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A Typology of Canadianisms

dchp.arts.ubc.ca

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Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#281

Post by goodcanadian »

kps wrote: post #224
goodcanadian wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never in my life heard "off-sale" . . . Off-sale has long been used in Alberta. I have a memory of asking my parents what it meant when I was a kid (and I am in my 40s, now).

Maybe from UK ‘off-license’?

Similar concept, I suppose. When I was young, alcohol for consumption at home was generally only available for purchase in government run liquor stores. (This is still the case in some provinces, but no longer true in Alberta.) However, a few licensed premises (bars and restaurants) were permitted to do off-sales and sell alcohol that you were allowed to take with you off the premises.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#282

Post by mynameisvlad »

wk_end wrote: post #239
ShroudedNight wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised "Four Oh [X]" is specifically a Canadianism. I would have expected it to manifest more broadly, given things like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/409_(song)

I don't really think it is...in Washington State for instance the highway through the Seattle suburbs is called "the four-oh-five" (there's a Death Cab For Cutie song about this one).

But that might be just because it's a bypass to I5/5/the 5 (depending on who you ask).

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#283

Post by keoneflick »

abeille wrote: post #266
keoneflick wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be sure to also check out how francophone Quebecois have been very effective at revenge - driving out anglophones and allophones from Quebec through vindictive attacks against their language, culture, schooling and employment. It's sad, but I am ultimately glad I will be the last generation of my family born in Quebec. Au revoir and good riddance.

To put things into perspectives, let’s remember that anglophones in Québec, which represent about 10% of the population, have 3 universities, one of which is McGill, and have there theaters and artists, newspapers and tv shows. Many live in Montréal all there life without knowing a word of French, since it is possible to find almost everywhere someone that speaks English. By constrast, it is less and less easy to liv…

> By constrast, it is less and less easy to live only in French in Montréal, since it is not always possible to find someone that speaks French.

Sorry you went to a restaurant in chinatown that didn't speak french. I hope you can recover safely from that experience. Meanwhile, this is the truth of living in Quebec as an allophone: https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article505933.html

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#284

Post by mynameisvlad »

MegaDeKay wrote: post #99
regus wrote: post #81

I have a sure fire method for detecting Canadians out in the wild. Pay close attention to how they pronounce the word “resources”. If you hear the letter Z in there then they are probably Canadian.

Your method wouldn't detect me. But you'd get me when I pronounced "Z" as "Zed".

Sadly my last name starts with a Z so after a decade of living in the US, I lost the "zed".

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#285

Post by ande-mnoc »

keoneflick wrote: post #283
abeille wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To put things into perspectives, let’s remember that anglophones in Québec, which represent about 10% of the population, have 3 universities, one of which is McGill, and have there theaters and artists, newspapers and tv shows. Many live in Montréal all there life without knowing a word of French, since it is possible to find almost everywhere someone that speaks English. By constrast, it is less and less easy to liv…

> By constrast, it is less and less easy to live only in French in Montréal, since it is not always possible to find someone that speaks French. Sorry you went to a restaurant in chinatown that didn't speak french. I hope you can recover safely from that experience. Meanwhile, this is the truth of living in Quebec as an allophone: https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article505933.html

If you read the article you posted, she faced discrimination because she was indigenous. Nowhere in the article was the language she spoke ever mentioned. It’s pretty disingenuous to use this to push a political viewpoint.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#286

Post by skeeter2020 »

talos_ wrote: post #167

Well, why not include the word "Canadian", which significantly predates the country, as the prime example? It's derived from Iroquois Nation words and used by French settlers to refer to Indigenous people. The word "Canada" was used by explorer Jacques Cartier to refer to the city now called "Québec". It broadly refered to the territory of a specific Indigenous tribe. (could be derogatory, but seemingly accurate / ma…

>> Their chant "go, habs, go" refers to the "habitants"

The province of Quebec has very strong language laws intended to protect the French language. Heavy-handed? You be the judge. City buses in Montreal were recently "pressured" to stop displaying the chant (one of the most Quebecois things you can say to promote your pride) because it's English. Instead they were told to use the super-common-rolls-off-the-tongue-and-way-better "Allez! Canadiens Allez!"

edit: this was later reviewed because of public pressure about just how stupid it is and now "go" is ok. But the language police still say "go" is an Anglicism and public bodies are obligated to use "exemplary" French, so you can see some of that snooty OG France perseveres - I guess the system works!

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#287

Post by keoneflick »

ande-mnoc wrote: post #285
keoneflick wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> By constrast, it is less and less easy to live only in French in Montréal, since it is not always possible to find someone that speaks French. Sorry you went to a restaurant in chinatown that didn't speak french. I hope you can recover safely from that experience. Meanwhile, this is the truth of living in Quebec as an allophone: https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article505933.html

If you read the article you posted, she faced discrimination because she was indigenous. Nowhere in the article was the language she spoke ever mentioned. It’s pretty disingenuous to use this to push a political viewpoint.

She died because she didn't speak french and the staff laughed at her rather than try to communicate with her. If you think racism in Quebec doesn't have a connection with language, you are dangerously misinformed.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#288

Post by talos_ »

laurencerowe wrote: post #280
talos_ wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the link you shared: > The English word province is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French province, which itself comes from the Latin word provincia, which referred to the sphere of authority of a magistrate, in particular, to a foreign territory. The fact that British authorities picked a French word that the conquered would understand is significant. > I wonder if the word choi…

> The fact that British authorities picked a French word that the conquered would understand is significant. That seems unavoidable given almost all English words related to government/law/administration (including "state") derive from French! The only counterexamples I can think of are "borough" and "riding". > "Province" made allegiance to the crown oversea clear There is a much clearer term for that though, "domin…

I like to joke that "Dominion of Canada" is actually a railroad company

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#289

Post by cwillu »

nucleardog wrote: post #51

Surprising one for me was "all dressed" as a term for, e.g., a pizza with all the toppings. Apparently it's a direct translation from French and is pretty exclusive to Quebec English and the Easternmost part of Ontario (which is heavily French). And Saskatchewan. Which the site notes is "a bit of a mystery". Also found "parkade" interesting--apparently it's still much more heavily used in Western Canada, and they att…

There's a significant (though not exactly large) french-speaking population in Saskatchewan.

I live a couple blocks from a large french-only school.

Re: A Typology of Canadianisms

#290

Post by cwillu »

c-hendricks wrote: post #60
nucleardog wrote: post #51

Surprising one for me was "all dressed" as a term for, e.g., a pizza with all the toppings. Apparently it's a direct translation from French and is pretty exclusive to Quebec English and the Easternmost part of Ontario (which is heavily French). And Saskatchewan. Which the site notes is "a bit of a mystery". Also found "parkade" interesting--apparently it's still much more heavily used in Western Canada, and they att…

The Works is usually a the name for the pizza. Chiming in for the east coast, all dressed is chips.

Having spent a large portion of time answering phones in the pizza business, I can assure you that a great many people in Saskatchewan will order an all-dressed pizza even though we had no such thing on the menu.
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