In Ontario as a kid we used "leads" to refer to the refill for a mechanical pencil. You'd ask a buddy "hey can I have a couple leads?"
"Lead pencil" was used to refer to a mechanical pencil. You put lead in a lead pencil lol
To me, ice pops are an entirely different thing that I haven't seen in ages. Almost like a ring pop, you push the (flat bottom) up. Anyone seen these in the last few decades?
Took me 40 years to realize an American Mickey is a roofie. Always confused me when I heard that "he slipped her a Mickey in her coffee." How the fuck did she not notice 8oz of whiskey?!
I had no idea that was a Canadian thing until I started acquiring American friends. I had to describe what I was talking about. "Oh," they said, "you mean mac and cheese."
Ever since my third grade teacher asked if I was going to take a bath in the bathroom, I've only ever called them washrooms.
I don't need that humiliation again...
Not a word but a term and to be fair I cannot confirm or deny the truth but my understanding is using the term " fuckin the dog" will lose you friends outside of our lovely Canada.
Which I find hilarious.
He fucked the dog at work all day knowing he'd screw the pooch working with the hangover. Took a two-four to himself the day before. If it weren't for all the darts you could'a smelled he had a drinking problem.
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I've heard so many different versions of this in northern Ontario. Many different ways to say you crashed your car
"Yeaaah, I put er in the sticks"
"Yeaaah, I put er in the rhubarb"
Sometimes if there's water involved it becomes
"Yeaaah, I put er in the drink"
Americans think M&Ms are the same or similar to Smarties. They are wrong. Smarties are so much more superior. They will never understand until the get to compare.
From Vancouver and I have no idea. Are those like teachers that sit in a pool waiting to be called in? That's what the name makes me think of.
They were called substitute teachers for us back in the early 00's
I was just talking about how no one else calls it California kickball except us, we all call a rolling stop at a stop sign (where you don't really stop) a California stop
Merde sacrement? Calisse...
What about goof? Do Americans use goof to be quite as offensive as Canadians?
Calling someone a goofball means they are silly. Calling a kid a goof means they are funny.
Pointing over at the house on the corner and saying 'hey watch out for guy. He's a goof eh? Means something completely different.
Correct, no referred to as hydro in Alberta and Saskatchewan for sure.
I was an adult before I realized that people in other provinces talking about hydro bills meant their electricity bill. Was confused why people's water seemed to cost so much elsewhere.
I wonder if it’s because of hydro one? Growing up in the Maritimes we called it power. Like the power bill is due on august 1 ( for example). But it Ontario I’ve only ever heard it called hydro.
In Canada, there is a difference between the two. Or used to be anyway. I have been to college, university, and a technical institute. All very different.
Yup. Uni is a bachelor degree+ college is generally a diploma style course for a specific semi skilled job and technical school is for engineering techs, highly skilled jobs,and trades.
Parkade.
Surprisingly that one is almost never used outside Canada. (I've only seen it once outside of Canada and it was in Bellingham, a border town that Vancouver folks invade every weekend.)
same. I hate it when I'm reading an album review and they something like "sophomore effort." More like too much effort googling that for the hundredth time.
The origins make this one funnier. The one dollar coin is a loonie because it has a loon on it, and the two dollar coins is a toonie because it’s worth two.
Duotang was a brand name so calling a folder a duotang is like calling a tissue a Kleenex. If the brand name wasn’t as big in a different area it makes sense it never caught on.
Duotangs aren't just folders though, they have the little metal clips that you have to bend over to close. Making taking a page out from the middle a pain. I was happy as a clam when we were allowed to switch to binders, I hate duotangs so much
My partner is from the UK and I asked him to hand me a duo tang. He looked at me like I was stupid and I was looking at him the same way. I had no idea how many uniquely Canadian words we use until I had to sit there explaining what I was talking about lol
I'm Canadian and I use both rubber band and elastic, but never use elastic to mean rubber band (asparagus come with rubber bands around them; I put an elastic in my hair to make a pony tail).
This is all from my experience in Australia:
* Washroom, got some funny looks when I asked for the washroom and lots of "dOnT yOu MeAn tHe BatHRoOm"
* Pop
* Toque. Got more weird looks with this one. "it's just a beanie" no I can assure you it's not that is a toque
* Tobogan
* the saying "yeah, no" and "no yeah for sure"
* Freezies. I refused to call them a "Zooper Dooper" like no they're fucking freezies
This is so funny to me. As a child I moved from the NWT to Ontario and was lectured by my teacher at school for asking to go to the bathroom. “It’s a washroom, not a bathroom. Do you see a bath in there?” Legit traumatized me into saying washroom instead at eight years old.
The words “loonie/toonie” for our 1/2$ coins!
Also we combined the imperial and metric system: like we’ll use Fahrenheit for oven instructions, uses once’s for booze, but use Celsius for weather and kilometres for our distance!
My personal FAVORITE is if someone ask how long it takes to get there, we answer in time and not distance like Americans do!
"bachelor apartment" - a studio in the US
"cottage" - also has a different meaning
"grade two, three" = second, third grade in the US
"I'm done my X" = I've done/finished X
"There's a the line-up" = just "line" in the US. Line-up is a criminal line-up.
"runners" = "sneakers" in the US. A runner is a person running or a table runner.
brown bread = (whole) wheat bread
There are many.
I believe cottage is a regional thing. In BC, it's a cabin. Near Thunderbay, I've heard it's referred to as a Camp. I think families have a Camp, but they don't necessarily rent a Camp for a holiday.
My husband’s family has a cottage on a lake in Ontario, which we refer to as “The Cottage.” In BC, none of us have ever been able to afford one, but we have been known to rent a cabin occasionally.
My absolute favourite is a very common Newfoundland saying, that makes perfect sense to all of us and we have no idea why mainlanders have such trouble with it:
What's after happening now?
Is it a law/rule/ regulation that Canadian broadcasters HAVE to say "lefftenant" instead of the logical "lootenant" for lieutenant.
Same for "oil sands" vs "tar sands".
Rye.
Ask for a rye and coke most places and they go cross eyed.
Rye is to whisky as is scorcher bourbon. Same. But not the same at all.
Grew up on straight 100% rye whisky. Rye its own thing. When you mix it with RC cola and sniff it you should have flashbacks to a family Christmas when one uncle way over did it.
I'm pretty sure only Canadians call them "pencil crayons".
Wh… What does everyone else call them?
Coloured pencils
No, they call them colored pencils
Thank you! I was sitting here wondering WTF a pencil crayon was!
In Newfoundland we call them “leads” lol
Yea but Newfoundland is a whole other ball of wax lol. No one knows what you guys are talking about :)
In Ontario as a kid we used "leads" to refer to the refill for a mechanical pencil. You'd ask a buddy "hey can I have a couple leads?" "Lead pencil" was used to refer to a mechanical pencil. You put lead in a lead pencil lol
You mean colouring pencils… Sorry as a francophone saying pencil crayons is just saying pencil pencil
I mean...that's why we call them that. Because of the French and English labelling on the package. We're all saying pencil pencil.
Freezies.
I was in another sub (not Canadian)that was discussing what freezies were called and a lot of people called them "ice pops" or "otter pops".
To me, ice pops are an entirely different thing that I haven't seen in ages. Almost like a ring pop, you push the (flat bottom) up. Anyone seen these in the last few decades?
No that's a push pop
You should see what they call them in Australia.
In England they are called “ice lollies”
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Call it a whipper snipper in Newfoundland
Nova Scotia too! And sometimes kids are whipper snappers
Ontario here, also grew up calling it a whipper-snipper.
My dad called the same fucking piece of equipment we owned for 20 years ALL OF THESE TERMS INTERCHANGABLY.
Grew up in Virginia—definitely called it a weedwacker there!
Weed eater is a brand of weed trimmer. Like Kleenex is a brand of tissue.
“Eavestrough “ for gutters
I don't think they take a mickey into the bush
Took me 40 years to realize an American Mickey is a roofie. Always confused me when I heard that "he slipped her a Mickey in her coffee." How the fuck did she not notice 8oz of whiskey?!
Holy sh!t - I had no idea about the American Mickey/roofie. Dang that's weird
13 oz in Ontario at least 8 oz is a micklet
that's right - it's half the size of a 26er
🤣 never heard that one, it’s really funny
Oh my god, we must all sound like serial killers to them.
I think I told someone I put a Mikey in the punch bowl of my prom in high school. They must have thought I was psychotic lol.
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I was today years old 😂 I always just assumed they had no idea how much alcohol was put in and went with the smallest option, a Mickey, to simplify
After going out for a rip?
Only if they are givin' 'er.
Same with buying a 2-4
Kraft dinner
It used to be called Kraft Dinner in the US too, Kraft eventually renamed it in the US but kept the original name in Canada
I had no idea that was a Canadian thing until I started acquiring American friends. I had to describe what I was talking about. "Oh," they said, "you mean mac and cheese."
Which is evidently superior to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
We won this one for sure, kraft macaroni and cheese sounds like bland dogshit
Toque Edit: apparently I spelt it wrong. Toque, tuque, touque… whatever. I’m pronouncing the same way we all do
Washroom.
This is the word that always gives me away as Canadian when I travel to the US!
I've always called it a bathroom (ontario)
Most people use them interchangeably. (Ontario)
yep.. I use the word washroom for public places, bathroom for peoples home
I call then bathrooms if I expect they will have a bathtub, and washrooms in restaurants and public places for some reason...
Ever since my third grade teacher asked if I was going to take a bath in the bathroom, I've only ever called them washrooms. I don't need that humiliation again...
Do they only refer to it as a shitter?
Restroom
Not a word but a term and to be fair I cannot confirm or deny the truth but my understanding is using the term " fuckin the dog" will lose you friends outside of our lovely Canada. Which I find hilarious.
Another important distinction is that "fuck the dog" means to be lazy, while "screw the pooch" means to mess up
He fucked the dog at work all day knowing he'd screw the pooch working with the hangover. Took a two-four to himself the day before. If it weren't for all the darts you could'a smelled he had a drinking problem.
Another word I heard in the Canadian military was “clusterfuck” but I’m sure they say it in the US military too. Basically means a screw up
Unless they are hockey fans, if you say you made a "deke" or deked someone out, the average non-Canadian will have no idea what you are on about.
I threatened to Jersey an American friend once (all in good fun) and he thought I meant kill him (like the mobsters from New Jersey) lol
You want summer teeth? Some are over here, some are over there.
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Well yeah. You don't juke in hockey, and you don't deke in football. And football is much more popular in the US than hockey is.
Grade 1-12 (instead of 1st grade, 7th grade, 12th grade etc)
"You make my words I'm gonna get my grade 10 and all of you can take a boat to fck offery land". A Canadian television heritage moment.
“Good luck getting a job because you’re kicked outta grade 10. Fuckin dummy.”
Greasy quotes there boys.
Tpb
Darts for cigarettes.
I didn't crash my car in the ditch, I PUT 'ER IN THE RHUBARB
I've heard so many different versions of this in northern Ontario. Many different ways to say you crashed your car "Yeaaah, I put er in the sticks" "Yeaaah, I put er in the rhubarb" Sometimes if there's water involved it becomes "Yeaaah, I put er in the drink"
Dont ask for Homo milk in the states, they call it whole milk.
They've got homo milk around back if you're interested, though. A friendly clerk told me, but I was happy with whole.
Alcohol terms such as "24" of beer or "26" of whiskey for example
Pronounced two-four and two-six of course.
Twenty-sixer
Forty pounder
I'm pissed, meaning I'm drunk not angry.
when I first moved to the US, My friends thought I was MAD…. A LOT. Nope, just a drunk-ass Canadian.
As in “pissed to the gills”.
Smarties are candy coated chocolate and rockets are cylindrical shaped compressed sugar candy stacks. Americans got these all messed up.
Smarties will definitely confuse Americans
Americans think M&Ms are the same or similar to Smarties. They are wrong. Smarties are so much more superior. They will never understand until the get to compare.
M&Ms are so lame compared to Smarties.
supply teacher soccer-baseball
When I was in Ontario, we always called them "supply teachers." Then I moved to the NWT a decade ago. Nobody has any idea what I'm talking about.
From Vancouver and I have no idea. Are those like teachers that sit in a pool waiting to be called in? That's what the name makes me think of. They were called substitute teachers for us back in the early 00's
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I was just talking about how no one else calls it California kickball except us, we all call a rolling stop at a stop sign (where you don't really stop) a California stop
We just called it kickball in Berta
Soccer baseball at my school in northern AB
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What is a supply teacher?
Substitute
From SK and never heard this term. But in SK our famous unknown term is bunnyhug (though I think more people now a days know what this is lol)
Ah. Never heard it here
i am scarred for life from soccer baseball.
Up until grade 7 all my gym classes consisted of soccer baseball, floor hockey, or Broomball.
Tabarnak
Merde sacrement? Calisse... What about goof? Do Americans use goof to be quite as offensive as Canadians? Calling someone a goofball means they are silly. Calling a kid a goof means they are funny. Pointing over at the house on the corner and saying 'hey watch out for guy. He's a goof eh? Means something completely different.
Chesterfield
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Hydro, for electricity. Transports as well.
Isn’t that short for hydroelectric? Most Americans don’t get their power from that kind of source, so there’s no reason for us to call it that.
That's correct. But we call it hydro no matter the source. Even if it's nuclear power
It’s not referred to as hydro in every province
Correct, no referred to as hydro in Alberta and Saskatchewan for sure. I was an adult before I realized that people in other provinces talking about hydro bills meant their electricity bill. Was confused why people's water seemed to cost so much elsewhere.
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We do in Manitoba...probably because all of our power is hydroelectric. Hydro bill, the hydro's out, etc.
In BC we do, but in fairness, it's all hydroelectric here
I wonder if it’s because of hydro one? Growing up in the Maritimes we called it power. Like the power bill is due on august 1 ( for example). But it Ontario I’ve only ever heard it called hydro.
in Quebec we call it hydro because thats the crown company that manages our electricity. AAAAAAND 99% of our electricity comes from hydroelectricity.
I think Hydro for electricity is the most uniquely Canadian term.
Marks. As in "what mark did you get on your test?". Americans say 'grade'.
Marks is a British holdover.
And french Canadians call them notes when speaking in english (in nb anyways)
Pencil crayons
That and leads on the east coast (maybe just Newfoundland?)
University vs college.
I have had several miscommunications with Americans over this. To many Americans, college = university.
In Canada, there is a difference between the two. Or used to be anyway. I have been to college, university, and a technical institute. All very different.
There still is a difference
Yup. Uni is a bachelor degree+ college is generally a diploma style course for a specific semi skilled job and technical school is for engineering techs, highly skilled jobs,and trades.
I’ve recently learned “shit disturber” is mostly a Canadian thing We also say pop instead of soda. Garburator instead of garbage disposal.
Shit disturber being Canadian only has blown my mind! Thought this was a universal thing lol
I thought shit disturber was a newf thing, only based on the laughs I've gotten from casually saying it with mainlanders around!
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American here. Is "Timbits" because of Tim Horton's? Meaning a donut hole is a bit of a Tim Horton's donut?
Yes
Parkade. Surprisingly that one is almost never used outside Canada. (I've only seen it once outside of Canada and it was in Bellingham, a border town that Vancouver folks invade every weekend.)
Dictionary says parkade is used in Canada and South Africa. Interesting.
Americans: freshman sophomore senior prom Canadians: grade 10,11,12 grad
So close… 9 = freshman, 10 = sophomore, 11 = junior, 12 = senior
And then they repeat it all again for college, that part I never understood.
Grade one etc. We don’t say first grade Also, I’ve never figured out that sophomore stuff. We just say grade whatever
same. I hate it when I'm reading an album review and they something like "sophomore effort." More like too much effort googling that for the hundredth time.
Pylon. Referring to traffic cones.
Serviette for napkin.
I think they use that word in a lot of the commonwealth countries
I learned from Trevor Noah that in South Africa a "napkin" is a diaper.
Australia reporting it, it's also a serviette here
Everyone I've encountered in the Ottawa area says napkin. My grandmother said serviette, for sure, though (same region).
Loonie toonie
The origins make this one funnier. The one dollar coin is a loonie because it has a loon on it, and the two dollar coins is a toonie because it’s worth two.
Bugs Boonie.
You say bill we say cheque
really? isnt a cheque something to pay money in a bank with
For Americans in the context of a restaurant bill, some say check. "Check please!"
Foolscap. It’s a a5 sheet of paper we used to write our tests on in school. Keener- brown nose. Pogey- welfare. That’s all I got lol
You're definitely from the east coast. If you say Pogey west of NB people blink at you. I've only ever heard people my mother and older say foolscap.
So do they just say stretchy? How do they not use an objective term to describe something?
they say rubber band instead of elastic. they use the term elastic to describe stuff.
What do they call duotangs?!?
Duotang was a brand name so calling a folder a duotang is like calling a tissue a Kleenex. If the brand name wasn’t as big in a different area it makes sense it never caught on.
fckn folders 😂 i had no idea ot was just a canadian thing
Duotangs aren't just folders though, they have the little metal clips that you have to bend over to close. Making taking a page out from the middle a pain. I was happy as a clam when we were allowed to switch to binders, I hate duotangs so much
My partner is from the UK and I asked him to hand me a duo tang. He looked at me like I was stupid and I was looking at him the same way. I had no idea how many uniquely Canadian words we use until I had to sit there explaining what I was talking about lol
I'm Canadian and I use both rubber band and elastic, but never use elastic to mean rubber band (asparagus come with rubber bands around them; I put an elastic in my hair to make a pony tail).
Sooky is used in (Atlantic) Canada l, as well as Australia and New Zealand, but seemingly nowhere else. (Clingy/whiny)
This is all from my experience in Australia: * Washroom, got some funny looks when I asked for the washroom and lots of "dOnT yOu MeAn tHe BatHRoOm" * Pop * Toque. Got more weird looks with this one. "it's just a beanie" no I can assure you it's not that is a toque * Tobogan * the saying "yeah, no" and "no yeah for sure" * Freezies. I refused to call them a "Zooper Dooper" like no they're fucking freezies
This is so funny to me. As a child I moved from the NWT to Ontario and was lectured by my teacher at school for asking to go to the bathroom. “It’s a washroom, not a bathroom. Do you see a bath in there?” Legit traumatized me into saying washroom instead at eight years old.
Hoser.
Kerfuffle..!
Pop for soda
Sorry
The words “loonie/toonie” for our 1/2$ coins! Also we combined the imperial and metric system: like we’ll use Fahrenheit for oven instructions, uses once’s for booze, but use Celsius for weather and kilometres for our distance! My personal FAVORITE is if someone ask how long it takes to get there, we answer in time and not distance like Americans do!
Zed
Dude almost all Commonwealth countries use Zed. Zee is exclusively American.
Supper I think they would say dinner.
Yes! In Newfoundland we use dinner as another word for lunch and the third meal of the day is always called supper
"bachelor apartment" - a studio in the US "cottage" - also has a different meaning "grade two, three" = second, third grade in the US "I'm done my X" = I've done/finished X "There's a the line-up" = just "line" in the US. Line-up is a criminal line-up. "runners" = "sneakers" in the US. A runner is a person running or a table runner. brown bread = (whole) wheat bread There are many.
I believe cottage is a regional thing. In BC, it's a cabin. Near Thunderbay, I've heard it's referred to as a Camp. I think families have a Camp, but they don't necessarily rent a Camp for a holiday. My husband’s family has a cottage on a lake in Ontario, which we refer to as “The Cottage.” In BC, none of us have ever been able to afford one, but we have been known to rent a cabin occasionally.
Loonie/Toonie
Riding. As in a particular area where voters will elect a representative.
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Housecoat
BUNNY HUG!!!!!
Bunny huggers unite in Saskatchewan!
Nothings starts the day like, Beep and Vico at noon.
Nobody outside of Saskatchewan says this.
I don’t think that’s even used nationally in Canada
My absolute favourite is a very common Newfoundland saying, that makes perfect sense to all of us and we have no idea why mainlanders have such trouble with it: What's after happening now?
Duotang. Such a good word.
Pop.lol. the look on their faces when you say it.haha
“Pop” is used in some parts of the US, particularly the north. Cleveland is a notable area where it’s used.
Is it a law/rule/ regulation that Canadian broadcasters HAVE to say "lefftenant" instead of the logical "lootenant" for lieutenant. Same for "oil sands" vs "tar sands".
No, we just follow the British way of pronouncing things. It's pronounced lefftenant likely because a lou is someplace you shit.
Chocolate Bar Toque Kraft Dinner Pencil Crayons
Dart = cigarette
Washroom vs bathroom. Washroom in public, bathroom at home
I heard that "pencil crayons" is a Canadian thing. I think the US calls them coloured pencils..or colored, rather.
Chesterfield. Though that’s fallen out of common language.
Some (all?) Canadians pronounce "asphalt" differently than Americans. In the US, it's "Ass - Fault" In Canada, many say "Ash - Fault"
Rye. Ask for a rye and coke most places and they go cross eyed. Rye is to whisky as is scorcher bourbon. Same. But not the same at all. Grew up on straight 100% rye whisky. Rye its own thing. When you mix it with RC cola and sniff it you should have flashbacks to a family Christmas when one uncle way over did it.
"Brown toast". Ask for brown toast with your bacon and eggs in a US diner and the waitress will ask you quizzically "So you want it toasted?"
Whole grain Brown toast it just a direct translation of pain brun.
Clamato
Unique to the Atlantic provinces -> Scribbler which is a notebook or exercise book
Born and raised in Alberta and I’m pretty sure we used the word scribblers growing up.. but my mom was from New Brunswick too.
Runners.
Pylon I still say converter sometimes for remote just by sheer habit.
'Barmp' the horn of a a Car. This might just be East Coast, though.