Teh One Who Knocks
12-27-2013, 11:34 AM
Tristin Hopper | The National Post
http://i.imgur.com/bawMUEe.jpg
Last month, as actors on U.S. late night shows each took turns impersonating Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, a surprising number decided to portray the chief executive with a stereotypical Canadian accent: Nasal, slow and punctuated with “ehs” and “aboots.”
In truth, Rob Ford sounds pretty much like an American, save for the occasional “Canadianism,” such as “mickey of vodka” or “fill your boots.”
In October, Jules Sherred, a B.C.-based contributor to GeekMom.com, decided to put some of the unique quirks of Canadian English to the test.
The blogger compiled a list of 82 words that, according to Ms. Sherred, made American friends “look at me with a blank stare,” and then ran them past a survey group comprising 52 Canadians, 104 Americans and 19 people from the rest of the former British Empire, including New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, England, and Wales.
Two months and 17,000 data points later, the blogger meticulously ranked each word both by how familiar it was to the Canadians, and how unfamiliar it was to the rest of the English-speaking world.
Ms. Sherred readily admits that the survey is not rigorously scientific, but what emerged was a surprising compilation of words that, while ubiquitous to Canadian tongues, are apparently foreign to the world beyond our borders.
Toque
Used by 100% of Canadians
Virtually every culture with both cold weather and access to sheep has some national variant of the knit cap. The Afghans have the pakol, the U.S. Coast Guard supplies its crews with “watch caps” and Canadians, for half the year, wear “toques.” But while this was the only word on the survey that obtained unanimous usage among the Canadians, a majority of the non-Canadians said they had never even heard of it.
Donair
Used by 71% of Canadians
This meat-heavy, Turkish dish was actually invented in Halifax, although it bears strong relation to what the rest of the world would call a “gyro,” a “doner kebab,” or a “shawarma.” Less than one fifth of the non-Canadians recognized the term.
Homo Milk
Used by 92% of Canadians
This giggle-inducing dairy product (milk with 3.25% fat) is exclusively called “whole milk” in both Britain and the United States, where the vast majority of respondents were completely unfamiliar with the Canadian term. “Homo,” of course, is largely known as a homosexual slur, but as it gradually loses favour in a post-gay marriage Canada, it’s quite possible the word soon be known exclusively for its dairy connotations.
Parkade
Used by 71% of Canadians
In the U.S. and Commonwealth, multi-storey concrete parking structures are known as “parking garages” or “parking decks.” As such, while “parkade” is often the official posted term in dozens of Canadian malls and downtown, almost none of the non-Canadian survey respondents could identify the term.
Robertson Screwdriver
Used by 92% of Canadians
Technologically superior to its wedge or Phillips-head cousins, the Robertson screw, invented by Ontarian P.L. Robertson, is ubiquitous on Canadian construction sites, yet only constitutes a fraction of all U.S. screw sales—purportedly because the screw was long-ago eschewed by carmaker Henry Ford. Thus, while respondents had probably encountered “square head” screws before, only 16% of Commonwealth respondents and 5% of Americans recognized the product’s technical name.
http://i.imgur.com/C2Ywl9e.jpg
Mickey
Used by 88% of Canadians
A 375 ml bottle of liquor. In the United States, the term “mickey” is slang term for a date rape drug, and 69% of Americans were unaware of its more benign Canadian usage. Mickey is actually one of a series of uniquely Canadian booze measurements revealed by the survey. “Two four” (a case of 24 beers), “twenty sixer” (a 750 ml bottle of liquor) and “forty-pounder” (a 1.14 liter bottle of liquor) were all virtually unknown outside the Great White North.
Pablum
http://i.imgur.com/hZcH86u.jpg
Used by 71% of Canadians
This word often arises in Canadian political discourse to describe a policy that is pandering or without substance. Commentator Lawrence Martin, for instance, recently described a Justin Trudeau speech as “full of pieties and pablum.” The term arises from a specific Canadian product, Pablum, a processed cereal for infants first released in 1931. This tasteless, inert mixture of bone meal, corn meal, vitamins and grains never seems to have caught in the rest of the English-speaking world, however. Only 11% of American respondents said they used the word.
Pencil Crayon
Used by 96% of Canadians
Americans call them “colored pencils” and Brits call them “colouring pencils,” but despite what Canadians have stuck firmly to the above term, which Jules Sherred suspects is the result of mashing the English “coloured pencils” with the French “crayon de couleur.” A mere 14% of Americans recognized the term.
Freezies
Used by 98% of Canadians
Freezies, as most Canadians are aware, are like popsicles, only that instead of being served on a stick, they come in a cheek-lacerating plastic sleeve. In a world where the product is known by everything from California Snow to Ice Tickles, Canadians have fervently laid claim to the least-creative term for the summer treat. Only 28% of Americans and 11% of Commonwealth residents had ever heard the term “freezies.”
Hooped
Used by 54% of Canadians
Meaning “broken” or “useless,” as in “this Volvo’s engine is seized; the car’s hooped,” the survey revealed that not only is this term completely foreign to Americans, but also to many Canadians, leading Ms. Sherred to believe that it is a purely Western Canadian expression. Indeed, since the National Post’s 1998 founding, the word in this context has only been printed five times, and each times has come exclusively from either Albertans or British Columbians. Another exclusively Western term revealed by the survey? “Kangaroo jacket” as a moniker for a hoodie sweater.
http://i.imgur.com/bawMUEe.jpg
Last month, as actors on U.S. late night shows each took turns impersonating Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, a surprising number decided to portray the chief executive with a stereotypical Canadian accent: Nasal, slow and punctuated with “ehs” and “aboots.”
In truth, Rob Ford sounds pretty much like an American, save for the occasional “Canadianism,” such as “mickey of vodka” or “fill your boots.”
In October, Jules Sherred, a B.C.-based contributor to GeekMom.com, decided to put some of the unique quirks of Canadian English to the test.
The blogger compiled a list of 82 words that, according to Ms. Sherred, made American friends “look at me with a blank stare,” and then ran them past a survey group comprising 52 Canadians, 104 Americans and 19 people from the rest of the former British Empire, including New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, England, and Wales.
Two months and 17,000 data points later, the blogger meticulously ranked each word both by how familiar it was to the Canadians, and how unfamiliar it was to the rest of the English-speaking world.
Ms. Sherred readily admits that the survey is not rigorously scientific, but what emerged was a surprising compilation of words that, while ubiquitous to Canadian tongues, are apparently foreign to the world beyond our borders.
Toque
Used by 100% of Canadians
Virtually every culture with both cold weather and access to sheep has some national variant of the knit cap. The Afghans have the pakol, the U.S. Coast Guard supplies its crews with “watch caps” and Canadians, for half the year, wear “toques.” But while this was the only word on the survey that obtained unanimous usage among the Canadians, a majority of the non-Canadians said they had never even heard of it.
Donair
Used by 71% of Canadians
This meat-heavy, Turkish dish was actually invented in Halifax, although it bears strong relation to what the rest of the world would call a “gyro,” a “doner kebab,” or a “shawarma.” Less than one fifth of the non-Canadians recognized the term.
Homo Milk
Used by 92% of Canadians
This giggle-inducing dairy product (milk with 3.25% fat) is exclusively called “whole milk” in both Britain and the United States, where the vast majority of respondents were completely unfamiliar with the Canadian term. “Homo,” of course, is largely known as a homosexual slur, but as it gradually loses favour in a post-gay marriage Canada, it’s quite possible the word soon be known exclusively for its dairy connotations.
Parkade
Used by 71% of Canadians
In the U.S. and Commonwealth, multi-storey concrete parking structures are known as “parking garages” or “parking decks.” As such, while “parkade” is often the official posted term in dozens of Canadian malls and downtown, almost none of the non-Canadian survey respondents could identify the term.
Robertson Screwdriver
Used by 92% of Canadians
Technologically superior to its wedge or Phillips-head cousins, the Robertson screw, invented by Ontarian P.L. Robertson, is ubiquitous on Canadian construction sites, yet only constitutes a fraction of all U.S. screw sales—purportedly because the screw was long-ago eschewed by carmaker Henry Ford. Thus, while respondents had probably encountered “square head” screws before, only 16% of Commonwealth respondents and 5% of Americans recognized the product’s technical name.
http://i.imgur.com/C2Ywl9e.jpg
Mickey
Used by 88% of Canadians
A 375 ml bottle of liquor. In the United States, the term “mickey” is slang term for a date rape drug, and 69% of Americans were unaware of its more benign Canadian usage. Mickey is actually one of a series of uniquely Canadian booze measurements revealed by the survey. “Two four” (a case of 24 beers), “twenty sixer” (a 750 ml bottle of liquor) and “forty-pounder” (a 1.14 liter bottle of liquor) were all virtually unknown outside the Great White North.
Pablum
http://i.imgur.com/hZcH86u.jpg
Used by 71% of Canadians
This word often arises in Canadian political discourse to describe a policy that is pandering or without substance. Commentator Lawrence Martin, for instance, recently described a Justin Trudeau speech as “full of pieties and pablum.” The term arises from a specific Canadian product, Pablum, a processed cereal for infants first released in 1931. This tasteless, inert mixture of bone meal, corn meal, vitamins and grains never seems to have caught in the rest of the English-speaking world, however. Only 11% of American respondents said they used the word.
Pencil Crayon
Used by 96% of Canadians
Americans call them “colored pencils” and Brits call them “colouring pencils,” but despite what Canadians have stuck firmly to the above term, which Jules Sherred suspects is the result of mashing the English “coloured pencils” with the French “crayon de couleur.” A mere 14% of Americans recognized the term.
Freezies
Used by 98% of Canadians
Freezies, as most Canadians are aware, are like popsicles, only that instead of being served on a stick, they come in a cheek-lacerating plastic sleeve. In a world where the product is known by everything from California Snow to Ice Tickles, Canadians have fervently laid claim to the least-creative term for the summer treat. Only 28% of Americans and 11% of Commonwealth residents had ever heard the term “freezies.”
Hooped
Used by 54% of Canadians
Meaning “broken” or “useless,” as in “this Volvo’s engine is seized; the car’s hooped,” the survey revealed that not only is this term completely foreign to Americans, but also to many Canadians, leading Ms. Sherred to believe that it is a purely Western Canadian expression. Indeed, since the National Post’s 1998 founding, the word in this context has only been printed five times, and each times has come exclusively from either Albertans or British Columbians. Another exclusively Western term revealed by the survey? “Kangaroo jacket” as a moniker for a hoodie sweater.