Questions about English spoken in Canada and by Canadians.
2
votes
1answer
100 views
What is the most common name for the floor above the ground floor in Canada?
I think the floor above the ground floor, in public buildings, is either called 2nd floor (in which case the ground floor is the first) or 1st floor. This is quite confusing since you need to know the ...
12
votes
2answers
610 views
Canadian spelling: why?
As a Canadian, I feel that our spelling tendencies—sometimes British, sometimes American—fit quite well with our geographic, historic and cultural placement between these two bigger countries.
I have ...
15
votes
5answers
1k views
The use of “hey” in North America
Having had my formative years in New Zealand, I was born in South Africa. I vaguely recall when I was VERY young having someone tell me when I said "hey" that "hay is what horses eat".
I got that ...
2
votes
2answers
288 views
What does the end of sentence “eh” tag mean in Canadian English?
What does the end of sentence eh tag mean in Canadian English? It seems like it should mean something. In other languages, final tags can indicate questions or other things.
5
votes
7answers
438 views
Tuques and dialects - What do you call a knitted cap in your region/dialect? [closed]
In Canadian English the word tuque refers to a knitted cap for use in cold weather.
I'd like to know what such an item is commonly called in other dialects and regions since most people are utterly ...
-2
votes
5answers
698 views
Americans stereotype Canadian pronunciation of “about”? [closed]
Americans think that Canadians pronounce about as aboot (I've never heard anyone pronounce it that way) yet they pronounce route as root. They know how to pronounce out, about, router (as rauwter) ...
4
votes
8answers
3k views
Why is it called an “Indian file”?
I recently came across a US phrase, Indian file. This is utterly unheard of in the UK, and probably outside North America; at least I’ve certainly never heard of it. The phrase would be expressed in ...
4
votes
3answers
441 views
Spelling protocol (American/British/Canadian) for an International conference
If I'm a Canadian who'll be presenting in an international conference, should I use my country's spelling, which is the Canadian/British spelling like "grey" or the more used American spelling like ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Why is 'forty' spelled without a 'u' in Canadian/British English?
I was writing in Word today (with the Canadian English dictionary enabled) and it kept putting a redline under "fourty" which I couldn't understand. A bit of searching says that, even in British and ...
12
votes
7answers
874 views
Is “Canuck” offensive?
I was criticized the other day for using this word. It never occurred to me that it was offensive, but Wikipedia says it "may" be derogatory. Given Vancouver's hockey team, I tend to think it's ...
5
votes
2answers
3k views
Use of “untick”/“uncheck” in Canadian English?
I'd be grateful if any Canadian speakers can tell me: in the context of an option in a computer dialog box/menu, which of the words "untick" vs "uncheck" is most commonly used (or are they used ...
7
votes
3answers
4k views
“Checking” vs. “chequing” vs. “chequeing” with regards to types of bank accounts
I came across this little dilemma when looking up the incorrectly spelled word "chequing" in my web browser's dictionary (Opera). According to the different dictionaries you can select in Opera:
EN ...
5
votes
5answers
3k views
What does it mean to be “hard done by” - a phrase I heard from a Canadian friend
From the context of discussion, I took "hard done by" to mean "taken advantage unfair of" as in "He felt hard done by by former friends."
I had never heard the phrase before and have not heard it ...
14
votes
4answers
7k views
What are the important differences between Canadian and American (USA) English?
English is not my first language; the little English I know is mostly from the USA.
I know some of the differences between British English (or just English?) and American English, and the same with ...
