Canajan, eh?

PastyAlien said:

Oh! Sorry! *self flagellates with clue stick*

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No, dude, I can see the confusion - no flagellation necessary!

Wait, you only had one option underneath 'all of the above'? I wonder if they shuffle them randomly? I had 'all of the above' as the first answer, and then three more below it.

The act of blading the road is typically in reference to using a grader to scrape the hardpack on the road when a front-end snowplow won't do. This is especially common in the city, such as Regina and Saskatoon (as well as Edmonton and Winnipeg.)

TessB said:

Wait, you only had one option underneath 'all of the above'? I wonder if they shuffle them randomly? I had 'all of the above' as the first answer, and then three more below it.

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Yeah, "All of the Above" was third, for me. So I guess they must shuffle the order randomly. In which case probably "All of These" or something similar would have been a good choice...

Dainties... no wonder I got blank stares in Texas when planning xmas dinner. I wonder what they thought I meant....

We used to go saskatoon picking when I was a kid. Did I mention this already? I don't think so... Then we'd can 'em and have saskatoon syrup all winter. Yum! They're berries that look like blueberries, but are drier and with a tougher skin.

Saskatoon is always Saskabush to me. The badlands are also in eastern Alberta. I imagine the badlands of the two provinces are connected...

Bunnyhug is a very Saskatchewan term, although it also invaded at least parts of Alberta. I grew up with that term, despite living in Alberta (I had cousins we visited frequently in Saskatchewan).

FYI- If you've got folks crossing the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan, my husband's family here around Edmonton call slow drivers with Saskatchewan plates "Prairie Newfies."

Newfie jokes are the Canadian version of what we in the states think of as Aggie jokes or Polack jokes, depending on where you're from.

Also, Tetley tea. Not Liptons (that's only iced tea) and not Bigelow. Tetley. In the round bags, not individually wrapped (okay, seriously, why do Americans need all tea bags individually wrapped??) I went to 7 different grocery stores before I finally looked online and discovered you can't get Tetley tea here.

Oh, or Red Rose, and if the person is old enough, they'll remember the little figurines that came in the boxes.

But really, Tetley. I need some.

I still have some of those Red Rose figurines! I think my grandma gave them to me. A sort of Dickensian mother and her little Dickensian son...

I built a lot of stories around those little figurines when I was a kid.

I remember those figurines, in fact a friend got a case of nostalgia and began a collection for herself not too long ago.

As for Canadian phrases, I'm in NW Ontario and when I was a teen in the late 70's we had "bunny hugs," I've used the term "the back 40," also "brown noser." Oh, and Toronto was referred to as "The Big Smoke."

Somewhere I've got a book called "Canajan Eh?" which does catalogue various regionalisms and if you have something specific you need to know, I could see if it's in there.

I might just see if I can track down a copy of that. It sounds very useful. Thanks for that info!

On the west coast you might hear things that are strictly regional like "skookum" for example.

I brought "skookum" back from Vancouver with me, and people in Ontario seem to understand what it means. Maybe just from context.

What's 'skookum'?

A local phrase I haven't heard outside the maritimes is "the arse is right out of 'er", basically meaning 'shit has hit the fan.' A more common but still maritime-centric one is "give 'er" to encourage someone to try harder / put effort into something. ("Buddy was givin' 'er right hard, but the car wouldn't move out of the snowbank.")

"Give 'er" is huge in rural Ontario. At least, it was five years or so ago - it's faded out a little lately. Was it in a movie or TV show or something?

Skookum means strong, or sturdy. Like, "The wind was fierce, but it was a skookum shed and there was no damage."

TessB said:

What's 'skookum'?

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"Strong" or "Steady". Comes from Chinook jargon.

The only phrase to come from Mitchif that I know of is "Ship it!", which comes from the word "Shipwētwēw," meaning "Leave."

Captcha said:

"Give 'er" is huge in rural Ontario. At least, it was five years or so ago - it's faded out a little lately. Was it in a movie or TV show or something?

Skookum means strong, or sturdy. Like, "The wind was fierce, but it was a skookum shed and there was no damage."

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Hmmm... Maybe Trailer Park Boys? I haven't watched it myself, but I know it's a local show.

Captcha said:

"Give 'er" is huge in rural Ontario. At least, it was five years or so ago - it's faded out a little lately. Was it in a movie or TV show or something?

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Give 'er was really common in rural Alberta twentysomeodd years ago.

L M Ashton said:

Give 'er was really common in rural Alberta twentysomeodd years ago.

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Yup, but not just rural. It was very common among my cohort in Calgary. But not just to indicate effort. It also meant "go ahead" or "help yourself."

"hey man, can I have a beer?"
"giv'er"

Give'r? Out for a rip are ye, boy?

As a Toronto guy (insert Maple Leaf jokes here), I sit on my chesterfield/couch/sofa and read these post I am reminded of one of my university teachers who said tell all the Nefie jokes you want, because the jokes they have about us are funnier.

Hi Everyone!
Just another Canuck here checking in to say "Hi!"
I really like the way this thread didn't alienate people from elsewhere in the world.
What can I say?
I like ketchup chips, poutine, Swiss Chalet and Harveys. I'm one of the few people in Canada who can say I'm not really a fan of Timmies. I drink pop, not soda.
I've been fortunate enough to view our glorious mountains in Vancouver and take a lovely drive from Chiliwack to Hope.
I've stood in the Bay of Fundy and marveled at the incredible and unique coastline there.
As a kid, I turned down a lobster dinner in one of the great halls in PEI.
I remember one of the best trips of my life was at 18 (19 was legal drinking age in Ontario) me and 3 other 18 year olds took off to Montreal (drinking age there was 18). We had an adventure or two on St Catherine St!
From sea to sea I love this place and all it offers. And, it looks like I may get up to Yellowknife this summer!
So, HELLO to my fellow Canadians and HELLO to all visitors wanting to know more.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Hello Canadians! Just wanted to say hello! How aboot that weather, eh? [/FONT] I[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]t's actually not too bad now. I don’t know about what’s it’s like elsewhere, but here in Toronto it’s pretty warm([/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]ish) with lots of stuff going on. Saw them filming [/FONT]Suicide Squad the other day. It was pretty cool!

There's some very regional Canadian accents. A few small towns in Canada were founded by immigrants and then found themselves isolated, resulting in very distinct accents that can, at times, be directly traced to towns of less than a thousand people!

Hello from Victoria BC! Funny comments here about Canadians and our "accent" Lol. Eh?