What's your favourite Canadianism, eh?
From toque to stagette to keener, there are many words uttered only in the Great White North.
"The thing that surprises me the most is how just ordinary every day they are," Katherine Barber told CBC Saskatchewan's Blue Sky. She was the editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, and is often referred to as Canada's word lady.
POLL: What do you love most about Canada?
"We don't even realize they are Canadian. It's not until we go away we realize we use them."
She said a good example of that is the word eavestrough which is used only in Canada. Most other English-speaking nations call it a rain gutter.
She said "slough," a small body of water, is a prairie term, as is parkade. Also using the term "stalls" to mean "parking stalls" is prairie phrase.
Another uniquely Canadian phrase? ****-disturber. Barber says other English nations used the word "stir" instead of "disturb." She told Blue Sky host Garth Materie, of course, most Canadians are far too polite to use the term on air.
She said the Oxford English Dictionary contains several Canadianisms, but words like stagette and keener were only added recently.
CBC Radio Saskatchewan's Blue Sky asked listeners for some of their favourite Canadian words and phrases. What are some of yours?
Blue Sky @BlueSkyCBC
What are your favourite Canadianisms? Get off the 'chesterfield.' Be a 'keener' and tell us. @ 12:30.
Vicky Piesinger @Miss_Vicky_
@BlueSkyCBC @CBCSask @SLangeneggerCBC @LeishaCBC @Miss_Vicky_ Who wants a Timmie's?
John Hampton @levmal
@BlueSkyCBC @SLangeneggerCBC "Bluff" referring to a stand of trees on the prairie rather than the usual reference to a cliff face.
Amy Jo Ehman @prairiefeast
Hard to believe "stagette" wasn"t already in the OED. I went to my first 35 years ago! @BlueSkyCBC
Nathan Elke @nathan_elke
@BlueSkyCBC @CBCSaskatoon @CBCSask definitely "Toque". Better than "knitted cap" or more recently, "beanie" (that's something different)
Source: What's your favourite Canadianism, eh? - Saskatchewan - CBC News
From toque to stagette to keener, there are many words uttered only in the Great White North.
"The thing that surprises me the most is how just ordinary every day they are," Katherine Barber told CBC Saskatchewan's Blue Sky. She was the editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, and is often referred to as Canada's word lady.
POLL: What do you love most about Canada?
"We don't even realize they are Canadian. It's not until we go away we realize we use them."
She said a good example of that is the word eavestrough which is used only in Canada. Most other English-speaking nations call it a rain gutter.
She said "slough," a small body of water, is a prairie term, as is parkade. Also using the term "stalls" to mean "parking stalls" is prairie phrase.
Another uniquely Canadian phrase? ****-disturber. Barber says other English nations used the word "stir" instead of "disturb." She told Blue Sky host Garth Materie, of course, most Canadians are far too polite to use the term on air.
She said the Oxford English Dictionary contains several Canadianisms, but words like stagette and keener were only added recently.
CBC Radio Saskatchewan's Blue Sky asked listeners for some of their favourite Canadian words and phrases. What are some of yours?
Blue Sky @BlueSkyCBCWhat are your favourite Canadianisms? Get off the 'chesterfield.' Be a 'keener' and tell us. @ 12:30.
Vicky Piesinger @Miss_Vicky_@BlueSkyCBC @CBCSask @SLangeneggerCBC @LeishaCBC @Miss_Vicky_ Who wants a Timmie's?
John Hampton @levmal@BlueSkyCBC @SLangeneggerCBC "Bluff" referring to a stand of trees on the prairie rather than the usual reference to a cliff face.
Amy Jo Ehman @prairiefeastHard to believe "stagette" wasn"t already in the OED. I went to my first 35 years ago! @BlueSkyCBC
Nathan Elke @nathan_elke@BlueSkyCBC @CBCSaskatoon @CBCSask definitely "Toque". Better than "knitted cap" or more recently, "beanie" (that's something different)
Source: What's your favourite Canadianism, eh? - Saskatchewan - CBC News
