Put on a bunnyhug and get off the chesterfield!

August 24, 2017 6:03 AM

The Canadian Language Survey results are in! And “Even in other places that have no obvious reason to talk differently, Canadians have developed strong regionalisms.” Toque, Pencil crayons, garburator, oh my!
posted by blue_beetle (109 comments total)

That's what happens when you've got Red Green as your webmaster.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:10 AM on August 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

If duct tape can't fix your server, it's not worth owning.
posted by haileris23 at 6:17 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

If duct tape can't fix your server, it's not worth owning.
In the western regions, however, that would be referred to as a servurator.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:23 AM on August 24, 2017 [7 favorites]

See also, previously:

55 Canadianisms You May Not Know or Are Using Differently
A (non-scientific) survey providing a thorough & fascinating look at words in Canadian English
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:27 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

There is soccer. There is baseball. And then there is the schoolyard game which combines the two. Western Canadians agree with most Americans that this game should be called kickball, but the rest of Canada is far more practical, simply calling it soccer baseball.

It's been a long time since I've been on a schoolyard, but I have never heard the term 'soccer baseball'. Perhaps that is a new thing, replacing the name we played the game under: 'Chinese baseball'*. But 'soccer baseball'? Must be new.

*Which is a super-racist name we didn't much consider then in late 70s-early 80s white suburban Southern Ontario and I'm sorry.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:35 AM on August 24, 2017

It is interesting to me that wife's extended family from far northern Vermont (Swanton & St. Albans area) use a number of Canadianisms and Canadian pronunciations, especially Kraft Dinner over Mac & Cheese, but also elastic band and running shoes.

Also bunnyhug is the best name for anything ever and I am going to start using it immediately.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:38 AM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

When I was in high school in the 70's hoodies were known as "kangaroo jackets." Does anyone else remember that term?
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:41 AM on August 24, 2017 [12 favorites]

Newfoundlanders prefer "stocking caps". Huh.

And I used to feel bad about all Newfie jokes in the schoolyard. The yard of school where we played soccer-baseball in Southern Ontario.
posted by rodlymight at 6:43 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

I grew up in Nova Scotia, went to university in Ontario, and have spent most of my adult life in Alberta. I think the article was spot on. And since I played on Nova Scotian playgrounds in the 1960s-70s, I played "soccer baseball", so the term is about 50 years old at least.
posted by angiep at 6:47 AM on August 24, 2017

Backpack vs. packsack.

Discuss.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:49 AM on August 24, 2017

I've lived in America for 40 years but you will pry "serviette" from my cold, dead hands. (I have also inflicted it on my entirely American husband and son.) I don't think any other Canadianisms remain in my vocabulary except that one.

Also, as a Pittsburgher I am pleased to see that so much of Canada remains on the side of good here with "pop". Team Pop Forever.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:57 AM on August 24, 2017 [8 favorites]

Backpack vs. packsack.

Rucksack.
posted by Fizz at 6:58 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

Team Pop Forever

TONIC 4 LYFE

I mean, not really, but it's what my grandparents and my Dad called it, and I hate that it is dying out.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:10 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Rucksack

You mean knapsack?
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:11 AM on August 24, 2017 [12 favorites]

Also, huh at kickball being an actual thing. All these years I thought it was to soccer as shinny is to hockey.
posted by rodlymight at 7:11 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

...Although it occurs to me that I've only very rarely heard anyone conversationally talk about 'shinny', we say 'pickup' around here.
posted by rodlymight at 7:22 AM on August 24, 2017

I think the dinner/supper thing is also a rural/urban split - I can never tell what meal my eastern Ontario relatives are saying I should come eat with them.
posted by GuyZero at 7:25 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

bunnyhug is the best name for a garment ever, and shall henceforth be my one of choice.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:27 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've lived in Southern Ontario my entire life (55 years). I too, have never encountered the term "soccer baseball" until today.
posted by davebush at 7:28 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

I mean, not really, but it's what my grandparents and my Dad called it, and I hate that it is dying out.

A friend's grandparents were old, old Boston and this was the best thing.

Also "spa" for bodega / corner store.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:33 AM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm not seeing anything about the great gotch/gitch divide. I'm not sure this analysis is as comprehensive as it could be.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:36 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

"I've lived in Southern Ontario my entire life (55 years). I too, have never encountered the term "soccer baseball" until today."

Perhaps it's a generational thing? I went to public school in the 90's and soccer baseball was a thing at that time.
posted by Harpocrates at 7:37 AM on August 24, 2017

we called it soccer baseball in alberta
posted by PinkMoose at 7:39 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Team Pop Forever

Kim Mitchell disagrees.

Are you going to argue with Kim Mitchell?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:39 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

We always called it soccer baseball where I grew up in Southern Ontario (Niagara region).
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:42 AM on August 24, 2017

I'm not seeing anything about the great gotch/gitch divide. I'm not sure this analysis is as comprehensive as it could be.

Gaunch, surely.
posted by Zedcaster at 7:42 AM on August 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

Gotchies
posted by Kabanos at 7:44 AM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

Ooh look at Nova Scotia with their fancy "silverware."
posted by Kabanos at 7:45 AM on August 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

Not sure I get the marks vs grades distinction. Marks are what you get on tests and assignments, grades are what you get on report cards. They are two different things.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:49 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

It's interesting to note how often they set the Avalon peninsula (the furthest east bit of the island) as having different preferences from the rest of the island of Newfoundland, and yet they never really bother to distinguish them. FWIW, I went to school in southern Ontario in the early 80s and we played soccer baseball.
posted by peppermind at 7:51 AM on August 24, 2017

Grew up in Dallas, Texas, USA. Born in India with a family influenced by British/Imperial colloquialisms. Have now lived in Southern Ontario for the past 18 years.

Words/phrases we use in this house:
• torch
• lift
• pop
• rucksack
• touque
• ya'll
• map pencils
• hoodie
• eaves-troughs
• kickball
• hydro
• garbage disposal

Anyone who says garburator is wrong. One of my best friends lives out West and we're going to have to talk about what she calls the garbage disposal. If she says garburator, there may be problems.
posted by Fizz at 7:54 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

Born in Montreal in the 60s (anglophone mother with Cape Breton roots and a francophone father from the Laurentians), spoke English at home and school, moved to Toronto in the 70s.

Childhood: soft drink (occasionally "liqueur"), variety store, silverware (*waves at Cape Breton*), pencil crayons (Laurentian brand, of course), chesterfield, running shoes

Now: pop, corner store, cutlery, coloured pencils, couch, running shoes

Eternally confused: dinner vs supper; deckle versus dee-cal
posted by maudlin at 7:55 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

I would notice when I came back to The States (Michigan) each September saying things like "The States" for the USA, or "mum", or "bum", which were very Ontario to their ears. But I was ridiculously older before I noticed the "washroom" v "bathroom" divide, because Americans would look at me funny.
posted by ldthomps at 7:56 AM on August 24, 2017

Backpack vs. packsack.

It's a kitbag if you are from PEI. My mind was blown when I traveled and found out nobody else knows what that means.
posted by notorious medium at 8:03 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

(I don't know why we never said "dépanneur", which is one of the world's greatest words, when we lived in Montreal. We would use the store name "Perrette" when we lived in the suburbs and went there to get jug milk and cutout records, but when we moved to Montreal proper, there were no Perrettes nearby, just independent stores.)

Anyway, I'm calling all corner stores dépanneurs or deps now.
posted by maudlin at 8:05 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

the "washroom" v "bathroom" divide, because Americans would look at me funny.

I had been in Canada for only 3 years when I went back to visit family in Texas and I had picked up the washroom/bathroom habit while I was up here and the look of disdain and judgement I received from a waiter at a Mexican restaurant when I asked him “Where the washroom was located?” is something I'll carry with me forever. It was like I had sacrificed his first born child.
posted by Fizz at 8:05 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

i always thought the expression "corner store" came about because in sydney (or syndey to some) there was an old couple with a little shop on their porch or front room in every block, it seemed - you could get soda, bags of milk, candy bars and most important, cigarettes - (i smoked matinees)

that was back in the 70s so maybe things have changed in cape breton
posted by pyramid termite at 8:10 AM on August 24, 2017

I'm from Toronto, and I don't normally use either "corner store" or "convenience store" - I grew up with "variety store".
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 8:10 AM on August 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

I think "bunnyhug" is going to be the name of my next Cat.
posted by JenThePro at 8:17 AM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

My kids are always bugging me to go to the corner store down the road from us to buy candy. I would only call one of those chain stores found in strip malls, like a Macs Milk, a "convenience store".
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:17 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm from Toronto, and I don't normally use either "corner store" or "convenience store" - I grew up with "variety store".

I tend to say 7/11 interchangeably the way people will use Xerox or Kleenex.
posted by Fizz at 8:19 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Grew up on the West Coast now living in Ontario. Most relatives we were in regular contact with were from Ontario and I have memories of arguing about many of these names with my cousins.

Now I'm just confused and regularly use the different regional terms. I don't know what anything is anymore.
posted by Jalliah at 8:20 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Globe & Mail: Camp, cottage or cabin? What do you call your weekend getaway?

With this interesting warning at the end:

There’s only one problem he faces when he tries to spread the word about his Canadian cottage experience, and it’s once again a problem of language.

“Do you know what cottaging is here in Britain?” he asks. “I’m being polite here, but it’s what George Michael might get up to in a public convenience with another man. So when I tell people I’m off cottaging in Canada, it causes great confusion.”

Which is even funnier because within the quote is another term distinct to the region/nation: "public convenience." I could guess from the context, but Google confirms that this is a public washroom, not a government-owned variety store.
posted by Kabanos at 8:26 AM on August 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

The traditional cottage/camp dividing line in Ontario is the French River. Our cottage is on the French River, so we call it a cottage amongst ourselves, but a camp when discussing it with the locals around there.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:33 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

We called it "California kickball" for some reason when I was a kid in the late 80s in Vancouver.
posted by good in a vacuum at 8:35 AM on August 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

Ah the great divide on how to pronounce Toronto... which as is often the case comes down to Torontonians vs The Rest Of Canada.

Our family Cottage is also on French River but I'd never heard the Camp usage before.

And we played Soccer Baseball for most of my youth except the one teacher who insisted that it was properly called Kickball.
posted by cirhosis at 8:38 AM on August 24, 2017

Good news. I've spoken with my best friend out west and she's not a monster, she calls it a garbage disposal and not garburator. Also, who still has garbage disposals? Recycle and compost people!!
posted by Fizz at 8:42 AM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

> "It's a kitbag if you are from PEI. My mind was blown when I traveled and found out nobody else knows what that means."

Surely everyone knows those are what you pack all your troubles in.
posted by kyrademon at 8:44 AM on August 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

When I was in high school in the 70's hoodies were known as "kangaroo jackets." Does anyone else remember that term?

In my neck of the woods, a kangaroo was specifically a zipperless hoodie with the pocket that went all the way across the front. Otherwise it was a hooded sweater, maybe?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:45 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Garburator garburator garburator. I rarely use the word, because garburators are forbidden in the building code of the two Ontario cities I have lived in as an adult (Guelph and Ottawa) and as a kid we had a septic system, so no garburator for us. The only garburator I have ever seen was the one in my Grandma's house in Florida and she never used the thing.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:54 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ok so born and raised in Guelph from 1978-1997, Ottawa living from 1997-Present:

Washroom/Bathroom
Couch
Pop
Running Shoes
Soccer Baseball
Hoodie
"Gutting myself"
knapsack

I remember being in Ireland on a tour with a bunch of Aussies and Americans and I asked where the washroom was. Blank stares. Bathroom? Nothing. OH FOR GODS --- TOILET. Where is the toilet?
posted by aclevername at 8:55 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

What do people in the rest of Canada call "Cottage Country Traffic"?
posted by Kabanos at 8:57 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

why do I always say eavestroughs and never gutters, i never know how to pronounce it and my interlocutors never know what I'm talking about. Southern michigan.
posted by rebent at 8:58 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yeah, as a kid who grew up in Southern Michigan (with summers at an Ontario cottage) it took me a minute to figure out what else one might call "eavestroughs"... even though I'm sure I more often use "gutters" now that I live on the east coast.

I also had no idea how regional "cottage" was until I mentioned my family's cottage at a get-together in Boston and someone I'd never met said, "oh, north of Toronto?" and I boggled as to how they could have guessed the location.
posted by ldthomps at 9:03 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

My husband is from Cape Breton (I'm from Alberta) and he says 'stocking cap'. That phrase drives me NUTS. Where did it come from? A stocking is a sock. So...you're calling the touque a sock-hat? Really?

Also, he's been saying toll boards instead of baseboard. Is that a regionalism? I've never heard it before.
posted by kitcat at 9:08 AM on August 24, 2017

I'm keeping garburator.
posted by saysthis at 9:08 AM on August 24, 2017

Washroom always seemed a more logical name for me than bathroom. I mean, you can't take a bath in a public bathroom.

Like many Canadians, I've received blank stares down in the US when I accidentally ask where the washroom is. Yes, I know that's not what Americans call it but it doesn't seem like it would be hard to figure out what room I'm talking about. The room with plumbing fixtures where one can wash themselves.
posted by good in a vacuum at 9:08 AM on August 24, 2017 [7 favorites]

Good news. I've spoken with my best friend out west and she's not a monster, she calls it a garbage disposal and not garburator. Also, who still has garbage disposals? Recycle and compost people!!

First, be smart from the very beginning...

But in all seriousness, a garberator (I learned 30 seconds ago that's how Insinkerator spells it) means your food waste will go through whatever process your other dirty water does. Here in Calgary, we're getting municipal composting just now, but garberator waste has been composted and used on fields at industrial scale for over 30 years. In Victoria, there is essentially just a pipe from your garberator to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 9:11 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Also, I'm glad that I've been vindicated on how (western) Canadians pronounce decal.
posted by good in a vacuum at 9:11 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

So...you're calling the touque a sock-hat? Really?

You're not going to like my toque-boots.
posted by Kabanos at 9:13 AM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

Gaunch, surely.

I knew immediately you were from Vancouver when I read this. I'd thought it was written "gonch", but yes!
posted by urbanlenny at 9:16 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

“Do you know what cottaging is here in Britain?”

The worst thing about cottaging in Ontario is most definitely the 'squats. Horny little buggers, they never leave you alone. It bad enough all the buzzing around you during the day, but alone in your room with one of the bastards at night, all they want to do is stick it in you. That constant whining until they get what they want, that is probably the worst thing. Nasty little bloodsuckers.
posted by bonehead at 9:28 AM on August 24, 2017

People outside of Atlantic Canada are confused/irritated by, "What a sin!" (I.e., "What a shame.")

I love it when my East Coast relatives say this. I also love:

'stunned' for stupid
'dizzy' for silly
arsehole
'tough as nails' for - actually I'm not super clear to be honest but I *think* it means 'Good job!' for accomplishing something difficult.
posted by kitcat at 9:28 AM on August 24, 2017

How do Canadians talk?

After intensive researching and studying we came to the conclusion that Canadians themselves seem to not really know either.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:29 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

+1 Team Gonch

What do people in the rest of Canada call "Cottage Country Traffic"?

Nothing. It's 100% not a thing outside southern Ontario. Sunday drivers are, though.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:34 AM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

As an Ottawan I was raised on pop but after vacationing repeatedly with some friends from Pennsylvania I converted myself to a soda person as an affectation and have been smugly pleased with myself ever since.
posted by Naib at 9:34 AM on August 24, 2017

I cannot believe I've spoken English for 40 years and have never heard or read "eavestrough" before this moment. Like, I'm still not totally convinced it's not a put-on.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:40 AM on August 24, 2017 [9 favorites]

I have a long-term plan to make garburator catch on in Tennessee. So far I've got three people saying it regularly.
posted by joannemerriam at 9:42 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

Anyone who says garburator is wrong. One of my best friends lives out West and we're going to have to talk about what she calls the garbage disposal. If she says garburator, there may be problems.

Boy, are you gonna be surprised when you see what word is engraved right on it.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:43 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

I feel upset that not everyone says 'pencil crayons'. I had absolutely no idea this is not their official designation. Now I have to go look up what crayola calls them on their boxes....
posted by kitcat at 9:46 AM on August 24, 2017 [8 favorites]

Nothing. It's 100% not a thing outside southern Ontario.

over in michigan, we call it "going up north" - and yes, it's the same thing
posted by pyramid termite at 9:50 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Michigan is not part of "the rest of Canada."

Yet.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:51 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

Also, I'm glad that I've been vindicated on how (western) Canadians pronounce decal.

All I can think of when someone pronounces it this way is REMOVE THE DECKLE!
posted by Rock Steady at 9:52 AM on August 24, 2017

Challenge: Use the word "dart" correctly in a sentence, eh?

Winner: I just cannot stop looking at this photo of @MapleLeafs legendary goaltender Johnny Bower by Boris Spremo! Mask on wall, dart in hand!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:09 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

Well, I can't get the website to load so I haven't read it but I have opinions, as a New Brunswicker married to an American living in California.

After six years, I just learned yesterday that Americans don't know that 'a float' is a quantity of cash in useful denominations for giving change at something like event registration or a silent auction.

I forgot about soccer baseball! Totally a thing in NB in the nineties!

Definitely have cottages in NB. Americans struggle with this word but are trainable. I've never heard cottaging as a verb there though.

Garburator is clearly superior to whatever long contorted thing Americans say and I'm never giving it up.
posted by carolr at 10:15 AM on August 24, 2017

Another Canadianism that seems to baffle people - bunned or had the bun. As in "I went to use my flashlight but it had had the bun, so I bought a new one." Alternatively "My flashlight was bunned so I had to buy a new one."

Variant "had the biscuit". I've heard that it comes from Anglican (C of E/Episcopalian) mockery of the Catholic practice of last rites where one is given a communion wafer before passing on.
posted by Zedcaster at 10:18 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

Have we confirmed yet that Canadians say "pencil crayons" because of the words "pencils" and "crayons" appearing next to each other in bilingual packaging? This is one of those things I want to be true even if it isn't.
posted by Space Coyote at 10:19 AM on August 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

It just means a person is strong/tenacious/resilient etc. I thought that was a global English thing? Huh.

It's the common usage as a compliment that sticks out for me "You're tough as nails!". Or maybe it's just my family who does that...
posted by kitcat at 10:19 AM on August 24, 2017

But in all seriousness, a garberator (I learned 30 seconds ago that's how Insinkerator spells it) means your food waste will go through whatever process your other dirty water does. Here in Calgary, we're getting municipal composting just now, but garberator waste has been composted and used on fields at industrial scale for over 30 years. In Victoria, there is essentially just a pipe from your garberator to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Thanks for sharing that insight. Good to know.
posted by Fizz at 10:27 AM on August 24, 2017

BTW "had the bun" is not to be confused with a "bun toss" which is a term for a formal dinner party.
posted by Zedcaster at 10:31 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Another Canadianism that seems to baffle people - bunned or had the bun.

Huh. My northern Vermont in-laws say "had the radish" for the same meaning. I've actually picked it up in my speech as it is emminently useful. I guess the communion wafer etymology might hold up there, as a sliced radish does resemble the host.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:35 AM on August 24, 2017

What do people in the rest of Canada call "Cottage Country Traffic"

"Rich City Pricks Who Don't Know How To Drive On The Highway"
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:10 AM on August 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

Pencil crayon isn't the real name? I never knew. I live in Vancouver and grew up in southern ontario, with 4 years between in Nova Scotia, and some time in Quebec and Newfoundland. We always said garburator, and played soccer baseball. My Saskatchewan born husband had never heard it, but when we had kids I agreed to always say bunnyhug, and now I can say it without giggling.

Also: knapsack, not backpack.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 11:15 AM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

In conclusion, Canada is a land of contrasts.

Also, pencil crayon.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:34 AM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

The one true pencil crayon betrayed its one true name before it died in 2012. (I still have the original folding plastic case plus a box of extras, branded as both Laurentian and Laurentien.)
posted by maudlin at 11:42 AM on August 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

Northern Alberta: My best friend's Mom nicknamed me "My Little Garburator" because of my eating habits.

My mom used the term "gonchies", which I have not continued (shudder).

"Had the bun/biscuit" was in use, along with my personal favourite, "Bit the green wiener"
posted by Casimir at 11:46 AM on August 24, 2017

After six years, I just learned yesterday that Americans don't know that 'a float' is a quantity of cash in useful denominations for giving change at something like event registration or a silent auction.

Yup, as a Southerner from the US living in Ontario (and for five years in Quebec that wasn't Montreal), "a float" was not a term we used. I think "change box" was used. I also never heard of a savings called "a/the kitty" either until I married my husband.

I do drive Canadians nuts by still calling highways around here interstates. I'm not trying to annoy anyone, but I still can't iron that out of my vocab. I just now accepted using km instead of miles on my running app.

We don't have a strong "going out to the cottage" culture where I'm from. I guess our equivalent would be "going to the beach" or "the beach house." (Even if you didn't really own a beach house.)
posted by Kitteh at 11:47 AM on August 24, 2017

That's an interesting note about the pronunciation of Toronto, with most of the country using the final T, while people from the area go with "toronnoh"; in my experience, out here in the West, the later pronunciation is used when someone is speaking derogatorily about the city. Otherwise, we use the final T.
posted by nubs at 12:02 PM on August 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Along similar lines as "toronnah": Many people from Vancouver (myself included) pronounce it more like "Vangcouver". (A couple of internet citations.)
posted by good in a vacuum at 12:14 PM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

over in michigan, we call it "going up north" - and yes, it's the same thing

In PEI, you go "up west" or "down east" despite the fact it's 20 miles (32kms) max up or down and both west and east go up and down.
posted by notorious medium at 12:39 PM on August 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

I love it when my East Coast relatives say this.

If you want two great seasons of online sayings like these, may I recommend Just Passing Through about two Islanders and their big trek to Taranah. Or any of the PEI Encyclopedia videos.
posted by notorious medium at 12:41 PM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

Many people from Vancouver (myself included) pronounce it more like "Vangcouver".

Yes! Or like Vank-ouver. I noticed that a few years ago and for some reason decided to change the way I said it to Van-couver instead. You can tell when someone isn't from there by them pronouncing it "Van-couver"
posted by urbanlenny at 12:43 PM on August 24, 2017

Haha, one of those 'pencil crayon' google searches was me. I also checked crayola.ca. I honestly believed the box would say Pencil Crayons. My friends, it does not. It says Coloured Pencils. At least they spelled it properly.
posted by kitcat at 12:45 PM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

The one true pencil crayon betrayed its one true name before it died in 2012. (I still have the original folding plastic case plus a box of extras, branded as both Laurentian and Laurentien.)

Just googled to find the original packaging and … OVERFLOW OF NOSTALGIA! That log house! The infographic of the superior "Laurentien lead"! I can't believe they're not making these anymore!

BUT.

But … it says "coloured pencils." o_O

It's like the Berenstein Berenstain Bears all over again.
posted by Kabanos at 12:51 PM on August 24, 2017 [7 favorites]

Speaking again of East Coast-isms, this CBC news story about a Newfoundland man who hit a moose and somehow kept driving without realizing it - is one of the most joyous things I have ever read. It has wonderful unedited quotes. And is also quite the story. 'You're after hitting a moose.'
posted by kitcat at 12:51 PM on August 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

Ok after reading again, the fact that the man was struggling in his recovery is not 'joyous'. But the language is so wonderful. That's all I meant.
posted by kitcat at 1:55 PM on August 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

The one true pencil crayon betrayed its one true name before it died in 2012. (I still have the original folding plastic case plus a box of extras, branded as both Laurentian and Laurentien.)

I was once derided in grade 3 or 4 for not having "real" pencil crayons because my mom bought me the generic Shopper's Drug Mart ones.

My classmates had a point, though. The Laurentiens were better.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:34 PM on August 24, 2017

We now have relatives in Victoria, so I'm learning the lingo. "Washroom" isn't a problem, but I have trouble saying "parkade" without snickering.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:29 PM on August 24, 2017

We called it "California kickball" for some reason when I was a kid in the late 80s in Vancouver.

Yes! Vancouverite here. I had forgotten about that. The best gym classes were when we got to play California kickball. Wonder where that came from. Weird.
posted by Jalliah at 5:56 PM on August 24, 2017

Now I know what kickball is - it's soccer baseball!
posted by airmail at 6:29 PM on August 24, 2017

Many people from Vancouver (or maybe Surrey?) have started to pronounce it "Van-q-ver" and it's driving me crazy.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 6:48 PM on August 24, 2017

I've never heard it pronounced "Van-a-ver" but that's AWFUL. (I totally say Vang-couver though.)

I have it from a Torontonian that locals actually pronounce it "Chrawna" ... which after I thought about it, seemed accurate.
posted by twilightlost at 9:46 AM on August 25, 2017

So "Vancouver" is accented on the first syllable? My in-laws say "van-COO-ver."
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:12 AM on August 25, 2017

I grew up in Vancouver. Now I've said it out loud so many times trying to figure out how I pronounce it that I don't know how to pronounce it anymore.
posted by Jalliah at 11:03 AM on August 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Vancouver is accented on the second syllable. It's just that most Vancouverites pronounce it like Vang-COO-ver.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:40 PM on August 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

(I should clarify for those who are confused by my bio location that I lived in the Lower Mainland/Vancouver until I was 27, but moved to Ottawa 9 years ago... and am possibly desperately trying to get back to Van(g)couver. :) )
posted by urbanlenny at 12:41 PM on August 25, 2017

I hear Van-q-ver or Van-cue-ver more and more on the radio. Of course most radio hosts aren't from here so that may explain it. Fair enough, Vancouver is a city of immigrants. But what really grates on me is the use of stand alone "Van". South Van, East Van, North Van, West Van all sound fine, but referring to the city as a whole as Van? Arrgh!
posted by Zedcaster at 12:53 PM on August 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

When I was a kid in Toronto convenience stores were called "smoke shops" -- a place one went to procure candy.

Soccer-baseball is real.

Chesterfield confuses people who born into an Internet world (access to which is often, in my experience, called "network" as in "Do you have network?"). This is in rural central Ontario.

Knapsack is proper, but rucksack is worldly. It's somebody's way of saying, "Last summer I went to Europe and stayed in a hostel/kibbutz instead of going up north to the cottage, so now I'm cosmopolitan, eh?"

Americans are very confused by requests for serviettes, washrooms, or poutine. Or by offers to pay the bill. At home "Do you have tap?" can be a catch-all for "contactless payment methods" but in America I think they think it's an insult or something. "Your momma has the tap!"

I've been to bars in America that didn't know about beer in pints, which is weird, seeing as I'm the alien metric globalist and they're the ones still using Imperial.

Also, Smarties are delicious chocolate-like treats, not chalky little sugar coins. Those are Rockets.
posted by Construction Concern at 4:46 PM on August 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

I've been to bars in America that didn't know about beer in pints, which is weird, seeing as I'm the alien metric globalist and they're the ones still using Imperial.

We're the only country with two official languages and two units of measurement
posted by nubs at 11:11 AM on August 26, 2017 [1 favorite]