Hi folks,<\/p>\n
I originally compiled this list of Canadian English for a workshop I did recently for an organization that helps new immigrants settle and learn job skills, but I also think this list is great for people that visit Canada for business or pleasure. I know there are words and phrases that I’ve missed, and there may be some regional disagreements with this list, but it should serve it’s purpose, and maybe even generate some fun discussion that leads to a deeper understanding of Canadian language and culture. Enjoy!<\/p>\n
\u201cAboot\u201d<\/b> \u2013 Despite what American T.V. and films suggest, we do not mispronounce \u201cabout\u201d like this. Maybe 2% of the population might, but as a general rule \u2013 nope.<\/p>\n
Can<\/b> \u2013 instead of washroom, bathroom, toilet, lavatory, WC, loo, etc.
\nCanuck<\/b> – A slang term for a Canadian, but we don\u2019t take offense!<\/p>\n
Chocolate bar<\/b> \u2013 instead of candy bar.
\nDouble-double<\/b> – a cup of coffee with two creams and two sugars. ‘Tim Hortons’ coffee shop\u00a0 lingo. If you want just one cream and one sugar, you have to ask for \u201cregular\u201d.<\/p>\n
Eh?<\/b> Said often to get agreement, clarification or confirmation. Americans say \u201chuh?\u201d
\nHoodie<\/b> – A hooded sweatshirt.
\nHogtown<\/b> – old name for Toronto. The kids say T.O. or T-dot.
\nHomo milk<\/b> – whole milk with a fat content greater than 2%, usually 3.25%.<\/p>\n
Hoser<\/b> \u2013 Nickname for a blue-collar Canadian popularized by Bob and Doug Mackenzie characters from SCTV and \u201cStrange Brew\u201d. Not generally spoken these days.
\nHydro<\/b> – synonym for electrical service, as in \u201cDid you pay the hydro (bill) yet?\u201d<\/p>\n
Inuit<\/b> \u2013 our Northern natives\/aboriginals. We don\u2019t call them \u201cEskimos\u201d.
\nJoe Blow<\/b> \u2013 Means any random person, like John Q. Public or any Tom, Dick or Harry.<\/p>\n
Keener<\/b> \u2013 an \u201ceager beaver\u201d, someone who is diligent and works (too) hard!
\nKD<\/b> – Kraft Dinner – macaroni and cheese in a box. Americans call is \u201cMac N\u2019 Cheese\u201d.<\/p>\n
Line-up<\/b> \u2013 instead of saying \u201cline\u201d or \u201cqueue\u201d. Used as a compound noun and verb.
\nLoonie<\/b> – Canadian one dollar coin, that has a picture of a loon (bird) on it.<\/p>\n
Mickey<\/b> \u2013 no, not the mouse. This is the name for the small, pocket-sized bottle of booze.<\/p>\n
Newfie<\/b> \u2013 a person from Newfoundland, that tends to be the brunt of a lot of jokes. In today\u2019s politically correct world, this is considered insulting and no longer acceptable to use.
\nPissed<\/b> \u2013 can mean angry or drunk.
\nPogey<\/b> \u2013 old name for (un)employment insurance given by the government.
\nPop<\/b> \u2013 Instead of \u201csoda pop\u201d or \u201csoda\u201d. Also slang for beer, made popular by Hockey Night in Canada personality Don Cherry on The Coach\u2019s Corner.
\nPoutine<\/b> – french fries topped with cheese curd and covered with hot gravy.<\/p>\n
Puck-Bunny<\/b> \u2013 a girl that likes hockey players, as in a \u201cgroupie\u201d.
\nRunners<\/b> – running shoes. We don\u2019t often say \u201ctennis shoes\u201d, \u201ctrainers\u201d, \u201csneakers\u201d or \u201cjoggers\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shinny<\/b> \u2013 means pond, river or street hockey. A.K.A. a game of pick-up.
\nSki-Doo<\/b> – used generically to refer to any snowmobile.
\nSnowbird<\/b> – a Canadian who spends the winter in the south, like in Florida. This is also the name of our national team of airplanes that perform at air shows.
\nTimbits<\/b> – donut holes sold at Tim Hortons or \u201cTimmy\u2019s\u201d. By the way, Tim Horton was an ex-NHL hockey player who started the first Tim Hortons shop in 1964 in Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Toboggan<\/b> \u2013 What we call our sleds and sleighs that we ride down the snowhill.
\nToonie<\/b> – the Canadian two-dollar coin. Two loonies equal a toonie!
\nToque<\/b> – a knitted winter hat.
\n26er<\/b> – 26 imperial fluid oz alcohol \u2013 the big bottle!
\n2-4<\/b> – “two four”- a box containing 24 beer.<\/p>\n
Washroom<\/b> \u2013 commonly used instead of saying bathroom, lavatory, WC, loo, etc.<\/p>\n
Zed<\/b> \u2013 the last letter of the alphabet is pronounced \u201czed\u201d instead of \u201czee\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi folks, I originally compiled this list of Canadian English for a workshop I did recently for an organization that helps new immigrants settle and learn job skills, but I also think this list is great for people that visit Canada for business or pleasure. I know there are words and phrases that I’ve missed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[535,537],"tags":[588,583,584],"class_list":["post-156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esl-cultural-communications","category-speak-english-better","tag-canadian-culture","tag-idioms","tag-slang"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":779,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions\/779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}