Idioms:
It's your shot for "It's your turn".
My hair is needing washed or My hair needs washed for "My hair needs washing" or "My hair needs to be washed".
Amn't I invited? for "Am I not invited?"
How not? for "Why not?"
What age are you? for "How old are you?"
Yous, being the plural of you.
The use of "How?" meaning "Why?" is distinctive of Scottish, Northern English and Northern Irish English. Note that in Scottish English, the first person declarative I amn't invited and interrogative "Amn't I invited?" are both possible. Contrast Standard English, which has "Aren't I?" but no contracted declarative form. (All varieties have "I'm not invited".)
Scots and Scottish English. As many Scots use both Scots and Scottish English depending on the situation, there is a strong influence of Scots, and sometimes it is difficult to say whether a Scots form also belongs to Scottish English or whether its occasional appearance in Scottish English is simply code-switching. Borderline examples might be aye for "yes", ken for "know" (Ken what I mean?), or no for "not" (Am I no invited?). The touchstone is whether the speaker would feel comfortable using these in a very formal situation.
Decide whether the following statements are true or false:
Scottish English should not be confused with Scots.
The upper classes of Scotland consider it prestigious to speak with the RP accent nowadays.
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages put an end to the discussion over the status of Scots.
Scots is mostly used by city-dwellers.
The Scottish English statement “Mary stays in Glasgow” means that Mary has been living in Glasgow for a certain time as a guest or visitor.
The sound /r/ is pronounced in the syllable coda by Scottish English speakers.
The word Sam rhymes with palm in Scottish English.
The words serf, curl and third have the same vowel in Scottish English.
Scottish English has some special contracted forms.
In Scottish English sheriff substitute means a police officer of low rank.
Reading Canadian English
"In Canada we have enough to do keeping up with two spoken languages without trying to invent slang, so we just go right ahead and use English for literature, Scotch for sermons and American for conversation." (S. Leacock)
Canadian English, for all its speakers, is an under-described variety of English. In popular dialectological literature it is often given little acknowledgement as a distinct and homogeneous variety, save for a paragraph or two dedicated to oddities of Canadian spelling and the fading use of British-sounding lexical items like chesterfield, serviette, and zed.
There is a small body of scholarly research that suggests that if there is such a thing as a Canadian English, all its unique characteristics are being lost. In fact, Lilles (2000) goes so far as to claim that there is no such thing as a distinct Canadian English, and argues that the notion of Canadian English is a myth, fabricated to reinforce a fragile Canadian identity. As evidence, he cites the lack of phonological and orthographic standardization for Canadian English, the paucity of distinct Canadian vocabulary, and the appearance of regionalisms associated with various parts of the United States. Sutherland (2000) quickly rebuts by pointing out that Canadian English is more than a "network of regionalisms", and that a variety can be distinct by more than its vocabulary.
Spelling
Canadian spelling of the English language combines British and American rules. Most notably, French-derived words that in American English end with -or and -er, such as color or center, usually retain British spellings (colour, honour and centre), although American spellings are not uncommon. Also, while the United States uses the Anglo-French spelling defense (noun), Canada uses the British spelling defence. (Note that defensive is universal.) In other cases, Canadians and Americans stand at odds with British spelling, such as in the case of nouns like tire and curb, which in British English are spelled tyre and kerb. Words such as realize and recognize are usually spelled with -ize rather than -ise. The etymological convention that verbs derived from Greek roots are spelled with -ize and those from Latin with -ise is preserved in that practice.
Canadian spelling rules can be partly explained by Canada's trade history. For instance, the British spelling of the word cheque probably relates to Canada's once-important ties to British financial institutions. Canada's automobile industry, on the other hand, has been dominated by American firms from its inception, explaining, why Canadians use the American spelling of tire and American terminology for the parts of automobiles.