# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/81 "2006-10-05T15:16:23Z")
American: _ordinance, code_ = Canadian: _by-laws_ American: _gas station_ = Canadian: _[gas bar](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gas+bar%22)_ American: _convenience store_ = Canadian: _milk bar_, _milk store_ I’m from Buffalo, and can say in complete confidence that the Toronto accent, sans “eh” and the rounder o’s, is far closer to a generic Midwestern US accent than the flat-a “eyacksint” spoken east of the Niagara River. There’s a little bit of a Canadian influence in Buffalo English; using the definite article in limited access highway numbers (“The 90”, “The 290”, and so on), and among the hardcore blue-collar crowd, occasionally using “hey” where Canadians would use “eh.” ---
**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, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/82 "2006-10-05T15:55:34Z")
> [@](#): > > What would you call a Salted Nut Roll, if such a thing existed in Canada? No, I don’t think this exists in Canada. If it did, I would call it a confectionary item with peanuts. OR A nutbar. This is also the term I would use for the person consuming it. > [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by gonzomax > Canadians do horrible things to potato chips. Huh? Like what…eat them in igloos? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/83 "2006-10-05T16:24:50Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] American: _ordinance, code_ = Canadian: _by-laws_ American: _gas station_ = Canadian: _[gas bar](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gas+bar%22)_ American: _convenience store_ = Canadian: _milk bar_, _milk store_ [/QUOTE] I’ve never heard “gas bar” “milk bar” or “milk store” in my life. It’s gas stations and convenience stores. For the record, electricity is never called hydro in Saskatchewan either. “Power” is the usual term. Most of it comes from a big coal plant down near Estevan, with lesser contributions from natural gas and that big dam we stuck on the South Saskatchewan. And since regionalisms apparently merit mention in this thread, I give you: hooded sweatshirt = bunny hug This is pretty much limited to Saskatchewan in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/84 "2006-10-05T16:52:45Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] What Yanks are you talking about? I am not surprised that there are _some_ Yanks who are confused about Canadian whiskey, but I always thought that Canadian=rye (based on the content, not some magical name change at the border). [/QUOTE] Well, according to **Dag Otto** in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=112401&highlight=canadian+club+whisky), they’re not the same: > [@Dag Otto](#): > > I reserve my hate for the bartender who insists that Canadian whiskey is the same as Rye whiskey. A disgrace to his profession. **Ravenman** lists them separately [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=350890&highlight=manhattan+vermouth+whisky+whiskey): > [@Ravenman](#): > > Whiskeys include bourbon, rye, Canadian, scotch, and others. They taste different, but as a novice, the finer points will probably be lost on you for a while. And over [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294975&highlight=bourbon+manhattan+canadian), **Reality Chuck** states it plainly: > [@Reality Chuck](#): > > Canadian Whiskey isn’t rye; most people make that mistake. The thread from which **Reality Chuck’s** comment comes contains further discussion of the rye question, including content of the grain, legalities involved in calling something “rye” and so on. I won’t post them all, but it is plain from that thread that a number of Americans consider rye and Canadian whisky to be two different things. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/85 "2006-10-05T17:02:27Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] American: _ordinance, code_ = Canadian: _by-laws_ American: _gas station_ = Canadian: _[gas bar](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gas+bar%22)_ American: _convenience store_ = Canadian: _milk bar_, _milk store_ [/QUOTE] “Milk bar”? I did a Google search for “milk bar” and could not find a reference to that term being used in Canada for a convenience store. It is allegedly used in Australia, though. “Gas bar” is rare, too. They’re usually just “Gas stations.” Good call on “By law” though. Another Canadianism in the political realm is **"riding,**" which is the term used for electoral districts, e.g. “Stepher Harper is the MP for the riding of Calgary Southwest.” The term comes from a Norse term. Canadians refer to the various grades a student go to as “Grade”-Number, e.g. “Grade 7,” “Grade 4,” etc.; the usual American expression is ordinal-“grade,” e.g. "Seventh grade, “fourth grade.” Canadians refer to the four years of high school as Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12, and years of tertiary education as first year, second year, etc.; the Americanisms “Freshman-sophomore-junior-senior” are generally unknown here. I was probably 25 years old before I even knew what order those went in, actually. Along the educational route, we also don’t generally have any terms related to fratenities or sororities because to the best of my knowledge no Canadian school has those. As God is my witness, the first time I read the term “Greek system,” I thought it was a nasty euphemism for anal sex. Also in the educational realm, Canadians send their kids to “public schools” and, sometimes, “Separate schools,” which are public but you get the Catholic in those. “Elementary school” is used, but not nearly as commonly. Americans use “College” and “university” sort of interchangeably; in Canada, a university is a school that grants four-year and postgraduate degrees, while a college is a vocational/technical institute that grants two and three year diplomas. (The one exception, for traditional reasons, being the Royal Military College, which is in fact a university.) “A whole whack” is a frequent Canadian colloquialism meaning “A lot of.” “Honkin’” is a modifier meaning very, usually affixed to an adjective meaning very large, e.g. “That is a honkin’ big truck.” Generally used among the younger set. Canadians, as most veterans of the SDMB likely have noticed, refer to the country south of them as “the States,” “the U.S.” or “the USA,” almost never as “America.” Also, with respect to the endless sub-hoagie-grinder-hero debate, I can say with confidence that both “sub” and “hoagie” are in use in Canada, inasmuch as the most popular such joint in Kingston was, of course, the Hoagie House. ---
**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, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/86 "2006-10-05T17:17:39Z")
[QUOTE=Schlep] Huh? Like what…eat them in igloos? [/QUOTE] _Igluun_ And I’ve come full circle. (I signed up to comment on a column about Inuktitut.) [QUOTE=elmwood] American: _gas station_ = Canadian: _[gas bar](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gas+bar%22)_ American: _convenience store_ = Canadian: _milk bar_, _milk store_ [/QUOTE] Regionalims, I’m afraid. I heard these terms only when I lived in Ontario. ---
**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, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/87 "2006-10-05T17:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] Pouring hot brewed tea over ice cubes (if it still happens or if it ever happened outside the one restaurant where I encountered it) is just odd. [/QUOTE] Ok I guess I did not consider THIS case, but that no longer fits the original definition. Iced tea is brewed tea served over ice - presuming of course the establishment is capable of deducing that you do not pour hot tea over ice. Pouring hot tea over ice would make very diluted iced tea with tiny ice chips floating in it, and that’s a sin UNLESS you start off with extremely strong hot tea to begin with. The way I drink hot tea most people will find unpalatable anyway, so I would imagine that _my_ hot tea poured over ice would taste like pretty decent iced tea to other people. I put two table spoons of loose leaf per cup in the tea pot (or if using bags, 4 bags per cup) and let it sit for a while if possible not to miss out on those fine tannins 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/88 "2006-10-05T18:01:26Z")
Just remembered something else - are you folk south of the border familiar with “anglophone” and “francophone”? On one of my trips in the states I mentioned to someone that my stepmother was francophone and the person didn’t know the word. Anglophone=English speaking Francophone=French speaking especially as your first language. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/89 "2006-10-05T18:19:12Z")
**groman** , Southern-style sweet tea is not in any respect equivalent to Lipton Brisk. ---
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/90 "2006-10-05T18:26:31Z")
[QUOTE=Gadarene] **groman** , Southern-style sweet tea is not in any respect equivalent to Lipton Brisk. [/QUOTE] I wasn’t implying that. I was implying that southern-style sweet tea is in every respect equivalent to unsweetened iced tea except it is made with sugar, and is exactly the opposite of Brisk which is tea-like punch. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/91 "2006-10-05T19:04:17Z")
[QUOTE=Schlep] No, I don’t think this exists in Canada. If it did, I would call it a confectionary item with peanuts. OR A nutbar. This is also the term I would use for the person consuming it. Huh? Like what…eat them in igloos? [/QUOTE] Pickle flavor mustard flavor catsup flavor vinegar chips and others ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/92 "2006-10-05T19:32:10Z")
> [@](#): > > I wasn’t implying that. I was implying that southern-style sweet tea is in every respect equivalent to unsweetened iced tea except it is made with sugar, and is exactly the opposite of Brisk which is tea-like punch. Sorry I misunderstood you. Still, southern-style sweet tea and unsweetened iced tea are very different beasts themselves, because the first is made with (dissolved) sugar and the second isn’t. ---
**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, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/93 "2006-10-05T19:44:07Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] Pickle flavor mustard flavor catsup flavor vinegar chips and others [/QUOTE] salt and vinegar salt and pepper (new) sour cream I still remember the grape-flavoured ones that were test-marketed here. They didn’t last long. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/94 "2006-10-05T19:48:00Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Canadians, as most veterans of the SDMB likely have noticed, refer to the country south of them as “the States,” “the U.S.” or “the USA,” almost never as “America.” [/QUOTE] As an American, I’ve gotta ask, are there American’s that _really_ say that they’re from “America”? I thought that was just a silly, redneck stereotype, or something only said as bravado, e.g., “You can’t do that to me! I’m from America” Or: “I’m from America, bitch!” I’ve spent years outside of the country (Germany, Mexico, Canada now), and even amongst Americans, we always, always, always talk about “the States.” Never, ever is it, “back in America” or even so much as expressingly saying the whole “United States.” Just “the States.” ---
**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, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/95 "2006-10-05T20:00:55Z")
[QUOTE=Balthisar] I’ve spent years outside of the country (Germany, Mexico, Canada now), and even amongst Americans, we always, always, always talk about “the States.” Never, ever is it, “back in America” or even so much as expressingly saying the whole “United States.” Just “the States.” [/QUOTE] I say it habitually. I either say “in America” or “in US”. Of course I was born in Russia and “the States” in Russian are usually referred to as “America” so I grew up with the mental image that America is the country that’s officially called USA and North America is the continent that contains America, Canada, Greenland, Mexico and ‘misc’. I really don’t think there would be any confusion anywhere if you referred to a place as “America” and people understood it as being a) applied to the continent and not the USA b) applied to some other country in North or South America. It might hurt some egos, but “We’re in America too” is not really a good reason for me to change the way I talk, if you care so much change the name of your country to reflect that. The moment Belize becomes “Belizean Districts of America” or some such, I will stop calling US “America”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/96 "2006-10-05T20:27:10Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Germany still makes the best beer in the known universe. > [@tomndebb](#): > > Only if one deliberately excludes the Belgian brews to keep from embarrassing the Germans. Word. Boy, I misses me some Belgian abbey beers… ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/97 "2006-10-05T20:48:15Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Along the educational route, we also don’t generally have any terms related to fratenities or sororities because to the best of my knowledge no Canadian school has those. As God is my witness, the first time I read the term “Greek system,” I thought it was a nasty euphemism for anal sex. [/QUOTE] Unfortunately, we have fraternities too. One of my best friends is in one. I see no point to them, but apparently they’re at every university. Here in Waterloo, Ontario, you can go down streets that are mainly frathouses. I guess my opinion of frats is pretty obvious here. But my point is they do exist here. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/98 "2006-10-05T21:07:19Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGauss] BTW, is “broadloom” used in the US.? In the states, I keep hearing people refer to “wall to wall”. But iin Canada, it’s only broadloom. [/QUOTE] I have heard the term “broadloom” used in carpet ads, but it has never meant “wall-to-wall” any time I have encountered it. As used in the states, broadloom refers to being woven on a “broad loom.” It typically comes on rolls that are 12 feet wide, and you can go to the carpet store and look at rolls of broadloom carpet. When it is installed in a house, the carpet may be “wall-to-wall” whether or not broadloom carpet is used for the installation. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/99 "2006-10-05T21:14:58Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Canadians refer to the various grades a student go to as “Grade”-Number, e.g. “Grade 7,” “Grade 4,” etc.; the usual American expression is ordinal-“grade,” e.g. "Seventh grade, “fourth grade.” Canadians refer to the four years of high school as Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12, and years of tertiary education as first year, second year, etc. [/QUOTE] I forgot about that! High school students in Buffalo were always amused by the mysterious “grade 13” in Ontario. I don’t know if this was mentioned, but the educational institution Americans call _high school_ is called _secondary school_, at least in Southern Ontario. I don’t know if Canadian kids actually say that they go to secondary school, or if the term is only used in the school name itself, for instance “I go to high school at Pierre Trudeau Secondary School.” Another one: US: _case_ (of beer) = Canada: _two-four_ ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237/100 "2006-10-05T21:24:55Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] US: _case_ (of beer) = Canada: _two-four_ [/QUOTE] Some of the Toronto area TV shows on Food Network call 'em two-fours, but the Canadians in the plant at work (Ontario) always talk about cases of beer. These are older dudes, though (in the sense of not being older than GenX’ers). On one of the earlier referenced sites, it says a case is 12 in parts of the country, but I assure you that here a case is a proper case! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-to-canadian-translations/375237.md?page=6)