# Canadians: Enlighted this American **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569 "2003-05-21T14:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/21 "2003-05-21T18:08:05Z")
> [@](#): > > ``` > After Confederation, the Queen's birthday was celebrated every year on May 24 unless that date was a Sunday, in which case a proclamation was issued providing for the celebration on May 25. After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada establishing a legal holiday on May 24 in each year (or May 25 if May 24 fell on a Sunday) under the name Victoria Day. > > ``` and for more info … [http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/gfaol/resource/Canada/Victoria.htm](http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/gfaol/resource/Canada/Victoria.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/22 "2003-05-21T18:24:28Z")
If it’s just the shelf labelling we’re talking about, like on the price tags, “Homo milk” is used throughout the United States. _Every_ product in the grocery store is abbreviated on the shelf label, and the logical abbreviation for “homogenized” is “homo”. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/23 "2003-05-21T20:42:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Casey & Finnegan > Canadian Tire money > A Mickey > 2-4 > Serviette > Chesterfield > Homo Milk (Homogenized maybe?) A mickey is what you guys would call a Fifth i believe. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/24 "2003-05-22T14:39:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Declan \* > \*\*A mickey is what you guys would call a Fifth i believe. > > Declan \*\* Well, if they’re 375ml, they’re closer to 2-fifths. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/25 "2003-05-22T15:32:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jackknifed Juggernaut \* > \*\*Well, if they’re 375ml, they’re closer to 2-fifths. \*\* I was always under the impression that a fifth meant a fifth of a gallon not of a litter. Which is a lot closer to 750ml (757ml according to some random conversion website) There was some thread a while back where someone was complaining that the liquor companies were ripping us off by changing from a fifth of a gallon to 750ml without changing the price. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/26 "2003-05-22T15:40:19Z")
I’ve heard “fifth” used to mean varying amounts, though I’m sure one of them is correct. Most commonly in reference to 750ml bottles, which surprised me; I always thought of a fifth as a smallish bottle of booze, much like what you’re describing a “mickey” as being. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/27 "2003-05-22T15:43:21Z")
Who was the Canadian comic who did a routine about using Canadian Tire money in a foreign country? “No, no, my friend…that guy on there is the _King of Canada,_ Sandy MacBuck the First…” ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/28 "2003-05-22T17:54:28Z")
[Canadianisms](http://www.icomm.ca/emily/isms.html) A mickey is definitely not a fifth. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/29 "2003-05-22T19:27:10Z")
A fifth in the US is a fifth of a gallon. A mickey is a (CDN) pint ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/30 "2003-05-22T19:58:15Z")
Nah, a pint is half a litre. Unless your bar is serving chump pints, which’ll be smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/31 "2003-05-22T21:13:55Z")
## quote: ## After Confederation, the Queen’s birthday was celebrated every year on May 24 unless that date was a Sunday, in which case a proclamation was issued providing for the celebration on May 25. After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada establishing a legal holiday on May 24 in each year (or May 25 if May 24 fell on a Sunday) under the name Victoria Day. The 24th of May Is the Queen’s birthday If we don’t get a holiday We’ll all run away! ---
**Author:** ![Back\_Lot\_Brawl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Back\_Lot\_Brawl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Back_Lot_Brawl)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/32 "2003-05-22T21:30:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by eutactic \* > \*\* > > 1. 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. > \*\* My ex-girlfriend was from Ontario, and she said she once asked for “serviettes” at a restaurant when she was on vacation in the U.S., and the waitress looked at her like she was nuts. So it’s definitely used in Ontario, but I don’t know aboot western Canada. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/33 "2003-05-22T22:18:14Z")
We don’t _use_ the term in Alberta much, be we still know what it is. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/34 "2003-05-22T22:29:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Back Lot Brawl \* > \*\*My ex-girlfriend was from Ontario, and she said she once asked for “serviettes” at a restaurant when she was on vacation in the U.S., and the waitress looked at her like she was nuts. So it’s definitely used in Ontario, but I don’t know aboot western Canada. \*\* Not uncommon in Saskatchewan. And I must say I’ve never heard of ‘2-4’ being used to refer to Victoria Day. Since it’s now the third monday in May regardless of the date, it only falls on the 24th once in seven years. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/35 "2003-05-23T02:50:50Z")
I remember “serviette” and “chesterfield” being common several decades ago, but I rarely hear them now. I don’t think anybody has mentioned yet that a mickey has a flat, slightly curved shape, like a hip flask. ---
**Author:** ![plain\_jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@plain\_jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plain_jane)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/36 "2003-05-23T03:04:51Z")
I’m in Ontario. . . I haven’t heard anyone say “2-4” to mean anything other than a case of beer _unless_ they specifically say “May 2-4”. And I’ve often heard (and sometimes used) the word serviette to mean napkin. And in this area, anyway, we’ve always used the term “homo milk”… I don’t buy it, but I’m pretty damn sure it even says “homo milk” on the bag, does it not? I can’t remember. I buy skim. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/37 "2003-05-23T03:53:55Z")
I don’t drink homo but I know that when you get a little milk for your coffee when you’re out and it comes in a little cuppy thing the top just says HOMO. If you hold it upside down it says OWOH. It’s ever so much fun. In my household it was always taboo to say ‘homogonized’ because it must mean you were too immature to be able to say ‘homo’ without giggling. I also remember being corrected whenever I called a paper serviette a napkin. And that a chesterfield is a good couch and a regular crappy couch is just a couch. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/38 "2003-05-23T06:03:04Z")
Wen I lived with my Grandparents in Alberta and Saskatchewan, we used “Serviette” and “Chesterfield” exclusively. Today, I never use “Serviette” any more, and haven’t heard it used for years. Chesterfield still creeps into the conversation once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/39 "2003-05-23T17:18:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barbarian \* > \*\*Nah, a pint is half a litre. Unless your bar is serving chump pints, which’ll be smaller. \*\* The term “mickey” predates the use of the metric system in Canada. It was a Canadian pint (= 0.56826036348 liters) and = (1.200948051954392 pints U.S.). It’s also not served in a bar, but bought from the liquor store. (It’s a flask. It even has the curve in it.) Remember, we are in the age of the 14 oz. “pound” of coffee, so who the f\*\*\* knows what it’s shrunk to now. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569/40 "2003-05-23T17:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Wen I lived with my Grandparents in Alberta and Saskatchewan, we used “Serviette” and “Chesterfield” exclusively. Today, I never use “Serviette” any more, and haven’t heard it used for years. Chesterfield still creeps into the conversation once in a while. \*\* Same here, in Ontario. I never hear anyone under the age of 45–50 use the term “chesterfield,” but my parents and grandparents use it from time to time, though “couch” is the preferred term. They also use “serviettes,” a word I never use and I don’t know anyone my age who does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-enlighted-this-american/176569.md?page=3)