Canadian Slang for Dummies
Nilos: So have you read the latest comment by a particular good looking guy?
Grace: Er, yes I have...but I didn't quite understand what the 'good looking guy' actually meant.
We're talking in regards to comment on "My Teddy Bear Prof." posting:
nilos said...
It's good to hear that you are stoned in class :)
7:30 PM
Grace: I mean, we're 'stoned'...he's just kinda boring.
Nilos: Grace, oh grace...nono, the Canadian slang for stoned means being high on drugs!
Grace: Uhuh? Since when? Never heard of that slang before...
Anywayz, I find that there are still a lot of slang that I am not familiar with yet, though I have lived here for the last two and a half years. Things that you wouldn't think would mean as such, always happens to...yeah.
So, I'm putting up a small list for my 'Canadian Slang for Dummies,' a compilation of words with very different context for people in Asia and Canada.
Btw, no charge for this list!
Tissue = Kleenex
(*sniff sniff* Can I have a tissue please? Uhuh, what's a tissue dude? Yeah...I mean a kleenex...)
Sneakers = Runners
(I mean, seriously...runners are like people who run right...not some sporting good!)
Plaster = Band Aid
Panadol = Tylenol
Fringe = Bangs
Fees = Tuition
(yeah, the word 'tuition' in Asia has a very different contextual meaning...it's where one pays a tutor to teach you for extra classes)
Bath = Shower
(no biggie....but it means a world difference. To take a 'bath' you gota be 95% immersed in the water otherwise it ain't bathing!)
Dinner = Supper
(in Asia, supper starts at 10pm or later, usually when one hangs out in 'mamak' open air stalls eating roti canai and drinking teh tarik or such!)
Spoilt = Broken
(yeah...they call it that, broken! Broken really means coming apart in this context...but people here mean it as in it ain't working anymore. eg. the car is broken, the t.v. is broken!)
Well, this is all I can think of so far. Will update my little 'Canadian Slang for Dummies' when I encounter more slang.
Feel free to add if you have any!
Grace: Er, yes I have...but I didn't quite understand what the 'good looking guy' actually meant.
We're talking in regards to comment on "My Teddy Bear Prof." posting:
nilos said...
It's good to hear that you are stoned in class :)
7:30 PM
Grace: I mean, we're 'stoned'...he's just kinda boring.
Nilos: Grace, oh grace...nono, the Canadian slang for stoned means being high on drugs!
Grace: Uhuh? Since when? Never heard of that slang before...
Anywayz, I find that there are still a lot of slang that I am not familiar with yet, though I have lived here for the last two and a half years. Things that you wouldn't think would mean as such, always happens to...yeah.
So, I'm putting up a small list for my 'Canadian Slang for Dummies,' a compilation of words with very different context for people in Asia and Canada.
Btw, no charge for this list!
Tissue = Kleenex
(*sniff sniff* Can I have a tissue please? Uhuh, what's a tissue dude? Yeah...I mean a kleenex...)
Sneakers = Runners
(I mean, seriously...runners are like people who run right...not some sporting good!)
Plaster = Band Aid
Panadol = Tylenol
Fringe = Bangs
Fees = Tuition
(yeah, the word 'tuition' in Asia has a very different contextual meaning...it's where one pays a tutor to teach you for extra classes)
Bath = Shower
(no biggie....but it means a world difference. To take a 'bath' you gota be 95% immersed in the water otherwise it ain't bathing!)
Dinner = Supper
(in Asia, supper starts at 10pm or later, usually when one hangs out in 'mamak' open air stalls eating roti canai and drinking teh tarik or such!)
Spoilt = Broken
(yeah...they call it that, broken! Broken really means coming apart in this context...but people here mean it as in it ain't working anymore. eg. the car is broken, the t.v. is broken!)
Well, this is all I can think of so far. Will update my little 'Canadian Slang for Dummies' when I encounter more slang.
Feel free to add if you have any!
posted by Grace at 3/15/2006 04:55:00 PM
11 Comments:
Here's one that even the Americans won't know:
toque - a winter hat. Americans can't seem to agree on a name for this. They should really just copy us.
Just one thing to add: Thanks for teaching me some Malaysian slang. For people like me who've unforunately never been to Asia, this could be called "Asian slang for dummies."
hahaha! then I may be better off than an American!! I learnt the word 'toque' the second month I was in Canada coz I wanted to go for the Navs Camping Trip (but it was already below freezing point and snowing then and my parents were going to skinned me alive if I went, so I didn't. Well, I went the following year :) ). Yah, the Americans should follow us: toque toque toque!
Am glad you learnt a lil on Asian Slang! I'll give you 'tuition' if you would like...for some 'nasi lemak' mamak supper!
In US
Tissue = Kleenex
Sneakers = Runners
Plaster = Band Aid
Panadol = Tylenol
Fringe = Bangs
Fees = Tuition
Bath = Shower
Dinner = Supper
Maybe you have me confused with a different Alex. (I'm Alex Scheuerman.) Because I have no idea what 'nasi lemak' mamak is, so if you gave me tuition for that, you'd get nothing in return.
Or maybe you knew which Alex this is and I'm just confused.
imprzha:
You mean the latter right? Yah...US and Canada have pretty similar slang. Any new ones to teach us (Canadians here?)
Alex:
Yes, I know it is you, dude. There are three alex-es I know which I gave my blog URL to...but don't worry I know it was you!
You just need to ask me what is 'nasi lemak!'
Canuck Slang... Oh Goody!!!! :)
Here are a few words to get you started. Okay, some of them are more North American, but some are definitely Canadian! Of course there are so many more that I won't post here because they would fall into the category of also being rather vulgar.
Canuck = Canadian
toboggan = type of sled (NOT a hat as some Americans would have you believe)
yankee = American
rig = truck
hoe = excavator
bush = forest
redneck = a person of the working class who usually loves country music and has several broken trucks parked on the front lawn.
hic-town = little town in the middle of no-where
john = 1) toilet, 2)a prostitute's customer
can = toilet
hooker = prostitute
long johns = thermal underwear
muck out the barn = clean the barn
twenty-two = gun
six-pack = 6 cans of beer
booze = alcohol
thumb a ride = hitchhike
fall = autumn
texas gate = cattle guard
chesterfield = couch
pusher = drug dealer
a hoot = something fun or funny
wasted = drunk
loaded = drunk
skidoo = snowmobile
click = kilometer
distance is measured in hours
double double = coffee with 2 creme and 2 sugar
newfie = someone from the province of Newfoundland, Canada
Some words that are commonly used in Canada, but probably not used much elsewhere:
snowshoe = racket shaped frame with interlaced strips that can be strapped to the foot and used for walking in deep snow.
moccasins = soft leather shoe worn by some aboriginal people
mukluk = soft leather boot of reindeer or seal skin and worn by the eskimos
igloo = a shelter made of ice blocks
muff = warm tubular covering for the hands
hayride = fun ride on a wagon filled with hay and often pulled by horses
pemmican = dried buffalo meat and bufallo fat mixed with dried berries. Used by aboriginal people on the prairies.
snow blindness = temporary loss of vision resulting from being out in bright sunlight on snow for too long.
musher = driver of a dog sled
feller = lumberjack
bush pilot = a person who flies little planes out into largely inaccesible areas
gaiter = cloth wrapped around the anckle to keep snow out of one's boot and out of one's pants
longhouse = plank house used by the aboriginals on the west coast of Canada
teepee = tent used by aboriginals in central Canada
gumbo clay = thick slimy clay found on the prairies
muskeg = spongy, boggy soil found found especially in East-central Canada
permafrost = permanently frozen subsoil found at the polar regions
That was a real educational post Grace! Thank you!
Brits use the word Broken as well, it just seems a little weird to me. "The radio is broken." I'd think it has fallen to pieces but it actually just means it isn't working!
And Tylenol? Gosh I can't imagine trying to fit into the Canadian community now. I find it hard to say Paracetamol and not Panadol, but hey we all try to adapt don't we?
Woah Daniel,
That is one big great list of Canadian Slang!!! Thanks for teaching me more...I sure did learn lots!
Now I'll have to remember not to say 22 in the wrong context!
bc dinner jacket= flannel lumberjack shirt, work open with t shirt
peeler= stripper
f*ck off= leave or go on vacation
half rack= half a case of beer
tits up= dead
high test= beer with high alcohol content
get out!= I can't believe it!
alcabah= liquor store (alberta)
nutbar= crazy
oh yeah,
hockey hair= haircut short on top, long in back ("mullet" in US)
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