As long as we’re on the topic of Canadian english, happy Canada Day, from your friends to the south 
peas on earth
Well, I understood most of what’s being talked about here, but what the bloody hell is shinty?!
Cave Diem! Carpe Canem!
Re: pronoucing “ow” as “oo”
I live in Scotland, and I think I can safely say that this is from scottish influence. There is a strong scottish community in parts of Canada (most notably Nova Scotia, among others) – some people here joke that they’re more scottish than the scots themselves. Anyway, commonly heard examples around here are “hoose” (“house”), “coo” (“cow”), and the aforementioned “oot and aboot” (“out and about”). I should point out that this is only found in certain scottish accents, though, not all.
Just something I just thought of…I bet the most isolated people in the 48 contiguous states are the Yoopers. Looking at my National Geographic map, people in the UP of Michigan must be at least 8 hours away from Minneapolis or Milwaukee or Detroit. Any Yoopers want to correct me if I’m wrong? By the way, you guys are so close to Canada…do you feel more kinship with the Canadians than with, say, the Texans?
By the way, I taught English as a second language during two years at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. Official policy was to count British, Canadian, etc. spelling as incorrect.
Many years ago I worked for a large Canadian telephone company which shall remain nameless. At a reception (cocktail party) in Mississauga before a 3-day meeting, I was accosted by a local who had apparently been enjoying the “refreshments” for quite a while. He lectured me about how “USAnians” (his term) such as I wrongly referred to ourselves as “Americans” as though the USA was the only nation on the North American Continent. After all, Canadians are just as “American” in the continental sense. Poor guy. I hope he eventually grew up.
Lawrence, you’re right about the UP being isolated. From my hometown in the middle of the UP, it’s 8 hours to Minneapolis or Chicago, 10 to Detroit, and 5-6 to Milwaukee.
Funny you should pick Texas in your example. In my experience, Texas is like UP South. Lots of the same types of personalities, etc. My current boyfriend grew up in Texas, and we get along great! I also know a lot of UP expatriates who live in Texas. So we get along fine with people from the states, except people from Lower Michigan. They’re the true enemy of all Yoopers.
As far as Canada goes, no, I never felt a lot of kinship with Canadians per se. Sure, if they’re from around Lake Superior or something there’s a connection, but that’s more geography than nationality. One thing I remember is you get a lot of Canadian money, and most places will take it at a slightly lower value than US money. And, of course, the US vending machines eat Canadian quarters. Very annoying.
well this is not uncommon in my area (about the Monterey Bay area of California). Here there are many Koreans, Filipinos, Japanese. In those cultures it’s not uncommon to take your shoes off before you enter the house (Some of the cleanest carpets are in Korean, Japanese, and Filipino houses :)). In Filipino houses usually there are some house slippers by the door for guests and residents to walk around the house in. I’ve actually had a dilemma of “to take shoes off or not” in some of my Filipino friends houses because in my household we do not do that (We are Filipino) :).
Well that vowel dropping just shows Americans (Well at least those who standardized American English) know that those extra vowels are unneccesary and very antiquated (fossilized) :).
Which might have made some sense if Noah had dropped the vowel that was not pronounced. I know no one who says har’ bOre or co’ lOre; most folks say something that sounds closer to har’ bUr and co’ lUr. For most U.S. pronunciations of these two words, we would have been better off substituting e or i (or dropping the vowels before the r completely).
Tom~
oooh I gotta get in on this one…I double dare you Americans to correct our pronunciation - Hello EBONICS! :-)!!! and I also think that the closer to the border you are, the more you sound like the neighboring country.
I do not end sentences with EH, and does any one remember the like, you know valley girls? cause they like you know really like sound dumb?
and we dont really talk like the MacKenzie Bros.
yes we curl, but remember hockey…you americans will all eventually want to play, and california will have a curling team too…maybe you guys can steal our best curlers too, maybe for the team from L.A… actually I think curling would be more fun if they fought more.HA!
IN canada, the different regions are very pronounced due to the different concentrations of ethnicity (good word eh?)
can ANYONE in the u.s. explain the wy they talk in Maine? (I love Mainers -they rock!)
its like the Newfoundland of the US.
kisses to my american neighbours.
oh by the way, thank you for your television and movies
I would be lost without your programming!!
i feel mildly qualified to put my oar in, having grown up in northern vermont (where tuques most definitely exist), and living with a roomie who hails from toronto. for one thing, “eh” is infectious. first i did it to make fun of him, but now it has slipped into my normal lexicon. the “aboot” phenomenon definitely exists as well. another one that no one else seems to have mentioned (maybe because you’re not all at university) is two-four vs. case of beer. my roomie can pull some strange looks from other guys when he refers to a 2-4.
ellis
ACK!!
how do americans differientate between a 12 pack and a 24 pack if they dont say its a 2-4 ?
do americans have donairs?
Shiner, “Sorry I puked on your dress, eh”
I really need to watch that movie again! I used to be able to quote that whole script almost by heart; haven’t seen it in about 7 years!!
Athena, if you’re in the LP, there a pasty shop in Mason (near Lansing) and one in Grand Ledge (again, near Lansing). Not that they’re a great UP pasty, but any port in a storm, eh?
I got in a discussion with my World Lit teacher because I spelled “color”, “colour” on a report I did and he marked it wrong. I debated with him and showed him the Jane Austen book I was reading, and truth triumphed!
…it has never been my way to bother much about things which you can’t cure.
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court-Mark Twain
What about duotang? Apparently this is another word that baffles many Yanks.
Story time…
About two weeks ago, I was in St. Louis, at the Hi-Pointe. As I was sitting there, nursing my coffee (I was the designated walker, mind you) and listening to Photo By Husband (they sing like Devo and play like every other alt. band) with my earplugs in, I heard these two people talking behind me… talking smack about Canadians, about their supposed superiority complex and their nationalized health-care system. Help me, but if I wasn’t there with family that I’d have to help walk home, I would have stood up, turned around and said…
“So, you got a thing against Canadians, eh?”
“If A=B, B=C, and C=D, do not get a job proofreading” --Quid’s Theorem
Bunnygirl, I claim no knowledge of Pasty shops in the LP, since I avoid it at all costs. <<shudder>> I’m sorry you can’t do the same!
Miss Gretchen:
The brand name for a cardboard folder with clips that holds 8 1/2 x 11 looseleaf paper? Do Canadians have a special use for that word? Or are you hanging out at a college that favors a different brand of binder?
Tom~
aghast Americans don’t have duotangs??? I’d die without my duotangs!
The Oxford Canadian Dictionary, the definitive guide to Canadian English (along with the Globe and Mail Style Guide) gives the spelling for tuque as tuque.
This is complicated by the fact that in Quebec we have both colleges and universities. High School ends at grade 11, followed by 2 years of college (CEGEP, college d’enseignement general et professionel) and then university.
[[(And NO, Canadians do not pronounce it “aboot”)]]
Maybe not, but they do say “gou-lie” instread of “goal-ie.”
[[I grew up in Upstate New York in the 70s, and the word “Canucks” was verboten – it was a fighting word. Now it’s a hockey team! ]]
My great-grandmother found that a very offensive term, althiough it never bothered many others in the family, it seems (perhaps simply being American of F-C ancestry).
Hey, I come from New England, which speaks a variety of English quite distinct from the rest of the U.S. Hey, I just got an idea for a thread… Be on teh lookout for a new thread in MPSIMS…
Jason R Remy
“And it could be safely said that at that moment, in the whole of India, no one, absolutely no one, was f^(king a goat.”
– John Irving A Son of the Circus (1994)