# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/161 "2017-04-18T03:18:04Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > That said, I believe you could fasttrack by taking basic credit requirements and forgoing electives, spares etc… to get your diploma in 4 years. Yup. That’s what I did. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/162 "2017-04-18T03:21:54Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I was class of '79, by the way. Did you enter U of T in the fall of '79? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/163 "2017-04-18T03:47:41Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Speak for yourself, grade 13 was mandatory for everyone in my grade and above. The year behind me had the option. They eliminated it completely when I was still working at the campus pub. I checked IDs of kids that were 17!? As Spoons notes, in our day (class of '79) there were two options: four year grade 12 diploma and five year grade 13 diploma. All grade 13 stream courses (advanced courses) would qualify for both four year and five year diploma, whereas four year grade 12 diploma courses (general courses) would only qualify for the four year diploma and not the five year diploma. BTW, aside from taking classes rather than spares, another way of completing five years in four was to take summer school courses and correspondence courses. It was really just a scheduling problem – there were more than enough classroom hours to complete 5 in 4, but it could get a bit messy trying to complete the prerequisites simply due to scheduling issues. For example, in my last high school, grade 13 English was offered only in the fall semester, and its prerequisite grade 12 English was only offered in spring semester. ---
**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 18, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/164 "2017-04-18T04:21:59Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Did you enter U of T in the fall of '79? I did, yes. Did you start U of T in '79 too? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/165 "2017-04-18T04:47:55Z")
Yup. Loved it. ---
**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 18, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/166 "2017-04-18T07:13:11Z")
Loved it too. U of T was a great place to learn and study. We probably crossed paths sometime during those days. Whether at Sig Sam or Robarts, or at Hart House–heck, Hart House practically became a second home, and I drank more coffee in the Tuck Shop, Arbor Room, and the Great Hall than you can imagine. Fun times and great memories of an outstanding university, as I am sure you will agree. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/167 "2017-04-18T13:29:16Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > As Spoons notes, in our day (class of '79) there were two options: four year grade 12 diploma and five year grade 13 diploma. All grade 13 stream courses (advanced courses) would qualify for both four year and five year diploma, whereas four year grade 12 diploma courses (general courses) would only qualify for the four year diploma and not the five year diploma. > > BTW, aside from taking classes rather than spares, another way of completing five years in four was to take summer school courses and correspondence courses. It was really just a scheduling problem – there were more than enough classroom hours to complete 5 in 4, but it could get a bit messy trying to complete the prerequisites simply due to scheduling issues. For example, in my last high school, grade 13 English was offered only in the fall semester, and its prerequisite grade 12 English was only offered in spring semester. Ahh yes, that makes more sense, it’s starting to come back to me now. I’m not sure the 4-year option was available at my HS but the one down the road. I stand corrected on whether a grade 13/5th year was actually mandatory as it was possible to avoid it…although for my parents it was. ---
**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 19, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/168 "2017-04-19T01:16:13Z")
I am 3/4 a credit short of having an Ontario grade 12 but I do have my Grade 13. I fast tracked a bit too fast… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/169 "2017-04-19T03:34:34Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Loved it too. U of T was a great place to learn and study. > > We probably crossed paths sometime during those days. Whether at Sig Sam or Robarts, or at Hart House–heck, Hart House practically became a second home, and I drank more coffee in the Tuck Shop, Arbor Room, and the Great Hall than you can imagine. > > Fun times and great memories of an outstanding university, as I am sure you will agree. 100%! In the pre-internet days, it greatly expanded my universe. I can’t say enough good about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/170 "2017-05-08T13:18:19Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I don’t know if it is a Canadianism or not, but in the southern Ontari-o-i-o-i-o high schools that I attended, grade nine students were called gummers. Never heard that one…same general region, in the mid-90s, we had minor niners. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/171 "2017-05-08T13:29:35Z")
Not much on the grade 9 “gummer” on the internet: [http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=4&t=5913](http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=4&t=5913) [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/ontario-teens-charges-in-hazing-shed-light-on-new-age-of-zero-tolerance/article1202269/](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/ontario-teens-charges-in-hazing-shed-light-on-new-age-of-zero-tolerance/article1202269/) (one of my highschools) [http://lingodictionary.com/slang-definition/43607/slang-definition-of-gummer](http://lingodictionary.com/slang-definition/43607/slang-definition-of-gummer) I wonder if it might be county (Halton) specific? ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/172 "2017-05-08T21:17:57Z")
How about [Coffee Crisp](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Crisp)? It’s a candy b… I mean a _chocolate_ bar you can’t get in the United States. Therefore, it’s rare and exotic to me, and whenever I’m in Canada I make sure to pick up a few. It’s nothing special, really, and the name is misleading, because it doesn’t taste like coffee. Would Canadians regard the Coffee Crisp as one of their own things? A lesser Canadianism, so to speak? Are you even aware that this product is unavailable outside your country? ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/173 "2017-05-08T22:24:10Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > How about [Coffee Crisp](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Crisp)? It’s a candy b… I mean a _chocolate_ bar you can’t get in the United States. Therefore, it’s rare and exotic to me, and whenever I’m in Canada I make sure to pick up a few. > > It’s nothing special, really, and the name is misleading, because it doesn’t taste like coffee. Would Canadians regard the Coffee Crisp as one of their own things? A lesser Canadianism, so to speak? Are you even aware that this product is unavailable outside your country? There is a whole list of confectionary items that are not available in the US, including my personal favourite - Wunderbar ---
**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:** [May 8, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/174 "2017-05-08T22:30:48Z")
Mmmmmm… Wunderbar… drool… Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/175 "2017-05-09T16:17:33Z")
Smarties. Also, [Vikings eating chocolate bars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYsx_EqIPG0)! ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/176 "2017-05-09T18:29:49Z")
Wunderbar! ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/177 "2017-05-09T20:28:49Z")
The traffic light question upthread made me think of what happened to me in Whitehorse, YK last summer (I’m from Ontario). I was crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing so I pressed the button and waited. The red light across the street turned to flashing yellow, so of course I’m standing there waiting for it to go green. Stopped cars honked their horns so I confusedly ran across - truck drives by with the driver yelling “Learn how to cross the fuckin road!!” - I was so confused, why would I step onto the road on a yellow light? Turns out you’re supposed to. Flashing yellow means “Go” for the pedestrians up there. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/178 "2017-05-09T20:30:54Z")
I wouldn’t have known that either. Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368/179 "2017-05-09T20:56:49Z")
[Motor vehicle fatalities per 100,000 drivers: Ontario 6.2, Yukon 15.4](https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/tp-1317.htm) Looks like the Yukon government has good reason to warn pedestrians with yellow “be afraid, be very afraid” signals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadianisms/783368.md?page=8)