# American to Canadian translations **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237 "2006-10-04T14:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/41 "2006-10-04T23:01:06Z")
[QUOTE=Schlep] In Canada - Would you like that in a **bag**? In US - Do you want a that in a **sack**? Canada - French Fries (and we like “gravy on the fries” or “on the side” and sometimes **Ketchup** and it is most always Heinz and it sits on the table) US - Chips (in Whitefish, Montana they have gravy on the menu…15 minutes down the road in Kalispell it is unheard of to put anything but **Catsup** and vinegar on your chips) That’s my contribution. I’m sure I will think of more but I will most likely be sleeping. \*I was raised in Ontario but now live “out West” and have remained for over 20 years. When I first came here I experienced a dramatic linguistic culture shock. I still don’t understand why anyone would say “Must be gonna…” and I never adopted " that big sucker" although I don’t hear it much anymore. I have a faint echo of the “missing vowel theory” with certain words like “about” and “coke”. For some reason it drives my husband nuts. He always thinks _he_ is correcting _me_. Little does he know it’s the other way around! 😉 [/QUOTE] I think those examples might be more western regionalisms, isntead of American ones. It’s definitely french fries, ketchup, and bag here in NY and I’ve never heard anyone say “must be gonna” or “that big sucker” here either. ---
**Author:** ![Schlep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Schlep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schlep)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/42 "2006-10-05T00:11:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I just learned “keener”-- is this current anywhere in the US right now? Yes. You seem to be a “keener”. Good to know what it means (eh?). Ca-na-da eh? Can’t speak for the US-ites on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Schlep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Schlep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schlep)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/43 "2006-10-05T00:23:40Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] I think those examples might be more western regionalisms, isntead of American ones. [/QUOTE] Perhaps you are right. I haven’t ventured throughout enough of the US to make solid and fair comparisons. Forgot to mention that I don’t use faceclothes so it makes no difference to me as to what they are called. Just as long as the towels are clean. I’ll use what is there. You don’t want to be in a parkade when the hydro fails. Always keep plenty of napkins in your glove box. Gas station _toy_-lets are rarely clean. Restaurant _tur_-lets are often clean. I line up at the pool. Do you cue? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/44 "2006-10-05T00:27:05Z")
[QUOTE=Foldup Rabbit] As a BC-dwelling Western Canadian, I can most assuredly tell you that we call it hydro. Hydro bill. BC Hydro. The only person I know who uses the word ‘chesterfield’ is my grandmother. I don’t know anyone who says ‘serviette’. Why is it that I can drive a few hours south and suddenly no one serves iced tea? [/QUOTE] Alberta doesn’t use ‘Hydro’. We say ‘electric’ or ‘light’ or ‘power’ bill. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/45 "2006-10-05T00:40:12Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] Chips? Who in the US calls fries chips? And I think bag and sack are exactly interchangable. [/quote] To me, bags may or may not have handles, but a sack never has a handle. We always call them bags: garbage bags, grocery bags, shopping bags, trick-or-treat bags, freezer bags, ziplock bags, etc. > [@capybara](#): > > Pro-duce is fine, but Pro-ject and CapILLary throws me off. > Sore-ey aboot that. Sore-ey! How do you pronounce ‘sorry’ then? ‘Sore-ey’ seems a fairly-accurate description. Is it a difference in emphasis? > [@capybara](#): > > Lots of strange things in the university system-- what I’d call and adjunct is a sessional lecturer, and you invigilate and exam rather than proctoring it. Is that in the Canadian or US system? I just learned the word ‘invigilate’ last week: I’m taking some Ministry of Housing courses at Loyalist College\* and the teacher told me that the exam would be monitored by an ‘invigilator’. Although when I asked for someone there, I was told that she was ‘proctoring’ an exam. [sub] \*Named after the guys who lost the American Revolution. You know–the United Empire Loyalists.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/46 "2006-10-05T00:42:53Z")
[QUOTE=K364] I’m aware that BC does it too. That’s why I said “As a _prairie-dwelling_, Western Canadian…” Anyway, how would you feel if the news reporter said “The Coal lines have been knocked out by the storm and there are Coal outages in most of the province”.? [/QUOTE] I don’t understand this. Is the electricity supplied by a company named Coal, or just coal-fired generators? ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/47 "2006-10-05T01:02:58Z")
Good heavens, not this again: [QUOTE=Oakminster] In America, we have a substance called “beer”. In Canada, the same substance is known as “Cat Pee”. Canadian beer is known as “Nectar of the Lesser\* Gods” stateside. [/QUOTE] You need to try some Nectar of the Greater Gods, aka American microbrews. > [@](#): > > \*Germany still makes the best beer in the known universe. Maybe, but by the time it gets to the states it usually tastes like skunk pee. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/48 "2006-10-05T01:38:23Z")
**alice** , sweet tea is cold tea with a heck of a lot of sugar in it, but no lemon. It’s weird. I have experienced the ‘iced tea’ problem, where they just give you cold tea. According to my American best friend, it’s really hard to find proper decent _hot_ tea in many places in the U.S. She liked the tea in Canada. She used to ponounce ‘Sorry’ ‘Saw-ry’, until I made fun of her mercilessly. Is SOL a Canadianism? ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/49 "2006-10-05T01:38:25Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] There have been doctoral dissertations and major grants from institutes of philology devoted to tracing and untangling the skein of words used to identify that object. The few I can recite without digging into my memory are: Submarine’s (Subs) Torpedoes Heroes Poor Boys Hoagies Grinders but there are several others, as well. [/QUOTE] Despite the prevailing hoagie (cold sandwich) and grinder (toasted) in Philly, a few places still use the very pre-war Zeps (zeppelin). ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/50 "2006-10-05T02:01:10Z")
[QUOTE=Lissla Lissar] **alice** , sweet tea is cold tea with a heck of a lot of sugar in it, but no lemon. It’s weird. I have experienced the ‘iced tea’ problem, where they just give you cold tea. [/QUOTE] Can somebody elaborate for me on this. I’m thoroughly confused by this iced tea problem. Hot tea = brewed from tea leaves, served hot Iced tea = brewed from tea leaves, served over ice 😕 A lot of places will give you unplatable swill if you order iced tea, but that doesn’t make the swill ‘iced tea’, I don’t think anybody actually EXPECTS acidic corn-syrupy tea-colored raspberry punch when they order iced tea, they merely tolerate it. Do people actually ever _expect_ the… horrid lipton/brisk/nestea … thing and get disappointed when served actual iced tea? I can understand people from southeastern US who might expect their iced tea to come sweetened, but I’ll bet doughnuts to dollars that most of them would prefer to sweeten unsweetened actual tea rather than put up with Brisk or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/51 "2006-10-05T02:03:40Z")
[QUOTE=K364] I’m aware that BC does it too. That’s why I said "As a _prairie-dwelling_, Western Canadian… [/QUOTE] Yet, in Manitoba exists Manitoba Hydro… ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/52 "2006-10-05T02:13:05Z")
[QUOTE=qwest] Yet, in Manitoba exists Manitoba Hydro… [/QUOTE] So, do you call electrical power “Hydro”? ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/53 "2006-10-05T02:15:56Z")
[QUOTE=K364] So, do you call electrical power “Hydro”? [/QUOTE] Yes. Sorry to burst your bubble. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/54 "2006-10-05T02:17:42Z")
It comes from _parking + arcade_ (the latter meaning a multistory enclosed space. There used to be shopping arcades in big cities. Today we’d call them atriums.) I don’t know how Canadian the term is. Downtown Des Moines, IA, had a Parkade (so named) from 1957 until just recently. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/55 "2006-10-05T02:20:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I don’t understand this. Is the electricity supplied by a company named Coal, or just coal-fired generators? [/QUOTE] Neither, if it’s in Alberta. Then it’s natural gas, as we have all Hell for a basement. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/56 "2006-10-05T02:47:48Z")
Isn’t there a different term in Canada for _ski mask_? ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/57 "2006-10-05T02:51:16Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Isn’t there a different term in Canada for _ski mask_? [/QUOTE] Perhaps you mean balaclava. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/58 "2006-10-05T02:54:52Z")
I definitely grew up sitting on a chesterfield and using serviettes. Unfortunately (just because I hate homogenization) thes days I’m more likely to reach for a napkin whilst I lounge on the sofa. Fewer syllables, eh? Maybe it’s laziness, or too much American TV. The last letter of the alphabet is pronounced “zed”. I eat chocolate bars (not candy bars) and drink diet pop (not diet soda). I wear runners to walk the dog (not sneakers). It’s a grocery store (not a market or supermarket). After paying the Hydro (not the electric) bill, and gassing up at Esso (not Exxon) I hope I have enough money left over for my holiday (not vacation). I definitely park in a parkade downtown, and was confused as to why Microsoft Word thought this was a misspelling. My postal code (not zip code) is V9B 4V4. It’s a washroom (not a restroom) in a public place, but in my house it’s the bathroom. I don’t mind a drink, rye (not whiskey), please. ---
**Author:** ![Schlep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Schlep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schlep)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/59 "2006-10-05T03:00:33Z")
[QUOTE=Lissla Lissar] Is SOL a Canadianism? [/QUOTE] Oh yes indeedy. I find myself SOL quite often. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/60 "2006-10-05T03:06:41Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] I eat chocolate bars (not candy bars) [/QUOTE] Need a so-called chocolate bar actually _contain_ chocolate? What would you call a [Salted Nut Roll](http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/nut_roll/), if such a thing existed in Canada? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237.md?page=4)