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A Typology of Canadianisms

dchp.arts.ubc.ca

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Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#181

Post by throwaway290 »

chongli wrote: post #179
throwaway290 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When and why/how did you stop getting soakers? Asking for a friend

I no longer walk to school! When I walk into a store or into work I always watch where I step, regardless of the season or the weather. I’m especially cautious walking around my back yard after a rain!

Yes I guess once you learn to tell the signs of thin ice, soakers are rare... but now in tropics I get soakers being adult! Sometimes deep water is hard to notice or there is no route around a puddle. Maybe these are not really soakers (no ice involved) but I like the word

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#182

Post by astura »

mykowebhn wrote: post #180
michaelmior wrote: post #69

As a Canadian who married an American and now lived in the US, I was surprised how many things I say are Canadianisms without me having realized. There have been a lot of (minor) miscommunications because I didn't realize I was saying something only Canadians understand. Like when I told her that my parents' hydro had been out all day.

I initially worked in Canada where it wouldn't be uncommon to go out for a work lunch and order a beer. When I got a new job in the US, my boss took me and several coworkers to a restaurant for lunch as a way to welcome me. When the waitress asked what I wanted to drink I asked for a beer. I then heard one of my coworkers who was sitting next to me ask me incredulously, "What are you doing?" I responded that I was or…

It's common to order a beer at work lunch in the US too.

Though I have worked at places if the company was paying for the lunch they won't pay for alcohol. In those cases we've always asked for the beers to be on a separate check so the expense report is easier.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#183

Post by olalonde »

af78 wrote: post #161
zahlman wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the first gloss DeepL gives me for it. I've never before in my life heard "pastèque" and I doubt I'll remember it.

« Melon d'eau » ? For watermelon? I thought it was a joke, but well, Wikipedia mentions it: « La pastèque [...], parfois appelée melon d'eau » ( https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past%C3%A8que ) Everyone says « pastèque » in mainland France, where I've lived for over 40 years. I've never seen melon d'eau and I doubt anyone will understand it unless they know the English word.

Conversely, I'm a native French speaker from Quebec, and honestly, this is the first time I've ever come across the word "pastèque."

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#184

Post by teqsun »

This list somehow doesn't have "converter" (to refer to a television remote), which was the first word to unexpectedly baffle my American coworkers the first time I said it, to my own surprise.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#185

Post by slumberlust »

mykowebhn wrote: post #180
michaelmior wrote: post #69

As a Canadian who married an American and now lived in the US, I was surprised how many things I say are Canadianisms without me having realized. There have been a lot of (minor) miscommunications because I didn't realize I was saying something only Canadians understand. Like when I told her that my parents' hydro had been out all day.

I initially worked in Canada where it wouldn't be uncommon to go out for a work lunch and order a beer. When I got a new job in the US, my boss took me and several coworkers to a restaurant for lunch as a way to welcome me. When the waitress asked what I wanted to drink I asked for a beer. I then heard one of my coworkers who was sitting next to me ask me incredulously, "What are you doing?" I responded that I was or…

Many companies and cultures in the US are fine with a drink or two at lunch. What industry was this company in?

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#186

Post by slumberlust »

dismalaf wrote: post #33
joshdavham wrote: post #32

Probably one of my favorite commonly-used Canadian slang is "to chirp someone". It's a term that's frequently used in hockey circles, but more generally means to make fun of someone in a banter-y kind of way.

Nah if you say someone chirped you say, on the street or in a pub, it's fighting words...

I've always took it as the opposite. Chriping is just noise with no real threat (most chirping birds are not a threat to humans). It's just someone being friendly with their banter usually in a making fun of you type context.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#187

Post by Rendello »

teqsun wrote: post #184

This list somehow doesn't have "converter" (to refer to a television remote), which was the first word to unexpectedly baffle my American coworkers the first time I said it, to my own surprise.

I'm from Northern Ontario and never heard that one, but I was also surprised by a missing term: "transport". In my neck of the woods, that's how we refer to a semi-truck / 18-wheeler.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#188

Post by Rendello »

allenu wrote: post #63
badc0ffee wrote: post #3

Seems very thorough. I don't see "transport" or "transport truck" though. I think It's an Ontario expression and it sounds kind of weird to me as an Albertan.

There must be so many tiny little differences like this. I remember when I lived in Toronto for a bit that the way they phrased whether you wanted a fast food order to eat at the restaurant or to take home was a little different from in Alberta. I know in Alberta, they would ask "to stay, or to go?" when ordering, but in Toronto I think it was "for here or to go?" which is how I've heard it phrased in the U.S. as wel…

I'm from Northern Ontario and me and my buddy went to a poutine place in Toronto. He asked for a poutine (naturally), and the worker didn't understand him. Southern Ontario says "poo-teen" /pu.tin/, but we say "p'tin" /pə.tɪn/ where I'm from. The original French way is [pu.t͡sɪn].

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#189

Post by werdnapk »

teqsun wrote: post #184

This list somehow doesn't have "converter" (to refer to a television remote), which was the first word to unexpectedly baffle my American coworkers the first time I said it, to my own surprise.

I've never heard that one... what part of the country is that from?
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