My Canadian wife e-mailed me a list of things that only Canadians would understand. I know about a few of them (like poutine for example). But I’d like to be fully informed, and she just laughs at me when I ask her what these things mean:
Casey & Finnegan
Canadian Tire money
A Mickey
2-4
Serviette
Chesterfield
Homo Milk (Homogenized maybe?)
So, my Canadian friends, please explain. Don’t worry, there are no bets riding on any of this info.
That should be: Enlighte(N) this American. Jeez!
Characters from the childrens tv show “Mr Dress-up”.
Money given out from the store Canadian Tire in the form of .05, .10, .15 cent bills. Only usable at their store or gasbar.
A drink? (not sure)
May 24 weekend? (3 day weekend)
paper napkin
couch
yup
Characters on Mr. Dressup, a popular children’s show.
Money given to you when you purchase goods from Canadian Tire. Can only be used at their stores.
Not sure, but a mickey is a small container that holds alcohol. Usually kept in a breast pocket or somewhere similar. Not really uniquely Canadian, but it does warm you up in the winter.
A 2-4 is a case of 24 beers.
Serviette is french for napkin. I have no idea if it’s used outside of Quebec (the word, not the item), which is where I’m situated.
A chesterfield is another name for a couch, and keeps cropping up in these “Canadian Things” lists, but I’ve never heard anyone say it.
My guess would be homogenized milk but, again, never heard anyone say homo milk.
Any other questions?
Just to confirm, 7. is homogenzied milk (more a Maritime term, I think).
BTW, Casey was gender indeterminate, and Finnegan was a dog.
Serviette is commonplace as is chesterfield, though less so. And homogenized milk is labeled Homo in the store where I work. Your idea of 2-4 is most likely right though I don’t drink so I assumed May 2-4 weekend.
Thanks!
Futher to previois replies,
Mickey - a hip-pocket-sized bottle of liquor
serviette - sometimes used outside Quebec, but more often replaced by napkin due to US influence (product labelling, etc.)
Chesterfield - I grew up in Newfoundland and never heard it called anything else until I moved to Toronto
Homo milk - it says Homogenized on the milk, but it almost always says Homo on the shelf price or sale price notice
The word serviette is quite common in England too.
Casey & Finnegan: Two puppets, a boy and his dog, that are characters on that old children’s show Mr. Dressup
Canadian Tire money: is not given out in .05 cent denominations… That’d be really small. 
But when you spend cash at Canadian Tire (which is a general hardware store where you can get everything from lollipops to a tent to your car repaired) they give you cash back proportional to your purchase. I usually horde it until I’ve got $15 and then go wild
A Mickey: 375mL of hard liquor.
2-4: a case of 24 beer-- usually in bottles.
Serviette: Napkin
Chesterfield: a high-backed couch that seats 3 or 4 people.
Homo Milk (Homogenized maybe?): yup
On second thought, it may be less than 375 mL. I never buy 'em, because I always bring homebrew or wine to parties, but they’re a good size to haul along so you can leave it there if you don’t finish.
Barbarian nope, you were right the first time, they are 375ml.
MtM
I always thought “Chesterfield” was a Britishism … obv. carried over to this side of the Atlantic. (And I thought it had its origins in a particular brand … just like with “Kleenex” and “Coke” are used generically so often in this country.)
2-4 can also be the long weekend in May which does not need to fall on May 24th. Since it also involves copious amounts of beer the 24 case of beer answer also works.
2-4 to me is the may 24 weekend (newfie here)
“what ya goin at on the 2-4?”
cheers
-ed
It’s very common in England. For those that know better, it’s a napkin 
Sometimes our shelves and advertisements have said “homo milk.” I distinctly remember chuckling about it as a kid. On the other hand, I’m a short swim from Ontario, so…
Not a brand, but a style which looks like this. The deep buttoning, roll arms and equal height of arms and back are all characteristic of a chesterfield. I believe it was named after a C19[sup]th[/sup] Earl of Chesterfield, who also had a type of overcoat named after him.
Hmm… My chesterfields at home were always a much higher back.
FWIW, I grew up in Montreal, but my dad’s from England, so I’ve got all sorts of dialectical oddities.
2-4 refers to a case of (24) beers.
May 2-4 is called such, because as the first long weekend of the summer you get a 2-4 to celebrate. It’s actually called Victoria day weekend
