Questions tagged [canadian-english]
Questions about the English language as spoken in Canada.
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Pronunciation of "privacy" in Canadian English
Do Canadians follow the American English pronunciation with the "eye" phoneme or do they tend to stick with the Commonwealth pronunciation, i.e. with the short "i" vowel?
(Sorry, ...
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Are all variants of English spelling basically British or American? [closed]
I am working on an English-language online resource. It seems an obvious good idea to allow users to choose a version in British English or American English spelling. However, I've noticed that spell-...
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Usage of "high school" and "secondary school" in British Columbia
I grew up in British Columbia, Canada. In the area where I grew up (Greater Vancouver), the school system was generally separated into elementary and high school, with elementary starting at ...
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Are Canadianisms like "aboat" equally common on the American side of the border, adjacent to it?
Most Canadians live close the the border. If you cross to the American side of border, in a rural area, do Canadianisms (1) like "aboat" (2) suddenly become much less common?
Since this ...
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Are there Canadians who actually spell "organiSe, organiSation" "recogniSe" "realiSe" "authoriSe" with an S instead of a Z? [closed]
I've been noticing that some of my fellow Canadians habitually spell words such as "organise, organisation" "realise" recognise""authorise" instead "organize, ...
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Do some Americans in the Midwest pronounce "sorry" similarly to Canadians?
I just listened to the closing arguments from the defense team in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. At one point, Mr. Rittenhouse’s lawyer pronounced the word “sorry” in a way that to my non-native ears ...
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How did cougar come to mean predatory woman?
The common slang connotation of the term cougar is that of older women who have sexual relationships with younger men. The expression appears to come from Canada but its origin is still unclear as ...
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Is it grayscale or greyscale in Canadian English?
I know that grey is used in Canadian English - does that then mean that it should be greyscale in Canadian English?
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Meaning of "bareback"
I've been watching Guy Maddin's 2007 My Winnipeg and there's a sentence there I have difficulty understanding. The narrator is talking about the coldest month, January, and it goes something like this:...
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What does "blazes" mean in "Stay the blazes home!"
Canada Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil's war cry against COVID-19, "Stay the blazes home", trending #1 in Twitter Canada today (April 4, 2020). See news article coverage.
What does "blazes" here ...
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Is this the correct pronunciation of "heinous" in any English-speaking country?
I've never heard "heinous" pronounced "HI-ness" before; I always thought the only valid pronunciation was "HAY-ness."
Is "HI-ness" a valid pronunciation of "heinous" in any English-speaking country? ...
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What does "beef on the rope" mean"
"The did have one good pro sailor, Ed Roach, for "beef on the rope" and shipkeeping and cooking."
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Do Canadians say 'go to hospital' or 'go to the hospital'?
Do Canadians follow the British in saying 'I need to go to hospital', or do they say "He needs to go to the hospital'?
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What is considered as verbatim copying exactly? [closed]
I am always confused when it the word verbatim copying or word for word comes up.
What does that exactly mean
For example
The statement below:
Examining and investigating any electrical components ...
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Draft Beer or Draught Beer (In Canada)
There's a few threads on here about draft vs draught, but I couldn't find an answer to my question. As a preface, I'm Canadian, and know that draft (US) and draught (UK) are generally interchangeable,...
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Where exactly did the slang phrase "digging it" come from
I'm a young native english speaker raised in Canada. At school me and most of my friends tend to use the phrase "Im really digging this", as to mean i'm really enjoying a specific thing or activity. ...
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Alternative terms for Men's and Women's T-shirts?
I'm going to be hosting an event that may include gender non-binary participants, and we have some t-shirts to give away. They are manufactured in Men's and Women's cuts.
Are there any terms that ...
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Defense vs. Defence in Canadian English
I recently came across this spelling of "defense/ce" in a Canadian newspaper:
Canada is a close U.S. military ally and the top U.S. export market, more than the U.K., Japan and Germany combined. It ...
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Is it impolite to say hello to a doctor as "Hi, First Name"? [closed]
I'm based in Canada and I'm not a native English speaker. Is it impolite to call doctors and dentists by their first name instead of "Dr. Last Name" when answering a phone call?
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"'ve" contraction in Canadian and Australian English
I'm wondering if in Australian or Canadian English you can use " 've" before a noun phrase in informal style:
I've a car.
They've a great time.
The question is somewhat related to this one. The ...
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"I have to face" or "I have been facing" and what is the difference? [closed]
I have to face the real face of life.
Is this sentence correct?
Or should I say:
I have been facing the real face of life.
What I am trying to say is that I have been forced to do this.
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What is the archaic Canadian word for a chesterfield throwover?
So in a casual conversation with other Canadian writers, I asked the question because I was told by my parents that there was a specific word used by their parents for the throwover you place on the ...
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In Canada, does the expression "I'll pick up your slack" have negative, derogatory or positive connotation?
I was speaking to a native Canadian when he told me during a video game progress:
"I'll pick up the slack"
I got upset with him because I know that slack has a negative connotation which means he ...
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How do Canadians pronounce "eh"?
In a recent post, I was trying to describe Spanish vowels succinctly to an unsophisticated participant, and used the Canadian "eh?" as an example. A participant from the U.S. (California, ...
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Is "in-TEST-eyen" a valid pronunciation for "intestine"?
Is "in-TEST-eyen" /ɪnˈtestaɪn/ a valid pronunciation for "intestine"? I looked up "intestine" in MacMillan, Oxford, Cambridge, Merriam-Webster and even the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, none of ...
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Why isn't it appropriate to use an exclamation point in an essay? And how can I get around that? [closed]
I am currently writing a research essay for my English twelve class, and we are not allowed any exclaimation points whatsoever. But this one sentence is something I feel absolutely requires it! HELP: ...
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What does the term "White Privilege" mean?
I can't really find a definition that explains the concept of "White Privilege" in a simple way, but what I have understood so far is that it means white people will benefit or enjoy more power and ...
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Hallowe'en and shell out
Growing up in Canada, in addition to "trick-or-treating" as a description of kids' activities on Hallowe'en evening, I often heard the verb "shell out", conjugated as "shelling out" or "shellouting". ...
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meaning of "quite+adjective" in Canadian English
I am translating a Canadian article, and here's a sentence I need some help with:
There are innumerable colour choices when choosing gladioli corms but
until recent years, those colours classed ...
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"Accessory" pronounced with a stress on the first syllable
I'm a first language English speaker, but grew up bilingual in Spanish in a Spanish speaking country. Today I was speaking to another first language English speaker (Canadian) and used the word "...
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What word(s) do children of English native speakers use for "kid"/"child"/etc
I'm looking for (a) word(s) that is/are perceived to be child's language by adults, not words used by adults to describe children. What would be fine though are words used by adults when they are ...
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Is written Canadian English closer to American English or British English?
I'm having some writing done for a website aimed at a Canadian audience. In order to leverage our resources more, I'd like to focus on American English or British English.
So, is written Canadian ...
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Meaning of "Feds" in Canadian English?
Examples:
"Feds will make music downloading illegal, Heritage minister says."
and
"Feds to look at offering Canadians option to increase CPP
contributions"
My best guess is simply Federal ...
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Canadian English and collective nouns subject/verb agreement
Please, forgive me if this has already been asked. I did a quick search and found nothing specifically regarding Canadians, but a kind redirection would be helpful if this is a repeat.
I understand ...
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Socket or outlet, which one do you use when explaining to a child? [closed]
I'm just curious....
In the USA, how do you explain to a child 'don't put anything in the electrical outlet' or 'don't play with a wall socket'??
How do you say the same thing around the globe?
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How can choosing to speak in English rather than French have an emotional impact on me? [closed]
I’ve grown up speaking two languages. I can seamlessly swap between French and English, but somehow I often feel like I can’t speak my mind when speaking French.
When it comes to things that are ...
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How do Torontonians pronounce the name of their hometown?
Toronto - The capital and largest city of Ontario, Canada, in the southern part of the province on Lake Ontario.
[tə-ˈrän-(ˌ)tō, -ˈrän-tə] — Merriam-Webster
[tuh-ron-toh] — Reference.com
[təˈrän(t)ō] ...
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Term for aboriginal people of Canada in a historical context
The tribes that inhabited Canada before European contact are generally known as First Nations today. From what I can tell, this term is fairly new.
What term could I use to refer to First Nations ...
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Translating from American to Canadian, when these are used as verbs, is it "log in" and "log out" or "login" and "logout"?
This is not a duplicate of questions such as“Login” or “log in”? or “log in to” or “log into” or “login to”. The reason is that this question deals specifically with converting from American English ...
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"Her" in a sentence
I have a question about the use of "her" in English.
Here is a conversation:
Q. Any luck finishing your part? A. Working on her right now.
Here, does her refer to part A of the question? Is it ...
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"Why are you still in my office? VS Why do you still in my office? [closed]
What is the difference between those questions and which one is the correct form?
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Use of "as good" and "as well"
Are these two sentences correct?
This is as good as ...
This works as well as ...
Edit:
This one is as good as the other one.
This one works as well as the other one.
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Boogie - Negative connotation?
I work in a company which has a product called "Boogie" (for reasons that the original owner knows). The product has been called that way for years in our French Canadian environment. Our few English ...
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Résumé as summary vs document describing work experience
Because "résumé" or "resume" as a noun is a false cognate with the French equivalent, I tend to avoid using "résumé" to mean "summary", and only reserve it to mean "that document people bring to ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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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) ...
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