Vocabulary

Where Canadian English shares vocabulary with other English dialects, it tends to share most with American English. For instance, automotive terminology in Canada is entirely American. Canadians may prefer the British term railway to the American railroad, but most railway terminology in Canada follows American usage (eg., ties, as well as cars rather than sleepers and waggons), although railway employees themselves say sleeper.

Spoken Canadian English and American English are mutually intelligible with each other and much more readily understood and less fraught with differences than British English is to either of them. However, some terms in standard Canadian English are shared with Commonwealth English, but not with American English. These include: Britishisms Tory for a supporter of the federal Conservative Party of Canada, solicitor and barrister for lawyers (although in Canada, a lawyer is usually referred to as a barrister or a solicitor only in formal and professional usage; lawyer, or counsel predominates in everyday contexts, and sometimes the American usage attorney is encountered. In the British system, the solicitor and barrister are two different people; in Canada, the same lawyer occupies both roles but will often use terms like Barrister and Solicitor, or QC [Queen's Counsel, an honour given in some provinces for a certain level of experience] as formal or official titles.) Back bacon: called in the US Canadian bacon ,tin (as in tin of tuna) rather than can.,serviette: a table napkin Several lexical items come from British English, such as lieutenant and light standard (an obsolete British word for lamp-post). Several political terms are uniquely Canadian, including riding (a parliamentary constituency or electoral district).

French Loanwords

Like other dialects of English that exist in proximity to francophones, French loanwords have entered Canadian English, such as: alcool: grain alcohol; everclear (pronounced as if English, al-cool) CEGEP (College d'enseignement general et professionnel): a two- or three-year pre-university or professional college (Quebec only) depanneur: a comer store (convenience store), shortened to dep (Quebec only) poutine: a dish where french fries (or chips) are topped with cheese curds and covered with hot gravy (Quebec) or a dumpling filled with ground meat (Maritimes). Society of Alcohols: the Societe des alcools du Quebec, a liquor store. Often called the SAQ (Pronounced sack or S-A-Q) by anglophones. (Quebec only) tuque: a close-fitting woolen winter hat (the spelling toque is assimilated from a different kind of hat.)

New Zealand English

New Zealand English is the dialect of English spoken in New Zealand, occasionally referred to within New Zealand as Newzild. New Zealand English is close to Australian English in pronunciation, but has several subtle differences often overlooked by people from outside these countries. Some of these differences show New Zealand English to have more affinity with the English of southern England than Australian English does.

Spelling

Possibly the most significant difference between New Zealand and British spelling is in the ending "-ise" or "-ize". Britons may use either ending (although "-ise" is by far the more popular), and some British dictionaries and style manuals prefer the "-ize" ending. New Zealanders tend to use the "-ise" ending exclusively. A peculiarity of New Zealand English is that the spelling "fiord" is preferred over the spelling "fiord" used in most of the English-speaking world. This spelling can be found in the name of the Fiordland National Park in the southwest of the South Island.

Unique New Zealand English vocabulary

• arvo afternoon •_bach a small holiday home, usually near the beach, often with only one or two rooms and of simple construction. Pronounced/batch" • brekkie breakfast • cher bro pronounced chair usually a strong voicing of thanks but also a parting salutation. Shortened from "cheers brother" although can be said to either male or female. Common in South and West Auckland. • chip, punnet or pottle, depending on the region, the unit by which strawberries and certain other fruit are sold. Pottle is also a standard term for containers of yoghurt. • chips "cold chips" as in US "chips" and UK "crisps", and "hot chips" US 'Trench fries" 'and UK "chips". • chippie, a carpenter (same as the nickname in the UK), or a fish and chip shop. • choice!, excellent! Great idea! • crib, another word for bach, more commonly used in the south of the South Island. • The Ditch, the Tasman Sea, the "ditch" separating New Zealand and Australia.Occasionally also means the Cook Strait between the two main islands of the country. • domain, as well as its common overseas uses can mean a public park, especially a small flat grassed area within urban surroundings (from demesne: any estate in land).

• eh!, used for emphasis at the end of a sentence, eh! (see note above on Maori influence. A similar but not identical usage is found in Canadian English). • flatting, sharing a flat (apartment or rented house). ' footpath, pavement or sidewalk, shared by many countries outside US. • G'day/ Gidday, standard New Zealand greeting ("good day• Mainland. Usually, but not always, refers (sometimes mildly humorously) to the South Island, which, despite its much smaller population, is the larger of the two main islands of New Zealand. • OE or Big OE, Overseas Experience, time spent travelling and working overseas, usually in Europe. • onya, short for "Good On Yer" (You).• pants, as in US "pants", much more common than UK "trousers". • Pavlova, favourite meringue-like dessert made from egg whites, frequently served with cream and kiwifruit. Often shortened to pav.

Australian English

Australian English is the form of the English language used in Australia.

Due to their shared history and geographical proximity, Australian English is most similar to New Zealand English. However the difference between the two are immediately obvious to a speaker from either country, if not to a casual observer from a third country. The Australian English accent stresses a long "ay" sound, whereas the New Zealand English stresses a long "i" sound.

Spelling

The exposure to the different spellings of British and American English leads to a certain amount of spelling confusion, such as "organize" as opposed to "organise", or "color" as opposed to "colour". Generally, British usage and spelling is preferred, although there are exceptions, such as the "American" spelling of program, jail, etc. Publishers, schools, universities and the government generally use the Macquarie Dictionary as a standard spelling reference. Both -ise and -ize are accepted suffixes, as in British English, but -ise is the preferred form in Australian English. It should be noted that some spellings are assumed wrongly to be "American", when they are older spellings which were once widely accepted around the world. One such example is the Australian Labor Party, which officially adopted that name in 1908.