Welcome to Weird Wednesdays, hosted by It’s OK to be WEIRD!
In honor of Canadian Thanksgiving this week (Monday, 10-11-10), Weird Wednesday this week is all about weird Canadian words.
Canuck: Interestingly, nobody can really agree on where this word came from (i.e. what it’s origins are). We do know that Northeastern Americans often used it as a derogatory word to describe French Canadians, back in the day. However now Canuck is embraced by both French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians alike. We call ourselves Canucks, but foreigners best not be using the term too liberally – for some reason that can be offensive.
Eh? : By far, “eh” is the word most recognized as truly and singularly Canadian. Again, the origins of the word are not agreed upon by people who study this kind of thing. We use ‘eh’ in sort of the same way that Americans use “huh” or “right” and kind of how the French use “n’est pas”. It is usually at the end of a sentence, making the statement into a rhetorical question which assumes that the person being spoken to agrees with this statement (e.g., “Wayne Gretzky can sure play hockey, eh?” or “I guess I need my tuque if it’s -10C outside, eh?”). This is another word that we use all the time, coast to coast, but if a foreigner uses it excessively we could easily take offense.
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| photo credit: Canada Fonts |
Tuque: In case I threw you off with that ‘eh’ example above, maybe I better explain the word tuque. Pronounced ‘tooook’ (well, sorta), it’s a knitted or crocheted hat worn tight on the head in cold weather. In the States where I grew up we called them “stocking caps”. They may or may not have a pompom on the top, and may or may not have strings to tie under the chin. They are, however, a necessary part of the Canadian wardrobe for winter. I once heard someone say that only in Canada can any respectable man go to work and get by with tuque hair. Anywhere else, walking into a business meeting with the kind of hairdo left behind after removing one’s winter hat would be disgraceful. But not here – it’s not winter without tuques or tuque hair!
Timbits: No, they are NOT donut holes. Timbits are their very own thing up here. They don’t make donuts and keep the leftover bits. They make donuts AND they make Timbits. And they are only available at Tim Horton’s, a coffe and donut shop somewhat on par with Dunkin’ Donuts (sorta). Of course, Timmie’s coffe is good, too, and even better when you make it a Double Double!
OH, I could go on and on! What’s fun is that since I moved to Canada 12 years ago, I was made acutely aware of the different words that are used here. I wasn’t as aware, however, of how many of those words I had picked up within a few months of living here. My American family and friends were quick to remind me the first time we went back ‘home’ to visit after moving up here. “Sorry” and “tomorrow”, even though they are used in the US are pronounced totally differently here (in the States it’s saw-ry and to-ma-row, up here it’s soory, and to-mow-row). And many many more of those kinds of things!
Just for fun – I’ve done this on Facebook before – here’s a paragraph that only a Canadian could figure out. Give it your best shot!
You think it’s all English, but Canada and the USA definitely have their own languages.
From my friend, and fellow American/Canadian, Jim Flom:
Last night, I cashed my pogey and went to buy a mickey of C.C. at the beer parlour, but my skidoo got stuck in the muskeg on my way back to the duplex. I was trying to deke out a deer, you see. [Darn] chinook, melted everything. And then a Mountie snuck up behind me in a ghost car and gave me an impaired. I was S.O.L., sitting there dressed only in my Stanfields and a tuque at the time. And the Mountie, he’s all chippy and everything, calling me a “**** disturber” and whatnot. What could I say, except, “Chimo!” eh?
(from How to be a Canadian, by Ferguson & Ferguson)
I got a book a few months ago called “Weird Canadian Words: How to Speak Canadian” – some of this is confirmed in that book, though I did not copy this info from it.
*** Join me in the weirdness… I KNOW you’ve encountered SOMETHING weird somewhere this week!! Leave me a comment and tell me all about it!! ***
