# Canadianisms! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368 "2017-03-30T19:26:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/121 "2017-04-07T20:28:53Z")
The chip truck at Canadian Tire here in Kanata makes the best poutine. I’m not kidding! Koo Loo Koo Koo Koo Koo Koo Koo! Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/122 "2017-04-07T21:28:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That’s like asking What/where is the quintessential chili fries or garlic fries. 😛 😛 I guess speaking more broadly, are there chains that are representative for authentic poutine and what poutine should taste like? Fries, cheese and gravy are probably going to taste good to me no matter what but I don’t want to be some doofus who gets inferior poutine and doesn’t know any better. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/123 "2017-04-07T22:20:54Z")
> [@K364](#): > > In B.C. and Ontario but definitely not on the Prairies. Not sure about the Maritimes but I’m doubtful. Pretty sure Manitoba is in the prairies. What do we call electrical power? Hydro. What is the electric company called? Manitoba Hydro. Nips - Pretty much exclusive to Winnipeg (not a lot of Salisbury Houses outside the perimeter.) It is shorthand for going to Salisbury House - like saying lets grab a Big Mac. Not only are proposing getting a burger but going to a specific restaurant. Donair - For some reason this particular delicacy refuses to meaningfully cross into Manitoba (perhaps Saskatchewan as well but I don’t know) Scribbler - Yup used it here too - still do. If you mention that you smell something unexplained (like toast when none is cooking) Canadians of a certain age might (jokingly) ask if you are having a stroke. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/124 "2017-04-08T01:16:25Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > Pretty sure Manitoba is in the prairies. What do we call electrical power? Hydro. > What is the electric company called? Manitoba Hydro. > [@swampspruce](#): > > I think you may be mistaken about that… [Manitoba Hydro](http://www.hydro.mb.ca/). The snarky and non-snarky way to tell me I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/125 "2017-04-08T02:19:24Z")
“That’s not news, but that too is reality.” Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/126 "2017-04-08T02:21:30Z")
^ Anyone remember that? Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/127 "2017-04-08T03:22:43Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > Pretty sure Manitoba is in the prairies. What do we call electrical power? Hydro. > What is the electric company called? Manitoba Hydro. I’m Quebec they call it “hydreau.” ---
**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:** [April 8, 2017, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/128 "2017-04-08T09:45:23Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > “That’s not news, but that too is reality.” Of course. Walter Cronkite, on CBS News. That gravelly voice also “hosted” (for lack of a better term) all the space launches we saw. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/129 "2017-04-08T12:39:54Z")
Not who I had in mind. Did Cronkite sign off like that? Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/130 "2017-04-08T19:41:14Z")
It was actually the sign off of Global TV anchor Peter Trueman on every news broadcast from the mid-70s to late-80s. Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/131 "2017-04-08T20:04:35Z")
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/132 "2017-04-09T22:52:22Z")
No one I know my age (60) uses or understand “bi and bi,” even those few who know of the commission. But that may be a BC thing. I have been told that the term “rubby” to refer to an alcoholic is a Canadianism. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/133 "2017-04-09T23:42:50Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Another regionalism I thought of (Thanks **Poysyn**!) is Nips and Chips. If you’re from Manitoba you know exactly what we’re going to do when I say the following, "Hey **Poysyn** , you up for going to Sal’s for some nips and chips before we go to the social? After we can hit the Village for dainties! 🙂 Which are bloody expensive now, by the by…Juniors and VJs are still a pretty good deal. Gotta fuel up since the midnight snack of kielbasa, cheese, rye bread and mustard doesn’t get out out until midnight! ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/134 "2017-04-09T23:44:32Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > Pretty sure Manitoba is in the prairies. What do we call electrical power? Hydro. > What is the electric company called? Manitoba Hydro. > > Nips - Pretty much exclusive to Winnipeg (not a lot of Salisbury Houses outside the perimeter.) It is shorthand for going to Salisbury House - like saying lets grab a Big Mac. Not only are proposing getting a burger but going to a specific restaurant. > > Donair - For some reason this particular delicacy refuses to meaningfully cross into Manitoba (perhaps Saskatchewan as well but I don’t know) > > Scribbler - Yup used it here too - still do. > > If you mention that you smell something unexplained (like toast when none is cooking) Canadians of a certain age might (jokingly) ask if you are having a stroke. **I smell burnt toast** - SEIZURE! Also, “Including Vince Coleman dispatcher.” ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/135 "2017-04-10T17:58:03Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > Skookum - a BCism meaning big, healthy. "“Ten pounds?! That’s a skookum kid!” It’s a Native word. There’s also Skookumchuck, big water, meaning the ocean and ocean water is the saltchuck. “Skookum” is originally a Chinook Jargon word, that is, from the trading language, or pidgin, (that is, a simplified language used between two different groups who do not share a common language), used in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century, rather than a “Native” Word. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/136 "2017-04-10T18:11:53Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy Keep your stick on the ice! ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/137 "2017-04-10T19:23:52Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I find this is incredibly overblown. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard the following: “You can always tell a real resident of CITYNAME because they don’t pronounce it CITYNAME, they pronounce it CITYNAME-SLIGHTY-SLURRED!” Yeah, right. Maybe… but in this case pronouncing Toronto as “Trawn-ah” is a pretty widespread occurrence. I blame Don Cherry. Someone the other day pointed out that it’s only in the Ottawa area that people refer to someone as being “in nets” i.e. “Who’s in nets tonight?” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/138 "2017-04-10T19:36:56Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Maybe… but in this case pronouncing Toronto as “Trawn-ah” is a pretty widespread occurrence. I blame Don Cherry. > > Someone the other day pointed out that it’s only in the Ottawa area that people refer to someone as being “in nets” i.e. “Who’s in nets tonight?” Absolutely no one I know says in “nets.” In “net” perhaps. But isn’t that fairly common colloquial term? ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/139 "2017-04-10T20:01:30Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Absolutely no one I know says in “nets.” In “net” perhaps. But isn’t that fairly common colloquial term? I hate to break it to you but “in nets” is quite commonly used here in Ottawa, up the Valley, and in the Eastern townships, by almost everyone that grew up here be it in minor hockey, road hockey or even sportscasters. [Ken Warren](http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/nhl/senatorsextra/anderson-back-in-nets-tonigh) [Stu Cowan](http://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/montreal-canadiens/canadiens-clinch-atlantic-division-with-lindgren-in-nets) [Sens Twitter account](https://twitter.com/senators/status/678607137153679360) Just today by [Dan Seguin](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-senators-boston-bruins-playoffs-1.4063405) > [@](#): > > In nets, 30-year-old Tuukka Rask finished top five in the league in goals against average and goaltender wins this year. Try googling “in nets” Ottawa in News and and there are almost 1200 usages. ETA, sorry, I misread your post. I guess my question is whether it is common across Canada or just a regional thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/140 "2017-04-10T21:32:22Z")
Muffin was in to provide the Thunder Bay isms “shag” and " persians" but he forgot “camp” which is the word for cottage or summer home on a lake… it ,as have no electricity or running water… or it might be a million dollar showplace. No matter. Ithe is not a cabin or a cottage; it’seems a camp. Also …my 13 ýear old son is the only one who has a pack-sack. Everyone in Vancouver (Vang-couver!)has a back pack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368.md?page=8)