not to have heard it.

tobaggan
sled

toonie
the Canadian two dollar coin (aka "the Queen with a bear behind"). The name stems from loonie, the Canadian one dollar coin, which has a loon on the back. We always thought the old dollar coins with the voyageur looked better. The spelling has apparently stabilized without the "w", although for a while the most common spelling was "twoonie".

tuque
far more specific than the American "knit hat", although you still have to specify if there's a pom-pom or not. [If you disagree with our spelling of tuque, and think it should be touque, toque, or some variant, please find a dictionary that agrees with you and disagrees with us before you send me e-mail. Also, be prepared to explain why LaTuque, P.Q. is spelled the way it is. Thank you. --Eds.]

two-four
a case of 24 beers. Those of you from Ontario should be thinking of the sound as one makes its way down the rollers before bursting into sight at the Beer Store, eh.

washroom
a bathroom for the civilized.

Whiskey-Jack
the gray jay, Perisoreus canadensis.

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~hgscc/glossary.html

exactly DonQui... the stereotypical "southern united states" accent may have actually been at first the true British accent, since the settlers in the Southern United states were an isolated group, disconnected from the changes happening in Great Britian.


But there are even more isolated British colonial islands in the Pacific who retain the 18th and 19th century British accents, and they're more similar to present day england than the southern states!

Hoodie is used only in Ontario? I kind of find that hard to believe.

^I say hoodie. It's funny though, neither my mom or stepdad knows what it is either. I think it's a "young" term.

Yeah. I say hoodie too.

Wow, Scarborough sure has a colourful reputation in Canada...

* SARSborough — Scarborough, a nickname for the Toronto suburb following the SARS incident.
* Scarcity — Nickname for Scarborough, used in offence to the Amalgamation of Toronto, North York, and Etobicoke.
* Scarbage — Yet another derogatory name for Scarborough.
* Scarberia — Scarborough, a suburban part of Toronto, a derogatory reference to its desolation
* Scarblackistan — Another name for Scarborough.
* Scar Lanka — Another name for Scarborough.
* Scarlem — Alternative name for Scarborough (refers to Harlem), a derogatory reference to its somewhat high crime rate.

They forgot 'Asiancourt' though.

Ahaha, because agincourt and asiancourt...aha.

many linguists are hypothesizing that the accent from the southern united states (louisiana, south carolina, missisipi, etc) is actually the true "british accent", since when the puritans (pilgrims) were kicked out of Britain they travelled down there and set up colonies.
I can't hear it. IMO it's more the opposite of the British accent.

A summary of my accent from Wikipedia:



The Cape Breton accent describes variants of Canadian English spoken on Cape Breton Island, a small island off the north-eastern coast of the province of Nova Scotia in Canada. Most of the inhabitants of European ancestry descend from people long resident on the island, and the community has had time to develop a local dialect. Much of the population is descended from Highland Scottish settlers fleeing the Highland Clearances. But there has long been a French-Acadian element on the island, as well as Irish, Italian and Eastern European influences.

The accents can be divided into three categories: the Western or Gaelic accent (Judique, Mabou, the Margarees), the Industrial accent (Sydney, Glace Bay) and the French acadian (Communities surrounding Cheticamp, L'Ardoise & Isle Madame).

Western Accent The primary influences on the accent are Scottish Gaelic and Scots. The rhythm of speech is generally quick-paced, with unstressed syllables often completely elided. Examples can be found with the speaking voices of some performance artists, ie/ the Rankins, Ashley MacIsaac & Natalie MacMaster. The Huey & Allen comedy duo are another example.

Some characteristics:

* the s sound can be overstressed, almost approaching a soft th sound.
* the a sound can be shortened- the name John Allen can be pronounced jun nallen.

Industrial Accent This speech is heavily influenced by Irish settlers and is often the accent referred to as the Cape Breton accent. This accent has been popularized in by comedians coming out of the Rise and Follies theatre/recording series and Mary Morrison.

Some characteristics:

* the long a sound is often pronounced like the a sound in the word baa as in Baa, Baa, black sheep
* the oo can resemble a short u sound.
* the d and t sounds can be dropped from some words where they appear in the middle, ie/ metal sounds like me el, bottle like baa el. The t sound is even dropped from the Breton portion of Cape Breton.

French Acadian- not qualified to talk about this, but I do know that there are some preservations of older French expressions. Around Isle Madame, du lait (milk) is pronounced du lah unlike the standard French prounounciation of du lay.


Cape Breton also has some idiosyncratic expressions. One feature of Cape Breton dialect is common use of the term "boy", but is given the spelling "b'y" and pronounced "bye" as in 'good-bye', to address a person to whom one is speaking in lieu of use of the person's name or a more common term such as 'sir', 'mame','man','my son' or 'mate', originally when the addressee is male but now is used to refere to both genders. A plural form "b'ys" is used to address numerous people. The terms can also be used to refer to a person or people not being addressed. This feature of Cape Breton vernacular is also characteristic of Newfoundland English.

* I can usually tell what part of the CBRM/Sydney Metro area someone is from by their accent *

* Crappy Tire or Ukrainian Tire— Canadian Tire
Waaaaaaaaaa? :eek2: I thought that some Ukrainian thought of it put it up on tshirts haha i didn't think people actually used it. :?

Hoodie is used only in Ontario? I kind of find that hard to believe.

It's used in Saskatchewan too, older generations don't use the term Hoodie though.... and it's more commonly called either a Kangaroo or a Bunny Hug.

It's used in Saskatchewan too, older generations don't use the term Hoodie though.... and it's more commonly called either a Kangaroo or a Bunny Hug.
*shudders..* oh gawd. can't imagine hearing that from my mom. :runaway:

yeah what the hell. kangaroo or bunny hug???

I don't know how or when it was put into use, but yes in Saskatchewan we use both those words :)... I wonder if anyone in Alberta or Manitoba uses/has heard the terms.

LOL! a bunnyhug!!!

I don't know how or when it was put into use, but yes in Saskatchewan we use both those words :)... I wonder if anyone in Alberta or Manitoba uses/has heard the terms.

I've never heard those terms in Alberta. Hoodie is the most common. Most parents will know what a hoodie is as well. My grandparents... after a few hand gestures I might get "ohhhhh! Hoodie, ok yeah..."

BTW JARdan, do you have MSN?
But just remember, you're not human if you don't!
Yeah man. Did you want my e-mail?

They..... they don't have shreddies in America?.....

no wonder they're so fucked up... :(

(just kidding)

Do We Speak Canadian?
eh?



:D

You will NEVER hear an American say:

"My daughter's at university" or "My son's in university" or "My years in university were the best of my life."

"I have a cold but I still want to write this exam."

"I have a cold and can't sit for this exam."

"I'll be away on course this week."

...among other aspects of academic-related terminologies.

Americans are "in college," "away at college," and reminisce about their "college" years. It does not matter if they attended a huge university or a tiny liberal arts college.

Americans TAKE exams, they don't "write" or "sit for" exams.

Americans "attend training seminars," they're never "on course."

This is less about phrases or words, and more about pronunciation:
When I was in Vancouver recently, I began noticing people pronouncing "20" much more precisely than we do in the states. Here people mostly say "Tweh-ny," or even "Twuh-ny," depending on where you are. It seemed everyone in Vancouver said, "Twen-ty," making sure to pronounce the second "t" explosively, where as Americans tend to gloss over it.

Also, Americans, especially in the midwest and south, tend to blur the line between the long "eh" vowel, as in "egg" and the "ih" vowel, as in "pick." For instance, many people pronounce the number 10 as "tin," or the utensil with which you write is often pronounced "pin," as opposed to "pehn." But I guess that's just because we're mostly lazy as fuck down here. :-)

You will NEVER hear an American say:
"I'll be away on course this week."

Americans "attend training seminars," they're never "on course."
I would never say "away on course" nor has anyone I know, that I can remember.

There's no question about accent. People had a hard time understanding me when I was in the south, but I think it was the fact that I was speaking quickly and southerners have a tendency to speak slowly.


The only people I know who pronounce the second "t" in twenty are primary school teachers. Torontonians are infamous for not pronouncing the second "t" of their city's name. You always know someone's from out of town when they pronounce the second t.

Yeah man. Did you want my e-mail?

sure! :cheers:

Another interesting one is that Canadians consider going on vacation a holiday, while it's strictly vacation for Americans.

I would never say "away on course" nor has anyone I know, that I can remember.

Maybe not in NB?

I have. I head in for the short time I worked on Bay Street all the time ("our HR manager's on course so I'm taking here messages," "I'll be on course for an SPSS training seminar," etc etc etc)

Smarties
the Yankees think these are just the little sugar pills given out on Hallowe'en. Of course, they're essentially M&M's without the 'M' but with a little more wax in the shell.

Smarties are awesome! In fact I was planning a trip across the border this weekend just to go to Bulk Barn to get a whole load of them. That ought to keep Customs guessing lol.

As for the "pop" thing, it's definitely a regional thing in a North American scope....not a Canadian/American thing. Here's a map of the breakdown on how people refer to soft drinks in the U.S.:
http://pharyngula.org/images/soft_drink_names_lg.gif

I had no idea "pop" was so widespread throughout the US. I had always heard it was just Western NY and parts of California (which incidentally shows no blue). When I moved to New England I just started calling it "Coke" to appease the locals, since "Soda" is wrong as it is Na2O2 (disodium dioxide), and not a soft drink. But now that I'm back in WNY, I just might start using it more freely again! It's interesting to see how it divides along state lines, and even some of the dramatic splits, such as in NY, or around St. Louis.

^Regarding the map. Very interesting. I noticed in the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" (which was shitacular, by the way) that the guy said "Pop machine" not the usual "Soda machine." Anyway, I quickly picked up on that line. I think the movie was "set" in Idaho, which appears to correspond to the map.

Its called a hoodie in Vancouver, too.
It's used in Saskatchewan too, older generations don't use the term Hoodie though.... and it's more commonly called either a Kangaroo or a Bunny Hug.
I only know 3 people in Saskatchewan and they all call a hoodie a "bunny hug." I thought they were weird!

Hahaha, soda.

is non black speaking ebonics a problem in Canada?

British - Canadian - American

accumulator - battery - battery
aerial (TV) - aerial - antenna
almost - almost - almost, most
American football - (American/Canadian) football, NFL, CFL - football, NFL
arse - ass, arse (Nfld) - ass
attack (game) - offence, offense - offense
aubergine - eggplant - eggplant
barber’s - barbershop - barbershop
barman - bartender, beer slinger, slinger - bartender, slinger
bill (restaurant) - bill, check - check
biscuit, bickie (sl) - cookie - cookie
bitter - dark beer - dark beer
chips - French fries/chips - French fries
cooker - stove - stove, range
cotton - thread - thread
creche, day care, nursery - day care - day nursery, day care
crisps - (potato) chips - (potato) chips
dd/mm/yy (date) - dd/mm/yy, mm/dd/yy - mm/dd/yy
doner kebab - donair, gyro - donair, gyro
driving licence - driver's licence - driver's licence
Eh? - Eh? - Huh?
electricity (at home), lecky - hydro - electricity
engaged (phone) - busy - busy
engine - engine - motor, engine
extra time (game) - overtime - overtime
football, soccer, togger - soccer - soccer
garden - yard - yard
gear box - transmission - transmission
Gents - Men’s Room - Men’s Room
give way (street sign) - yield - yield
hand brake - parking brake, emergency brake - parking brake, emergency brake
hardware - hardware - housewares
ice hockey - hockey, NHL - ice hockey, hockey, NHL
jersey, pullover, jumper, sweater - sweater - sweater
Labour Party - Liberal Party - Democratic Party
letterbox - mailbox, mail slot - mailbox, mail slot
level crossing - railway crossing, level crossing - railroad crossing, grade crossing
lift - elevator - elevator
little finger - pinkie - pinkie
motorway - highway, freeway, autoroute - freeway, expressway, highway, interstate
old age pension - old age security - social security check
overtake (a car) - pass - pass
paper knife - letter opener - letter opener
parliament - parliament - congress
pavement - sidewalk - sidewalk, pavement (unusual)
pedestrian crossing - crosswalk - crosswalk
petrol - gas, gasoline - gas, gasoline
photocopier - Xerox machine, photocopier - Xerox machine, photocopier
postbag - mailbag - mailbag
postcode - postal code - zip code
postman - mailman, letter carrier - mailman, letter carrier
potty - crazy - crazy
railway - railway - railroad
reverse (car) - back up - back up
Remembrance Day, Poppy Day - Remembrance Day, Poppy Day - Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day
Royal Mail - Canada Post - Postal Service
semi-skimmed (milk) - 1%, 2% - 1%, 2%
senior (officer) - ranking - ranking
serviette, napkin - napkin, serviette - napkin, table napkin
single (ticket) - one-way (ticket) - one-way
skimmed milk - skim milk - skim milk
sleeping car (train) - sleeping car, Pullman - Pullman
soya bean - soybean - soybean
spirits - spirits, liquor - liquor
summer holidays (from school) - summer break - summer break
summer time - daylight saving time - daylight saving time
swear word - swear word - cuss word, curse word
sweets - candy - candy
term - semester - semester
Time: quarter past five - quarter after five - quarter after five
tippex - whiteout - whiteout
tissue - Kleenex - Kleenex
Toronto - Toronto, T.O., Hogtown - Toronto
tram - streetcar, trolley - streetcar, trolley
umbrella, brolly - umbrella - umbrella, bumbershoot (Midwest)
Year One, Year Two (school) - Grade One, Grade Two - First Grade, Second Grade
You're welcome - You're welcome - You're welcome, uh-huh (informal)

http://homepage.mac.com/bibliophiles/graphics/slide5.gif


http://www.acoustics.org/press/141st/neweng.jpg
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Where's He From? Perception of American English Regional Dialects

Cynthia G. Clopper - cclopper@indiana.edu
David B. Pisoni
Speech Research Laboratory
Psychology Department
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405
(812) 855 4893

Popular version of paper 1aSC10
Presented Monday morning, June 4, 2001
141st ASA Meeting, Chicago, IL

Human speech is highly variable, despite the apparent ease with which we can understand those around us. In addition to providing a means of communication of ideas through words, speech also provides us with detailed information about the speaker, such as his or her gender, emotional state, age, and dialect. Variation due to these so-called "indexical" properties of the speaker has only begun to be studied systematically in the last few years. Understanding how variation is used in human speech perception is of fundamental importance to speech recognition, natural-sounding speech synthesis, and cognitive models of speech perception. The present investigation was designed to learn about how much people know about dialect variation in their native language. We wanted to know if naive listeners can identify where an unknown speaker is from with any degree of accuracy. Results from this study provide insight into what information about a talker's dialect is processed and stored in memory during normal speech perception.

A group of eighteen Indiana University undergraduates was asked to listen to sentences spoken by sixty-six white, male talkers in their twenties. Eleven speakers came from each of six dialect regions in the United States: New England, North, North Midland, South Midland, South, and West. After hearing each sentence, the listeners were asked to select the geographical region that they thought each talker was from.

To hear a sample sentence from any of the regions, just click on the map corresponding to that region. The sentences were taken from the TIMIT Acoustic-Phonetic Continuous Speech Corpus, which is available from the Linguistics Data Consortium.

The two sentences used in this study were:

(1) She had your dark suit in greasy wash water all year.
(2) Don't ask me to carry an oily rag like that.

Overall performance on the task by the undergraduates was quite poor. Across the two different sentence conditions, accuracy was only 30 percent correct. However, analyses of the confusion matrices for the six regions revealed that the perceptual errors made by the listeners were quite systematic. Specifically, our listeners were able to reliably identify the talkers using broader perceptual categories than those used in this study. The broader categories and the regions they include are shown in Table 1. When performance was measured using these categories, accuracy for the two sentences improved to 60 percent correct. It appears that listeners are sensitive to certain phonetic and phonological properties of speech that provide useful information about where talkers are from.

Category Regions
North New England, North
South South, South Midland
West North Midland, West

Table 1. Broad dialect categories.

Acoustic analyses were also carried out on the speech samples themselves to identify and measure the dialect differences for the talkers used in this study. Results of the analyses revealed that the dialects did differ from one another on several acoustic-phonetic measures. For example, r-lessness, as in "dak" for "dark," was a characteristic feature of the New England talkers. Click here to listen to a New England talker (http://www.acoustics.org/press/141st/neweng.wav). On the other hand, saying "greazy" for "greasy" was a characteristic feature of the Southern talkers. Click here to listen to a Southern talker (http://www.acoustics.org/press/141st/south.wav)

Correlations were then computed between the results of the categorization task and the acoustic analysis measures. The pattern of results suggested that listeners were in many cases relying on the characteristic features of the dialects when selecting where the talkers were from, again providing evidence that listeners are sensitive to dialect variation in speech. When we listen to speech, we not only pay attention to the words and the meanings those words convey, but we can also perceive, encode, and use indexical information in the speech signal to learn more about specific properties of the talker.

Usually people in say Georgia (even in Atlanta) or some rural state in the SE would have a hard time understanding me sometimes. However, when I'm in Florida or Texas, many don't seem to have that thick southern accent.

A lot of these are generalizations (generalisations), but definitely, there are a lot more similarities between Canadian and American vocabulary and pronounciation than with British. However, having said that, I would say a New Englander sounds more like a Maritimer than a Texan. BTW, I've never said Car Park, or heard anyone say that in my decade in Toronto. It's a term that might be written, but rarely said.

^Of those clips the ones closest to how people talk in Saskatchewan are the north midland and west... although still they are slightly different.

The New England accent (I am thinking in terms of Boston) is VERY different from the New Yorker accent. "-ar" sounds like it is pronounced by a group of Australians that colonized Boston.

In New England, park the car = pahhk the cahh.

*shudders*

This is what you here on the clip. NO ONE in New York says that.

I think that whatever transition is between North Midland and South Midland is what could be termed "standard North American English," as elements of both are common in national telecasts in the States, and from what I have seen of Canadian broadcasts, there too.

definately not south midland... the rs are too harsh. I've never heard pronunciations close to that in Canadian television. North Midland is MUCH closer, but still varies slightly.

http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=find&language=english

You can hear a bunch of people from different places saying the same paragraph. It's pretty cool. :)

The weird thing is I've heard more Americans and Brits say "eh" than Canadians. Is it more of an Ontario thing?

^^ The only times I've heard it used is when we use it to mock Americans. ;)

I say eh quite a bit.
I have heard brits and americans say it a lot too though.

Though most people don't say "eh", I've certainly met a number that say "eh" so much - like every sentence - that it has to bring the Canadian average above other countries'.

I speak with a combination of North Midland and Inland North.

I have heard more people say "eh" in London than in Ontario.

the "North" and "North Midland" accent doesn't seem too "different" from what I normally hear.

Where I used to work, some of us would go out of our way to say 'eh' whenever we saw an American (yes, you can usually pick them out of the crowd. It's pretty obvious. One only needs to start a conversation to confirm this). It was especially funny when we had customers from the South, because we knew it totally threw them off. No doubt they spent the rest of their time up here wondering just how much of the population says 'eh'.

EDIT: And when I say "out of our way", I mean "in every other sentence."

you guys made that homo milk up. My canadian girlfriend didn't know anything about it

you guys made that homo milk up. My canadian girlfriend didn't know anything about it

Then she's not Canadian ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/gatodelcafe/pp-homo-milk.jpg

http://home.nyc.rr.com/okgreat/images/whistler%20homo%20milk.JPG

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: , she live right on the border. Maybe she gets hetero-milk from the U.S.

How can someone live here and not about homo milk??? I think that is very odd.

I was watching news from montreal yesterday and the reporter said " CAR PARK " , I cracked up , and someone else said , " what the hell is that ".

Generally speaking, the farther west you go in North America, the less difference there is between accents no matter what region or country you're in. It's the Atlantic coast that still maintains its distinct accents due to these parts of the continent being the "establishment" regions, from the Maritimes all the way to the Gulf Coast.

There's much more linguistic diversity in just one quadrant of England alone than there is in the entire English-speaking portion of North America.

How can someone live here and not about homo milk??? I think that is very odd.
she said it might be some they did in the maritime provinces since they speak a lot of different. She still claims no such thing as homo milk

she said it might be some they did in the maritime provinces since they speak a lot of different. She still claims no such thing as homo milk

Where by the border does your gf life?

^^ Saulte Ste. Marie, its in Ontario.

^^ Saulte Ste. Marie, its in Ontario.

Interesting that's just hours northwest of Toronto. What brand of milk does she drink? Natruel? Parmalat? Sealtest?

Parmalat and Lucerne are the big milk companies in Northern Ontario. I'm not exactly sure about the Sault, but i'd assume they'd use the same thing.

She might have just not gone over to the Canadian side. They don't really advertise homo milk do they? And if she did come to Canada, she probably wouldn't have noticed it.

In what's her name's defence, I'd never heard of homo milk either. It's just called homogenized here.

Parmalat and Lucerne are the big milk companies in Northern Ontario. I'm not exactly sure about the Sault, but i'd assume they'd use the same thing.

She might have just not gone over to the Canadian side. They don't really advertise homo milk do they? And if she did come to Canada, she probably wouldn't have noticed it.
she is one the canadian side

In what's her name's defence, I'd never heard of homo milk either. It's just called homogenized here.

Homo is just a shortening of the entire word homogenized. At least that's what I always thought.

It's true, in SE England, there are so many variations in accents that it makes all North Americans sound the same in comparison.

she is one the canadian side

... tell her to go to a corner store, and go to the milk fridge. They usually have it there. Or, even better, go to a grocery store. If that doesn't work, tell her to drive up to Thunder Bay. We have tons of it.

sorry, "tonnes" :|

Well, Canadian is certainly foreign to us Yanks down here. For instance, we don't understand words and phrases like, 'universal healthcare', 'gun control' and especially 'parkade'.

^^^ do you really say serviettes? I know i don't!

i do

I remember watching an interview with Michael J. Fox on being a Canadian actor in Hollywood and the voice training he had to undergo to get rid of his "Canadian" accent. One exercise involved him shifting his pronounciation of SORRY, which in Canadian has a strong O, while in American it sounds more like sari, an Indian dress, with a stronger, flatter A.

There was a CBC documentary on this subject that ran last sumer I believe. It was quite an interesting show, should've taped it. Among the differences between Canadian and American pronounciation is the intonation. Canadians tend to intone upwards at the end of our sentences, while Americans tend to intone downward. I've really noticed this when watching American news broadcasts and comparing them with Canadian newscasts. It also goes into explaining the shift in vowel pronounciation between us and them, hence the "oot and aboot" when we say "out and about". I've goten quite conscious about this at work as I deal with a lot of Americans and have wondered what I must sound like to them.

^^ If Americans make a big deal over THAT....then I'd might as well open up a new thread in the American section entitled "Do we really speak HICK?" and see how that goes

liquid paper and white out...

^^ Really... There is actually a DVD named "Talking Canadian" we watched it in Geography class, they say how we pronounce words differently.

We are the only country that uses the term "CHEESIES" for Cheese Puffs.

Thunder Bay is the only place on earth to describe Jelly filled doughnuts as "JAMBUSTERS"

And when we say "ABOUT" most Americans hear "ABOOT."

Also exlusive to Thunder Bay, is refering to Parties as Shags.

Pizza Hut's "shag line" is (807) 767.8848. Call that number, and they'll cater your shag!

I love bugging Americans about that.. :P

And "Jambusters" is a Winnipeg-Thunder Bay thing. Also, in Thunder Bay, if a cinnimon bun has strawberry or raspberry icing, it's refered to as a "Persian"

I’ve noticed in Vancouver what seems to be an increasing speech pattern among girls and young women: using a slightly high pitch, but with a hint of rasp. Words are said in quick bursts, around 10 at a time, ending things with a raised tone that makes every sentence seem like a question. Could this be an emerging Canadian accent?

I’ve noticed in Vancouver what seems to be an increasing speech pattern among girls and young women: using a slightly high pitch, but with a hint of rasp. Words are said in quick bursts, around 10 at a time, ending things with a raised tone that makes every sentence seem like a question. Could this be an emerging Canadian accent?
Perhaps a regional one; a west-coast accent.

I’ve noticed in Vancouver what seems to be an increasing speech pattern among girls and young women: using a slightly high pitch, but with a hint of rasp. Words are said in quick bursts, around 10 at a time, ending things with a raised tone that makes every sentence seem like a question. Could this be an emerging Canadian accent?

I think the ending rising tone must be a universal kid thing. My thirteen-year old son does it. Especially when he's with his girlfriend. It's cute to listen to.

I’ve noticed in Vancouver what seems to be an increasing speech pattern among girls and young women: using a slightly high pitch, but with a hint of rasp. Words are said in quick bursts, around 10 at a time, ending things with a raised tone that makes every sentence seem like a question. Could this be an emerging Canadian accent?
^^
I had mentioned this from that Talking Canadian doc, apparently it is a Canadian accent as most Americans (at least those immediately south of our border) speak with a downward intonation at the end of their sentences. Compare news broadcasts between local Canadian and American stations. You may be able to pick it up between national newscasters such as Newsworld or CTV and CNN, although I think they are probably trained to even out their intonation to account for regional variances within each target audience.

is non black speaking ebonics a problem in Canada?

It's not a problem... Canadian Ebonics and American Ebonics are COMPLETELY different.

An american ebonic talker, would never guess what a Canadian was sayin in this sentence.

"Yo, I was at town centre, and den me and my bredrins were sitting down eatting poutines, and dis waste G came up to me and chopped me."

They wouldn't have a clue hahaha.

Oh, you mean talking like this? I don't like it, do you? does it sound weird? haha just kidding. Actually, there's a CBC show called "Talking Canadian." According to these nice people, that way of talking is common among NorthAmerican kids. If I'm not wrong, they said it was not only Canadian.

It's not a problem... Canadian Ebonics and American Ebonics are COMPLETELY different.

An american ebonic talker, would never guess what a Canadian was sayin in this sentence.

"Yo, I was at town centre, and den me and my bredrins were sitting down eatting poutines, and dis waste G came up to me and chopped me."

They wouldn't have a clue hahaha.

You are right about that...street language is so unique up here...Americans street language is like

"YO dis ill ish is crazy son...I dun drank all mah burrrrrrrr" FA SHO FA SHO..

that one is more midwest...lol