How To Speak Canadian

Intro

Canada’s land area is about 9,900,000 km² making it the 2nd largest country in the world. However most of it is in the Far North and filled with black flies, mosquitoes and snow. We tend to hug the southern border as much as we can.

Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories with a population of about 35 million people and the beaver is our national animal.

In the War of 1812, Canada burned the White House down as well as much of Washington. I guess that makes us the first terrorists :)

Spelling Differences

Our spelling is a little bit different. It is sort of a blend between the British and American spelling. This post is about providing examples of some of these differences.

Canadian Spelling	American Spelling
doughnut	donut
colour	color
metre	meter foot
zed	zee
neighbour	neighbor
centre	center
cheque	check
honour	honor
judgement	judgment
favour	favor
theatre	theater
aluminum	American = aluminum, British=aluminium

Our Unique Slang

We also have some terms and some slang that is unique to our country.

Canadian Terms	Notes
Timmies	This is slang for Tim Horton's which is a famous Canadian coffee and doughnut shop. One can walk across right Canada just by jumping from the roof of one Timmies to the next.
Two-Four	A two-four is a case of 24 beer. Canadians do not drink water, we only drink beer.
May Two-Four (May 24)	Summer is very, very important to Canadians. The long weekend in May tends to fall near May the 24th which Canadians call the May Two Four weekend.
Canuck	This is slang for what you call a Canadian. It is not a slur so feel free to use it.
Robertson	This is a type of screwdriver that was invented in Canada. The Robertson uses a square head and is considered by Canadians to be superior to all other screwdrivers in the world.
Cabin Fever	What Canadians get at the end of winter. Cabin Fever means being stuck inside for 6 months and itching to get outside.
Loonie	Canada converted from a paper dollar bill to a dollar coin in 1987. It features a picture of a Canadian Loon on its reverse side so we affectionately call it a loonie
Toonie	Canada converted for a two dollar paper bill to a coin in 1996. Guess what we did? We just called it a toonie because it rhymes, that's all.
eh?	Canadians use eh? in at least two different ways. When you missed what someone said you will say "eh?" to get them to repeat it. When you are looking for someone to agree with your statement you will add "eh" to the end of the sentence, as in, "It's cold out, eh?"
Toque	This is a woolen cap. Say the word "two" and then put a "k sound at the end of it. That's how you pronounce it.
Poutine	This is a Quebec invention of french fries packed with cheese curds and smothered in hot gravy. Only the best food in the world on a cold day.
g'day	This one I think has kind of fallen out of favour but it is still heard. It is our way of saying hello.
Sorry	Canadians say sorry a lot. In fact we say it so much that in Canadian law saying sorry is not considered to be an admission of guilt.
Kitty-Corner	This term means diagonally across from something else as in the movie theatre is kitty-corner from the bank.
Ta	Some older Canadians still say ta. It means thank you and I think it came from the British.

The Regions of Canada

Region	Notes
Maritimes	The east coast provinces are often called the Maritimes.
The Rock	Newfoundland, one of the east coast provinces and an island and is affectionately called 'The Rock'.
Quebec	Often pronounced by English speakers as Ke-Beck. Sometimes as Kwee-beck. Many people these days take a stab at the French pronunciation of Kay-beck. This is our French speaking province.
Ontario	This is the most populous province in Canada and is the Centre of the Universe according to Ontarians. Everyone else is very irritated by that attitude.
The Prairies	The flat, wheat growing provinces in Western Canada. It takes forever to drive across the prairies. I know, I've done it.
Alberta	Alberta is part of the prairies, it has lots of oil and is considered to be Canada's Texas.
West Coast	British Columbia is beautiful. It has large trees, mountains, mild weather and is also where Canada's hippies live. They are mostly stoned all of the time (at least that is what everyone else thinks).
Up North	You may think that Canada is already up north, but to us that is not so. There is the real North with deadly cold in winter and filled with mosquitoes and black flies in summer. Also home to more lakes, fish and fresh water than the rest of the world combined.

Thank you for reading my post and taking the time to learn a bit about Canada.