Canajan, eh?
- Thread starter Yeshanu
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Heyo from south Alberta!
... where we're expecting a foot of snow in the next 48 hours, but it'll be gone by the first day of October, most like. Ahwell.
... where we're expecting a foot of snow in the next 48 hours, but it'll be gone by the first day of October, most like. Ahwell.
Jayda
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Hi! Grew up in Nova Scotia, a tiny town called Northport. On a clear day I could look across the Northumberland Strait and see PEI. *sigh* I miss living there, even thirty-something years later.
We moved to the States when I was thirteen and I've lived here since. I took a trip to Australia in my early twenties and got chatting with a gentleman in the Aussie Navy. At one point he asked me what part of Canada I was from. When I told him I was from the States he made me show my ID because he didn't believe me. When I asked why he was so insistent that I wasn't American, his reply was brilliant: 'Because you're not an asshole!'
We moved to the States when I was thirteen and I've lived here since. I took a trip to Australia in my early twenties and got chatting with a gentleman in the Aussie Navy. At one point he asked me what part of Canada I was from. When I told him I was from the States he made me show my ID because he didn't believe me. When I asked why he was so insistent that I wasn't American, his reply was brilliant: 'Because you're not an asshole!'
The weather office is predicting a couple of inches of snow in the Lower Mainland (SW BC) over the next few days. In reaction, people are rushing to buy snow tires and get them installed, travel plans are being scrapped (such as they were, with COVID), and it's generally looking like the panic scene in Airplane. Honest to God, I'm embarrassed to be a Vancouverite.
It's a good thing that COVID has stopped a lot of people from going in to work. Fewer panicked screams, sounds of cars sliding down hills, etc. (I live in Burnaby - same problems, more hills. We just cower in our dwellings.)
'Cause special snowflakes hate actual snowflakes.
'Cause special snowflakes hate actual snowflakes.
So far, so good: no snow as of 5 p.m.
Of course, night is falling and it's getting colder.
Sorry if this seems mocking to those living in places that are trapped under vast quantities of snow, but in Vancouver, talking about the weather generally consists of "Going to rain, eh?" "Raining" and "Finally stopped raining, eh?"
We crave excitement, even though we scream when it happens. Like a kid on a rollercoaster.
Of course, night is falling and it's getting colder.
Sorry if this seems mocking to those living in places that are trapped under vast quantities of snow, but in Vancouver, talking about the weather generally consists of "Going to rain, eh?" "Raining" and "Finally stopped raining, eh?"
We crave excitement, even though we scream when it happens. Like a kid on a rollercoaster.
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And so that they're safely out of range of skidding cars. Because it doesn't matter how experienced in snow you are if you're trapped behind a panicky Vancouverite.
It does make Vancouver drivers incredibly polite, though -
I used to work on the side of a fairly steep hill - in the snow, I'd be standing at the bus-stop, well away form the street, as the cars slowly and carefully inched past or (astonishing sight!) giving way to one another.
"Oh, no, after you!"
"Please, don't rush on my account!"
"Ah, those pedestrians wish to use the crosswalk, I shall keep well back!"
If it weren't for happening in January, it'd be a Christmas miracle.
It does make Vancouver drivers incredibly polite, though -
I used to work on the side of a fairly steep hill - in the snow, I'd be standing at the bus-stop, well away form the street, as the cars slowly and carefully inched past or (astonishing sight!) giving way to one another.
"Oh, no, after you!"
"Please, don't rush on my account!"
"Ah, those pedestrians wish to use the crosswalk, I shall keep well back!"
If it weren't for happening in January, it'd be a Christmas miracle.
I live in the Southern most city in all of Canada - that's pretty much our entire summer. I hate summer. lol28 C here in Eastern Newfoundland today, feels like 36 C in the humidity. It's not natural
I spent a few days in London, ON in the summer a while back. Never again. That's not humidity, that's swimming.
Okay, if a Vancouverite says it's too humid back East, I'm never, ever going there.
You must be living in a different Vancouver than me. In my Vancouver drivers race through yellow lights while texting, no doubt adding the last few words to their magnum opus.
Oh, that's normally my experience of Vancouver drivers as well: self-centered maniacs who keep ICBC busy.
But in our infrequent snows, they seem to be terrified into good behavior, as I said, some sort of a winter miracle.
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Hello, fellow Canadian! I too do not say “aboot” but do say “eh.” Although, I’m from Ontario and most of my family is from PEI, and often times I think some of my relatives out there are speaking another language.
I grew up in Ontario, but moved to Nova Scotia two years ago to be close to my son, daughter-in-law, and two little granddaughters. I keep meeting people who have moved here from Ontario, so I don't hear as many distinctive Maritime idioms as I did 40 years ago.
The one thing I can't adjust to is the driving. The drivers here seem to think that stop signs and red lights mean "stop optional." Driving in Toronto is a breeze by comparison!
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I hadn’t realized there was a thread for Canadians. This caught my eye, but at first simply because I couldn’t figure out what a canajan was supposed to be.
I’m Canadian, actually I’ve been living abroad for the last 10+ years. But I’m making my second trip back in that time span next week (to the island/lower mainland BC). Excited to see what’s different, and what’s stayed the same.
I’m Canadian, actually I’ve been living abroad for the last 10+ years. But I’m making my second trip back in that time span next week (to the island/lower mainland BC). Excited to see what’s different, and what’s stayed the same.
Back in the early 70's, everyone in my high school was reading a funny book called Canajan, Eh? It gently poked fun at the idiosyncrasies of Canadian English and some of our pronunciations ("Canajan" instead of Canadian, "Trano" instead of Toronto).
Try as I might, I can't correctly pronounce Fredericton (the provincial capital of New Brunswick for those aren't familiar with it). A Maritimer born and raised (which I am not) can say it with an "F" at the beginning and an "n" at the end and a sort of mushed up vowel sound in the middle.
I've given up trying to get it right.
Try as I might, I can't correctly pronounce Fredericton (the provincial capital of New Brunswick for those aren't familiar with it). A Maritimer born and raised (which I am not) can say it with an "F" at the beginning and an "n" at the end and a sort of mushed up vowel sound in the middle.
I've given up trying to get it right.