Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Canadian English

Hey, since a lot of us Uh-mericans will be flocking up to Dwight in September for the 30th anniversary bash, I thought it would be cool to prepare us for the unique Canadian terms we will be hearing as we fly/drive/canoe in.

This thread is inspired by fredk's shout box idea: " 'What's a double double?' should be a Canadian citizenship question..."

I poked around the internet to find the answer:

Double-double: a cup of coffee with two creams and two sugars, most commonly associated with the Tim Hortons chain of coffee shops. By the same token, triple-triple.

Here's a couple of others:

Mickey: a 375 mL (12.7 US fl oz; 13.2 imp fl oz) bottle of hard liquor (informally called a pint in the Maritimes and the US).

Texas mickey (esp. in Saskatchewan; more often a "Saskatchewan mickey", esp. in western Canada): a 3 L (101 US fl oz; 106 imp fl oz) bottle of hard liquor. (Despite the name, Texas mickeys are generally unavailable outside of Canada.)

I, for one, am looking forward to my first Timmie. Mark, I hear you snickering. Cut it out.

Then we'll take you out for beers and test your knowledge.

A few off the bat:

Loonie = $1.00
Toonie = $2.00
Entree is the appetizer, not the main meal
Poverty Pack = 6 pack of beer
Molson Muscle is the muscle located around the waist after many years of 'training'
T.O., pronounced Tee Oh, Toronto Ontario
Training Beer, anything under 4.5% alcohol

Geez, all these Canadianisms....I feel a song comin' on...EH!

I drink quadruple-quadruples.

Is there room for coffee?

In other countries, it qualifies as "language."

"Oh those French! They have a different word for everything!"
--Steve Martin

I guess this still gives a pretty good overview, although it doesn't explain poutine or why we elected Trudeau :

http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comedy/iam.html

"Poutine" That is French-Canadian (Québécois) . . . it could complicate things ! Might be a few Americans attending with French ancestors. Often I will receive call from our US friends with a French name.

Since there are regional differences across the country, i'll add to this:
A "two-four" is of course a container with 24 beer which in northern Ontario is called a "case of beer". However in Manitoba a 'case' of beer typically means a container of 12.

TO = Toronto but much like New York being "the big apple" TO is also referred to as "the big smoke".

And as for mosquitoes and birds, nothing i have seen in my travels across this country compares to the size of a mosquito species here in Manitoba. It literally grows as large as the size of a large man's thumb nail.

Also known as 'those damned easterners'. Oh, wait, thats anybody east of Winipeg.

Heck, Skeeters and blackflies ain't nothin. You wanna git yerself bit by a deerfly. 25 years later I still have a scar on my arm...

Good point JC. Perhaps you could do a short presentation on the various uses of tabarnak.

A 4X4!

Hmmm, two great countries separated by a common language.

Some more translations for you:

Touque or toque - A winter stocking cap.

Pogey = UI = Unemployment benefits, now = EI, Employment Benefits but we still say UI...... Confused? then stick with pogey.

Washroom = polite for bathroom

zed = pronunciation for the letter "Z"

Ceasar = A Bloody Mary but we use Clamato Juice for some God Aweful Reason. Actually, I don't like either version but why bring clams into it?

Canadian Tire = the defacto hardware, auto, and sporting goods store. A Saturday morning tradition for most men. My new tag line I am trying to sell them, "If they don't have what you need.....you are watching too much Stephen and Chris."

Of course Canada is a broad diverse nation so here are a few from it's most Distict Society, (and No, I don't mean Quebec.)
Newphanese, the language of Newfoundland.
Just a "smattering", mind you Luv. I don't gots room for an entire dictionary of dis stuff.

In fact, I'm just going to give you a link as half the time I don't understand them and I live in their closest neighboring province (To the Island part anyways.)

Sandra's NFL Sayings

Yes, a link is the lazy arse at it but I Don't Gots to Do Nutting, ya big Chucklehead!

Touque or toque? It's TUQUE!!

That dictionary is precious!
And... I always thought the NFL was a sport league of some sort.

So, there's so much call for conversing about the stomachs of codfish that a new word was needed?

I knew there was a reason I didn't like cod, but just couldn't put my paw on it until now.

... unless they live near a Princess Auto.

Traitor!!

I don't think I've had a tool from Princess Auto last more than four minutes.

Mind you, Crappy Tire isn't much better, but at least you can take the broken thing back

You don't buy your primary tools at Princess Auto (a friend of mine broke a few fingers when his new socket handle fell apart under load) but it's a fantastic place to browse around and pick up all the *other* stuff.

I mean, if someone asked me to build a giant robot in a hurry my first stop would be at PA and that would probably cover 80% of what I needed.

You buy seldom used/one time use items from Princess Auto as they do seem to break easily. BTW, you can return their Power Fist branded hand tools when broken for replacement just like anywhere else. I still prefer Sears Craftsman hand tools to Mastercraft (Canadian Tire) although the Maximum line from Canadian tire is of good quality.

I saw Crappy Tire used a few posts back, for those South of the border this is the usual slang for Canadian Tire.

Princess Auto does sell mostly offshore, umm....crap, but occasionally have some very good surplus clearances on decent items. Craftsman, overall, I find to be similar if slightly better than Mastercraft, but not as good as Mastercraft Maximum. I've bought wrenches, for instance, from Sears and they are finished poorly on the ends and also have an uncomfortable grip which tends to cut into my hands on frozen/rusted bolts. I think they have different suppliers though, so maybe not all of their wrenches are like that. I also bought a 12" sliding mitre saw by Craftsman that I'd definately replace with a competitors saw in the future once it goes. My neighbour has the same saw, and the bearings get fouled up with dust and start binding. Mine has also become noisy after only a couple of years.

Power Tools are another matter, Dewalt, Makita, Milwakee, Bosch, Rigid etc. are all prefered over Craftsman/Mastercraft. Although B&D make Dewalt and most of the Craftsmen power tools.

Just did some quick research and it looks like Mastercraft and Sears are now getting their hand tools from Stanely Black and Decker Company, well from any one of their tool divisions, Matco, Facom, Proto etc.

http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/products-services/our-brands