A disclaimer to my loyal followers (this means you, Mom) -- the following post is my attempt to be funny, or at least solicit an eye roll or two. It is a complete deviation from my "normal" blog posts centered around technology, Macs and SMART Board use in the classroom.
You've been warned.
A bit of background before I begin: This blog post came about as a result of a "tweet" I put out on Twitter last week, that looked like this:
Honestly, I didn't think there was anything that particularly special about it, other than the fact that those who know me in Twitterverse, know that I sometimes slip on the whole "follow friday" phenomenon. I have good intentions, but often I skip a week or two of #ff recommendations -- hence, a FOURTH #ff list last week was particularly impressive (if I do say so myself!)
Then I received a DM [Direct Message for all you non-Twits] from a member of my PLN @ShaunJay who said something like "Haha I haven't heard the word 'keener' since I moved to the States years ago".
What?!? I was blown away. 'Keener' is a Canadian-ism? I had no idea...
And suddenly, this blog post was born. I'm taking it on as my mission to share the wonderful language that we speak in Canada. I have gone to the ends of the earth (or at least, the internet) to search out what vocabulary, items, products and sayings that our poor non-Canadian friends are missing out on. And guess what I found? It's so much more than adding a "u" to spellings and "eh" to the end of sentences.
So without further ado, American friends, prepare to be edumacated on Canadian-isms:
Words That I Knew Were A Token Canadian Saying:
1. Keener (might as well start with the word that launched this whole quest). Apparently, our word for "brown-noser"
2. Pop - soda
3. Timbits - a brand name of donut holes made by Tim Hortons
4. Double-double - another term coined by Tim Hortons that has made its way into everyday language. It's a coffee with 2 cream and 2 sugar.
5. Loonie - $1.00 coin (it has a loon on the front...I never said we were original)
6. Toonie - $2.00 coin. Again, not a unique term, other than "we" decided it was just like a loonie, but worth twice as much. Oh, and there's no loon on this one, but rather a polar bear. I guess "beary" was already taken in the English language.
7. Snowbird - a Canadian (usually retiree) who flees to the southern US for winter...to escape the snow.
8. Chesterfield - a sofa or couch.
9. Serviette - another term for "napkin". I'm guessing this one has British influences (it sounds so proper, doesn't it?)
10. Poutine - a food dish of french fires with cheese curds and hot gravy in Quebec. Other areas of Canada just use processed cheese instead of real cheese curds.
11. Hoser - a stereotype and sort-of insult. "You're such a hoser."
12. Mountie - a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (you know, those guys in the funny hats and red jackets as we so eloquently portrayed at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics' Closing Ceremony)
13. Rye - Canadian Whiskey (which is what I suspect the organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics' Opening & Closing Ceremonies may have been drinking when they came up with their program. I mean, really, could we perpetuate the Canadian stereotypes more than the use of EVERY token Canadian symbol in both ceremonies?)
14. Smarties - you're missing out! A candy similar to M&Ms...but better.
15. Ketchup chips - ditto. A great flavour of chips.
16. Chocolate bars - in keeping with the food theme, this is our term for "candy bars".
17. Marking - as in, a test. The term I used as a teacher in place of "grading". I first realized this difference in vocabulary when I told an American friend that I was swamped with all my "marking". They thought I'd been attacked by a Jiffy marker...
Words That I Had No Idea Were Only Said in Canada (and I haven't lived THAT sheltered of a life!)
1. Donair - a pita containing spiced meat and a sauce
2. Nanaimo bar - the. best. dessert. square. EVER. Kinda like a brownie, but with an AMAZING butter cream icing as a middle layer topped with solid chocolate. Apparently created and named after the town of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in B.C.
3. Brown Bread - WTH? Seriously? This is simply another term for 'whole wheat bread'...guess why? What colour is whole wheat bread?
4. Mickey - (keeping with the food items) - a size that alcohol is sold in...something like 13 ounces. Basically, a smaller, curved bottle version of a 2-6.
5. 2-6 - another size of a bottle of alcohol...with 26 ounces. (again with the creativity)
6. Vico - oh wait, that's a Saskatchewan-ism (go Riders!). For the record, it's a term for chocolate milk.
7. Shinny - a pick up game of hockey.
8. Ski-doo - generic term for snowmobile (ski-doo is a brand name here in Canada). Can also be used as a verb "I'm going ski-dooing later today".
9. Canteen - another word that blew my mind...I had no idea this was not said in the States. Basically, another word for a small version of a cafeteria.
10. Tea Towel - WHAT?!? I guess it must be a British term (those Brits love their tea!) Refers to a dish towel.
11. Chinook - ummm...what else would you call a spell of warm weather brought on by a warm wind? The chinooks we get in the winter in Calgary is why I would never move back to Saskatchewan where we have a solid 4 months of -50 (celcius!!) weather.
12. Butter Tart - another foodie term that apparently only resides in Canada. It's basically a small, individual serving pie...but better!
13. Garburator - garbage disposal
14. Homo Milk - short for "homogenized milk"...a.k.a. whole milk
15. Fire Hall - Really? Not sure why this is different north of the 49th parallel, but it's another term for fire station.
16. Washroom - I cannot believe this one. I thought "we'd" gotten this term from our Yankee friends (simply because the Brits call it a loo)...apparently we made it up all by ourselves. (Yay us!) The term in the States? Restroom.
17. Crispy Crunch, Coffee Crisp, Caramilk - 3 types of chocolate bars that would prevent me from moving to the States if I can't get ahold of them down there! lol
18. Line Up - another one that left me in disbelief, again because I assumed it was from the U.S. (our British motherland calls this a queue). For some reason, we added the "up" to the American term of "line". For example: "There was a really long lineup at the arena for hockey tickets last night".
19. Arena - an ice rink with seats around it. Basically a building devoted to a hockey rink.
20. Glove box - glove compartment.
21. Farmer Vision - a term for rural-area TV channels (usually only 2 or 3 without satellite)
22. Gotch - underwear, usually referring to men's brief-style underwear.
23. Parkade - really? Again, this one threw me off...apparently, our neighbours south of the 49th parallel refer to these as "parking garages"
24. Runners - I'll give you a hint, it's a type of shoe. Guess what they're for? (for those still stuck, it's another word for "sneakers").
25. Eavestrough - another word for rain gutter
Top 10 Words That Really, REALLY Blew My Mind
1. Pencil Crayon - I have been informed that in the U.S. this is known as a coloured pencil.
2. Huck - to throw something, as in, "I hucked the ball right at his head."
3. Rez - short for a dormatory residence in University.
4. The Bill - what we ask for in a restaurant. Also known as the "check"
5. Icing sugar - apparently referred to as "powdered sugar" in the States.
6. Elastic - another word for rubber band
7. Housecoat - also known as a bathrobe
8. Tap - our Canadian spin on "faucet"
9. 5-pin bowling - I can't believe that everyone in the States is stuck to 10-pin bowling only. Especially since 5-pin bowling uses a ball approx. half the size of a regular bowling ball.
10. KD (Kraft Dinner) - Unbelievable. How many times in University did I refer to having "KD" as my meal? Sold under the name "Kraft Mac & Cheese" to our American neighbours.
There you have it! If you have any other ones that I missed, feel free to include them in the comments section below!
For the record, all images are licensed under the Creative Commons license, and some of the definitions were found at the following 2 websites: http://www.canadaka.net/content/page/124-canadian-slang--english-words and http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/canisms.html
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Vanessa
Comments
I never knew that "huck" and "rez" were Canadianisms (funny that I haven't noticed since I live on campus)!
Here are a few more to add to the list:
1. Marks (you've got the verb, just figured I'd add the noun too) - what Americans refer to as "grades" or "points."
Ex. Canadians: "I got a bad mark on my test" / "The prof hasn't finished marking the papers" / "I lost five marks on one question!"
Americans: "I got a bad grade" / "The prof hasn't finished grading the papers" / "I lost five points on one question!"
2. Knapsack - I know we (Canadians) still call it backpack, but I said "knapsack" once and it was not well-received.
3. Cutlery - what we call our kitchen utensils. Americans say silverware or eating utensils, but back home "silverware" referred to the really nice cutlery (made of silver!) that came out at special occasions.
4. Having showers/naps - Americans only use the verb "take." At home, I can say "I had a quick shower" or "I was having a nap," but Americans would only ever "take a shower/nap."
5.Gym strip - probably not too commonly used, but in school we would refer to our Physical Education clothes as our "gym strip" or "PE strip." That is never, ever found here.
6. Hydro bill, hydropoles - also not heard everywhere in Canada, but in Vancouver we often say "hydro bill" to mean our water or electricity bill. Hydropoles are like telephone poles that carry electricity through wires.
7. Rockets - you've got Smarties on the list as candy that doesn't exist in the US, which is true, but they do have their own candy called Smarties which, in Canada, we call "Rockets" (the sugary circle candies wrapped up in a roll).
8. Aero bars, Malteasers, Fuzzy Peaches, Cherry Blasters, Swedish Berries - none of these exist in the US. For some they have similar ones, like Whoppers (like Malteasers), Swedish Fish (like Swedish Berries), Peach Rings (like Fuzzy Peaches) and a lot more. BUT I have yet to find anything remotely similar to Aero bars!!! How have they lived with being able to answer the question "have you felt the bubbles melt?"
9. Girl Guides - our Canadian version of Girl Scouts (USA). Growing up we were Sparks, Brownies, Girl Guides, and finally Path Finders. In the US they are Girl Scout Daisies, Girl Scout Brownies, GS Juniors, GS Cadettes, and GS Seniors. Also, the cookies we sell are different. Girl Scout cookies have more variety, but their coveted Thin-Mints are nothing compared to the Girl Guides' chocolate mint cookies. I still ask my parents to send me some boxes when they come out in the fall. Soooo much better than Thin Mints.
10. Preschool to Kindergarten - I always thought you went to preschool and then to kindergarten. In the US, the have an intermediate step called "Pre-K" that a lot of kids take after preschool but before starting kindergarten.
11. Toque - our warm woolen hats that Americans have no idea how to pronounce! They call them beanies. I always thought beanies were those colourful hats with a little propeller on top, you know? I wonder what Americans call those!
12. Toboggan - a word that Americans have never heard for sled.
13. Shreddies - cereal in Canada that is kind of similar to Chex is America.
14. Calling America "The States" - no one has ever pointed it out when I call the US "the States" (as everyone back home does too), but I've noticed that they pretty much ALWAYS call it America or the US. I think Canadians hate calling it America because technically we are (North) Americans as well.
15. All-Dressed and Dill Pickle flavours - I was astounded to find out that as well as Ketchup chips, they don't have All-Dressed or Dill Pickle flavours either.
16. Clamato juice - does not exist in the States. And therefore, Caesars (as in the drink made with clamato juice) don't exist either. They have Bloody Marys in which they just use tomato juice.
17. Chalet - I didn't realize until my 3rd year here that Americans don't know what a chalet is! We always used to rent a chalet in Whistler or Sun Peaks so that the whole extended family could go on a ski trip together. It's basically just a big house with a lot of rooms, often for multiple families to share...I guess it's kind of like a lodge?
18. Deke - for years I've been using this word, both in reference to faking out the goalie in hockey and in the sense of sneakily getting yourself out of a situation...I guess I always assumed it was a move used in soccer and other sports as well - turns out no one ever knew what I meant! Apparently it's a Canadian-only shortened term from "decoy," which makes total sense now that I think about it.
19. Ghost car - a Canadian term for an unmarked police car.
20. Holiday - what Americans call vacation.
21. Kerfuffle - a chaotic situation or a flurry of agitation.
22. Processed cheese - I used to see American cheese on menus, and I always assumed it was a type of cheese, like Swiss cheese, but apparently it's just what we call processed cheese.
23. Tensor bandage - my friend sprained his ankle and I offered him a tensor bandage but he had no idea what it was. I tried to explain it, but I still don't know what they call it in the US. Maybe just a stretchy bandage wrap or something.
24. Track pants - sweat pants, to Americans. Back home, track pants were more athletic, made of a lighter material than comfy cotton sweat pants.
25. Whitener - in America they call it "powdered non-dairy creamer"...way less cool.
26. Emerge - the Canadian slang term for the ER. Ex: "I had to take my kid to emerge last night, he was coughing up blood."
27. Boot - buying alcohol for a minor. Ex: "Can you get your older brother to boot for us? We need liquor for the party."
28. University - in the US, college and university are basically interchangeable . In Canada, a college refers to a smaller, less-renowned institution where you would go for a certificate or a diploma or sometimes a bachelor's degree. I think it's similar to a Community College in America. The 4-year Bachelor-degree (or higher) schools are exclusively called university. Also, in high school, we would always say "applying to university" (or "applying to uni") but never "college."
Wow, I'm sorry for the ridiculously long list, but this stuff fascinates me in some ways, especially since it's so pertinent in my everyday life!
Briefly - of course I know what a Chinook is. I learned it in geology class, though it isn't something we in New England suffer from.
"Pop" is used for "soda" in some parts of the U.S. My freshman year of college, it seemed like what I called soda (in Western New England) got called "tonic" by half my classmates, and "pop" by the other half.
"Rye" is, and always has been, a type of whiskey. But it's also a type of flour, and a type of bread.
In my family and among my Irish cousins, "Brown Bread" is one of our national dishes. It is a wholemeal bread made without yeast, and often also called soda bread. In my region of the U.S., it's also a regional dish, also made without yeast, and usually served with baked beans. It contains molasses (aka treacle) and raisins and is steamed in a can.
I have always heard "line up", but we use it as a verb. As in, "You kids! Go line up over there and wait!"
Down here, "Rez" always means a reservation where First Nation peoples live.
And some Americans use "tap" to mean faucet. I certainly heard it growing up.
We don't all talk the same way down here! I don't suppose all Canadians talk the same way, either. After all, if ours is a big country, yours is even bigger. )
Pat - thanks for the additions. I totally forgot about the phoned/call and write/take tests differences. :)
jmtorres - in regards to the serviette one being French - I think you're probably right! I had been thinking so much about British influences, I forgot about France temporarily lol
Jamie - a bunnyhug is definitely a Saskatchewan thing -- I hear about it everytime I say "bunnyhug" out here in Alberta. Maybe a Saskatchewan-isms blog post should follow this one up!! =)
Serviette: pretty sure that one's from the French language.
Snowbird: here in Arizona, anyone who's here for the winter is a snowbird, regardless of if they're Canadian or American.
Canteen: I've heard this one, but mostly in military contexts.
Rez: Down here, that's reservation. As in, Indian reservation.
Tap: Huh, I can see how that translates, we drink (or prefer not to drink...) tap water, but yeah, not that many people call the faucet itself the tap.
1. Phoned - they "call" people
2. The letter z - we pronounce it "zed", they pronounce it "zee", that threw a few od dmy students for a loop when I was telling them how to spell a word. They thought I had made up a new letter!
3. As a student, we "write" tests, they "take" tests. The teacher is the only on e that writes tests.
I can't think of any others. Your list covered most of them. It's funny how an imaginary line can separate two groups' idioms, even though they speak the same language.
RSS feed for comments to this post