Slang phrases or words prevalent in your locale

[taxlady]

Oh yeah, pop/soda/soda pop. Here in Quebec, it's "soft drink".

In Newfoundland someone acting stupid is "stun". I use that on occasion.

 

[buckytom]

Contrary to what most American's believe, Canadians don't say "aboot". We do say "eh?"....

i have to disagree about the aboot, rock. for most canadians that i know (including everyone i work with in technical support the leitch corp. in t'ronto, and most hockey players i've met), there's definitely a change in the "ow" sound in words like out and about to sound more like "oot".

 

[taxlady]

i have to disagree about the aboot, rock. for most canadians that i know (including everyone i work with in technical support the leitch corp. in t'ronto, and most hockey players i've met), there's definitely a change in the "ow" sound in words like out and about to sound more like "oot".

It's your ears BT.

We may say the "ow" sound slightly differently than you do, but it ain't "oot". That's a fake Scots accent.

 

[Andy M.]

To follow along the soda/pop train of thought...

How many different names are there for a sub/hero/grinder/spuckie/etc.

 

[Alix]

It's your ears BT.

We may say the "ow" sound slightly differently than you do, but it ain't "oot". That's a fake Scots accent.

BT's ears have been going on him for years. He's been bugging me with the oot thing since the beginning. LOL! Definitely a regional thing. Prairie folks sound like midwesterners.

BT, you ought to hear some of my Newfie buddies. Lawd tunderring Jaysus!

I've been racking my brain to come up with something that is regional here and I can't do it. The only thing I can come up with is "Want a Timmies? Double double?" and that is likely a Canadianism not an Edmontonism.

 

[Andy M.]

..."Want a Timmies? Double double?"...

Huh??

 

[bakechef]

I've heard "aboot" many times from my Canadian friends. It may be exaggerated on TV, but I've heard it in person many times.

 

[taxlady]

Huh??

Want a Tim Horton's coffee? Two cream and two sugar?

 

[taxlady]

BT's ears have been going on him for years. He's been bugging me with the oot thing since the beginning. LOL! Definitely a regional thing. Prairie folks sound like midwesterners.

BT, you ought to hear some of my Newfie buddies. Lawd tunderring Jaysus!

I've been racking my brain to come up with something that is regional here and I can't do it. The only thing I can come up with is "Want a Timmies? Double double?" and that is likely a Canadianism not an Edmontonism.

I can just hear it.

 

[buckytom]

I've heard "aboot" many times from my Canadian friends. It may be exaggerated on TV, but I've heard it in person many times.

thanks, bakechef.

it's not me, i swear. the oot is slight, but it's there in 75% of all of the canadians that i've ever met, coast to coast. it's similar to the slight accent, especially pronouncing some "o"s, in south jersey/philadelphia.

if anything, hearing so many different accents on a daily basis here makes my ears well tuned. i can differentiate a northern irish accent from a southern one, especially a "dub 4", as well as differentiate a northern indian versus a southern indian accent, and even bengali.

when we were in florida a few weeks ago i mentioned to my wife that it was weird to hear so many cuban accents when i'm so used to hearing puerto rican and dominican all the time at home.

 

[taxlady]

thanks, bakechef.

it's not me, i swear. the oot is slight, but it's there in 75% of all of the canadians that i've ever met, coast to coast. it's similar to the slight accent, especially pronouncing some "o"s, in south jersey/philadelphia.

if anything, hearing so many different accents on a daily basis here makes my ears well tuned. i can differentiate a northern irish accent from a southern one, especially a "dub 4", as well as differentiate a northern indian versus a southern indian accent, and even bengali.

when we were in florida a few weeks ago i mentioned to my wife that it was weird to hear so many cuban accents when i'm so used to hearing puerto rican and dominican all the time at home.

If your ears are that good, then you know that we don't say it the same way as you guys do, but it doesn't sound like "boot".

 

[Vanilla Bean]

Want a Tim Horton's coffee? Two cream and two sugar?

When I went to visit friends in Canada (Ontario), they would say, "Want to go for a coffee?" In NY, we would say, "Would you like to meet for coffee," or "Would you like to go for a cup of coffee later?" It was something like that.

The only few things I can add is...

In NY,
My Grandma always called the bathroom a "john," but I never did.
For some reason, I always say "er" instead of "or," and I still do that occasionally.
I called a soft drink, "pop."

The only thing I can think of being out here in WA state is I now call a softdrink, "soda."

 

[taxlady]

What Yanks call a bathroom in a public place, we usually call a washroom. There isn't usually a bath in there.

In most of Europe, it's called the W.C. (pronounce ve se most places).

 

[bakechef]

If your ears are that good, then you know that we don't say it the same way as you guys do, but it doesn't sound like "boot".

As I said, it's exaggerated on TV, but in real life, I can hear it, just more subtle. When you are surrounded by your native accent, I think that the subtleties of the accent get lost to your ear.

Mainers have a very strong distinct accent, to me it didn't sound strange at all growing up there, but now that I have been away for so long, I can definitely hear it, especially the way that they stretch out the letter "O", mention it to a Mainer, and they will have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[taxlady]

As I said, it's exaggerated on TV, but in real life, I can hear it, just more subtle. When you are surrounded by your native accent, I think that the subtleties of the accent get lost to your ear.

Mainers have a very strong distinct accent, to me it didn't sound strange at all growing up there, but now that I have been away for so long, I can definitely hear it, especially the way that they stretch out the letter "O", mention it to a Mainer, and they will have no idea what you are talking about.

Maybe Yanks say boot differently than we do.

When I first came to Canada, I heard about the supposed "aboot", but I couldn't hear that, even when I tried.

 

[Andy M.]

Maybe Yanks say boot differently than we do.

When I first came to Canada, I heard about the supposed "aboot", but I couldn't hear that, even when I tried.

As this thread has made clear, "aboot" may be a pronunciation that's more prevalent in other parts of Canada.

 

[Claire]

The "aboot" thing: In parts of Virginia people have an odd accent (definitely NOT a southern drawl). My friend would go "oot and aboot" (out and about) when she was running errands, and once she asked us if we wanted some "snakes" (snacks, I really had a time with that one). I think it is a throwback to old English.

 

[Claire]

I've browsed through and didn't see this one. It's words used instead of swearing. My NH relatives say "Jeesum Crow", my husband said "Jes-s Mann" (why that is better, I don't know). My dad swears by saying "G-D-S-O-B". There are a multitude of things people say to mask unpleasant bodily functions! Some times people can be so imaginative that it's funny.

 

[CWS4322]

Not in SE Ontario, but in northern MN, my aunt and my mother still say "Uffda may!"

 

[Dawgluver]

I've lived in North Dakota and Wisconsin, summered many years in Ontario, spent plenty of time in Minnesota. I find the "Fargo" accent, while maybe slightly exaggerated, to be pretty accurate. I always get a kick out of listening to friends when I visit! Upon returning from summers in Canada, I "oot and abooted" for a couple weeks. I'm told I usually have no discernable accent.

We managed to break DH of his "warshing" habit. Pennsylvania Dutch, maybe.

"Uffda" is the word in ND and MN!