Home  Features So you'd like to speak Canadian, eh!
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So you'd like to speak Canadian, eh! |
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Most newcomers to Canada are at least moderately fluent in English. But
speaking English like a Canadian? That is a totally different matter.
Canadian English is different in that it borrows from both the British
and American dictionaries. Add to that the slang and pronunciation that
is unique to Canada, and you might just wonder if you speak the same
language as those Canucks. That last term, if you were wondering, is
slang for Canadians. (A list of commonly used slang is included at the
end of this article).
It has often been said that the easiest way to tell whether you are
speaking to an American or Canadian is to listen for an 'eh?' at the
end of every sentence. That's an exaggeration, but not a very big one.
Canadian do tend to finish many of their sentences with an 'eh', much
like Americans would say 'you know'.
There are other notable differences in the English spoken in the two
neighbouring countries. For example, Canadians pronounce the last
letter of the alphabet 'zed' as with British English, rather than the
American 'zee'.
When Canadians say they are at "school", they could be referring to
high school, community college, educational institute, or university.
An American would specify: "I am in university."
Canadian students will proclaim themselves as being in "Grade 8" rather
than "8th Grade" as with their Americans cousins. American terms like
"sophomore" and "freshman" are never used, Canadians will instead use
the specific high school grade (Grade 9 or Grade 12 in these instances).
While these are relatively minor differences, there are also instances where
Canadian and American English can mean two completely opposite things.
For example, to table a document in Canada is to present it, whereas in
the US it means to withdraw it from consideration.
When it comes to pronunciation, Americanization is slowly creeping in,
perhaps influenced by the TV programming which is dominated by US
networks and cable companies. Nevertheless, Canadians continue to use
British English pronunciation for words like fragile, fertile, mobile,
semi- and anti-.
Likewise, in Canada, you can expect to see words like 'colour',
'theatre' and 'catalogue' spelt the British way, rather than the
American 'color', 'theater' and 'catalog'; but we opt to follow the
Americans with words like 'tire' (rather than the British 'tyre') and
'draft' ('draught').
American -ize endings (organize, cannibalize) also score over the British equivalents which end with -ise.
English, like any other major language, is always evolving, but the
change is perceptibly faster in Canada's major cities where the
influence of immigrant languages can be seen in some of the street
slang.
Some of the slang is also directed at immigrants - often intended to be derogatory.
For example, F.O.B. means fresh off the boat, aimed at newly arrived
(usually Asian) immigrants. Likewise, a Gino is an Italian who dresses
in tight clothing (particularly denim), uses hair gel and wears gold
chains, and has a macho attitude, while a Gina is a airheaded woman who
associates with a Gino.
Lest this put you off, we should balance that somewhat by pointing out
that those slurs are now increasingly being used in a more
light-hearted way, and at any immigrant who might meet that description.
Also, remember how we spoke about the slang term 'Canuck' at the start
of this piece? Well, Canuck started out as a term that was used
disparagingly to describe Canadians; now not only do Canadians wear the
badge with pride, one of the country's best ice hockey teams is called
the Vancouver Canucks.
Finally, let's take you through an A-Z of commonly used Canadian slang.
This list has been compiled from many sources, primarily Wikipedia.
Enjoy.
- 2-4 (Two Four) a case of 24 beer. e.g. "I'd like a 2-4 of Blue"
(where Blue is short for Labbatt Blue, one of Canada's top selling
beers).
- 26er (also 2-6, twixer) A 750 ml (26.4 fl oz) bottle of alcohol
- 40 A 40 fl oz (1.14 L) bottle of alcohol.
- Anglophone - A English speaking Canadian. Or a Canadian who doesn't speak French - only 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.
- Blochead A member of the Bloc Quιbecois political party.
- Buck One dollar. e.g. $1.25 "a buck twenty five"; 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
- bunnyhug a hooded sweatshirt without a zipper(Saskatchewan)
- 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.
- Chesterfield a couch or sofa.
- Chillax - A combination of the words 'chill' and 'relax', and intended to mean 'Take it easy'. e.g. "It's okay. Just chillax."
- 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.
- Cooked It - Something done wrong. Something wrecked or having been mangled in some manner. e.g. "He/She cooked it."
- Crappy Tire or Ukrainian Tire Canadian Tire, one of Canada's biggest store chains.
- deke, deke out to feint, to trick or avoid someone. e.g. "to deke out of a meeting".
- 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.
- 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.
- Frog A derogatory name given to French Canadians
- Frosh A politically correct term for first-year university students, derived from freshman.
- French fry A derogatory name given to French Canadians, particularly in New Brunswick.
- Gas - Gasoline, or petrol.
- Grit a member of the Liberal Party of Canada
- 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.
- 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 a synonym for electrical service, as in "The hydro bill is due on the 15th".
- jam buster jelly donut (Manitoba)
- 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
- 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
- May 24 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).
- Molson Muscle A beer belly named after the popular Molson Canadian beer.
- Mountie a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- 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.
- pogey Social Assistance, Welfare, Employment insurance.
- prolly A substitution for the word probably. e.g. "Prolly going for a bike ride."
- 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.")
- Runners term for running shoes or 'sneakers'
- Sasquatch a Saskatchewan driver in Alberta, or an Albertan teen with Saskatchewan license plates.
- Scare Canada a derogatory term used with regards to national air carrier Air Canada
- "take off" expression of disagreement or command to leave, similar to "get lost" ("Take off, you hoser!").
- Sloblaws Loblaws grocery stores
- Smog dog (or Street meat or Street dog) hotdog from a Toronto street vendor.
- Snowbirds a reference to people, often senior citizens, who
leave Canada during the winter months to reside in southern states of
the US (particularly Florida.)
- Swish Homemade low-quality liquor.
- Swiss Pigeon nickname for Swiss Chalet chicken restaurant
- Texas Mickey A 3 litre or larger bottle of liquor, despite the Texas reference, this is a purely Canadian term.
- 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".
- 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)
- 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").
- Wenis A stupid or intolerable person. Example: "Pewterspoon is such a wenis."
Related: Canadians use that word a lot, eh?
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