Canadianisms
I mentioned in twitter that I start to speak more “Canadian” when I am home. Once upon a time I didn’t think we had an accent, but the longer I live away (and the more my husband snickers at me) the more I do hear it. My family speaks with a much more clipped, precise pronunciation than I am used to in MA. (And before you ask – no, we do not live near Boston, so I am talking about the typical north-east accent, not the highly foreign Boston accent!) It makes me smile to hear everyone talk “normally.”
Realize and paralyze are spelled with Z, not S.
And it’s ZED, not ZEE.
Travelled has two Ls. Which I didn’t realize is actually Canadian – I have been getting confused for the last 5 years because my spell-checkers keep correcting me, but I KNEW it looked right to me!
Words like mobile, fragile are pronounced MO-bile, not MO-ble. (The “i” sound is very present.)
Vase sounds like “vayse,” not “vahs.”
Again and Against sound like “gain,” not “gen.”
Decal is prounced “Deckle,” not “DEE-cal.” (Say this one out loud to an American and they have NO IDEA what you are talking about.)
We call it Grade One, Grade Two. (Not First Grade, etc.)
We commonly call it a chesterfield, as well as a couch.
Washroom is the formal term for a bathroom. (I said this once in a public place in MA when I was searching, and the woman said, “A what??”)
My winter hat is a touque.
… And I could go on. I just like to sit and listen to people talk, it makes me smile!
The spelling of Canadian English is a mix of British and American spelling. I had never mentioned this to my students because it would give them a good excuse to mix the two spellings, thereby being “inconsistent”. I told them to stick to either British or American spelling when writing letters or projects.
I say vase like that…lol (vayse, instead of vahse. Vahse has always annoyed me). And I would have been able to figure out what a washroom is too. lol.
My response: oh is THAT what a chesterfield is?!? lol
Something else unique to Canada..
I just read about an Olympian curler who is 5 mos. pregnant. Impressive!
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Canadian-curler-is-five-months-pregnant?urn=oly,219941
I usually lurk, but this post? That is so me. It is not so much a “correct” way of speaking for me, since I spend equal amounts of time in Britain and America, but it is nice to go to Britain over the summers and hear people talk. And the food!
To wit: Quavers, Prawn Cocktail Crisps (not chips), Aeros, Pontefract cakes, aniseed balls, salad cream, Shreddies, Branston, decent pork pies, pasties … can I just say mmmm?? Britain gets a lot of crap for its food but I love it for the most part. Some things you can get here, but they’re very expensive and also not quite right (since they’re usually made under license not imported.) Just thinking about it makes me miss it! :(
I’m living in Montreal and my colleagues are a mix of Americans, anglo Canadians, and French Canadians. We got into the biggest discussion over decal one year ago! I happened to be the only one in the group to pronounce it “deckle” and I think I still get teased about it months and months later… :D
Interesting to read about the difference between American and Canadian words/spellings! I think Australia is a mixture of everything! We’re a bit confused down here!! lol
Completely agree with Mobile, Zed, two L’s in travelled, grade one/grade two.
Here a chesterfield is a particular style of couch, decal is dee-cal, vase – well it depends how you were taught here but I say vahse. Never heard of a touque before. I think we would just call them a hat, or maybe a beanie if it’s one of those fitted woolen hats.
Oh, and bathroom is a bathroom!
Wow, you are in the double digits on days to go! Time is going so quickly for your readers..is it for you? I’m guessing with the heartburn and leg cramps, the answer is no.
I’ve learned when I’m in the States & order tea in a restaurant that I need to specify HOT tea.
My American cousins love to tease me on the old “aboot” pronunciation thing. I really don’t think I say “aboot.” On the other hand, I don’t say “abaowt” either. ; )
And my cousin’s wife had me mystified when she was talking about organizing a “black party.” I finally realized she was saying “block party.”