Vocabulary

Attorney vs. barrister vs. lawyer vs. solicitor: An attorney is anyone who conducts somebody else's business. Many attorneys are lawyers. In the UK, solicitors prepare cases and barristers plead them in court, but in Canada a lawyer can do either or both, so the distinction doesn't mean much. Use the less pretentious lawyer.

Allophone: Someone whose first language is neither English nor French.

Anglophone: Someone who speaks English as a first language.

Bill vs. check: Canadians ask for the bill.

Billion: The British say that a billion is a million million (1,000,000,000,000). American say that a billion is a thousand million (1,000,000,000) and insist that a million million is actually a trillion. The Canadian Press agrees with the Americans.

Boot vs. trunk: Canadians store their jumper cables in the trunk of their cars.

Can vs. tin: Younger Canadians tend to eat out of cans, while older Canadians often eat out of tins.

Chemist vs. drugstore vs. pharmacy: Canadians don't go to chemist’s, at least not when they need aspirin.

Chesterfield vs. couch: Canadians may sit on either, depending on where you are in the country and how old you are. Couch, sadly, appears to be predominant now, although many Canadians use sofa.

Chips vs. fries: Menus will usually specify fries or French fries, unless they are serving fish and chips. Canadians tend to use chips in spoken language, but chips can also refer to what the British call crisps (the snack that comes in bag). Canadians usually put vinegar on their chips, rather than ketchup.

Click: Canadian slang for kilometre. "I drove 50 clicks last week."

College: A Canadian college is very different from an American college. An American college is a limited version of a university, one that can grant only bachelor's degrees. A Canadian college is at best a halfway house between high school and university. Most can only grant diplomas, although many of the older colleges now grant degrees and are actually called university colleges. Adding to the confusion, colleges in Quebec are known as cegeps.

Eh?: A famous Canadian way of ending sentences. Save this for quotations and for instances when you are playing up the Canadian identity of something. (In case you were wondering, it usually means "don't you think?")

Elevator vs. lift: Canadians take elevators.

Faucet vs. tap: Canadians turn on the tap.

Floor vs. storey: Floor is preferred in Canada. Note that the first floor of buildings in Quebec is actually the second floor in the rest of the country.

Francophone: Someone who speaks French as a first language, as opposed to an anglophone.

Gas vs. petrol: Canadians fill the tanks of their cars with gas.

Goodbye: This is the Canadian spelling. Note the lack of a hyphen.

Holiday vs. vacation: Canadians generally go on vacations.

Housecoat: A housecoat is the kind of bathrobe you can wear to get the morning paper, and not worry about being seen by the neighbours.

Kerfuffle: This Scottish word refers to a flurry of agitation, as in, "There was quite a kerfuffle after Mike asked for the project three days early."

Loonie or loony: This is a colloquialism for Canada's dollar coin. The plural is loonies. The nickname comes from the loon on the coin.

On side: Used frequently in Canada to mean that you're in agreement, this term may come from hockey, where players can be offside.

Pissed: Pissed is now common on American television shows, where it means annoyed, although in Canada it can also mean drunk. If a Canadian is annoyed, she is pissed off.

Riding: In Canada's Parliament and in provincial assemblies, elected members represent ridings, roughly equivalent to congressional districts in the United States.

Serviette: Canadians refer to serviettes instead of table napkins, especially if they (the napkins, not the Canadians) are made of paper. This is fading with time.

Sneakers: Canadians prefer running shoes or simply runners.

Sniggler: A sniggler is someone who takes the parking spot you wanted, or who otherwise does something perfectly legitimate, but which nonetheless inconveniences or annoys you. (This isn't a real word, but it is incredibly fun to say aloud. Try it and see for yourself.)

Soda vs. pop vs. coke: Canadians drink pop. Ask for a soda and you'll get soda water. Avoid referring to coke unless you mean a product made by Coca-Cola.

States: The US of A is almost always referred to as the States, except in writing, when it becomes the US.

Stockholder vs. shareholder: Canadians are usually shareholders.

Washroom: Canadians head for the washroom when they need to use the toilet. Bathrooms are places with bathtubs in them.

Zed: This is the proper way to pronounce the last letter of the alphabet.

Pronunciation and regionalism

Generally, Canadian pronunciation is almost identical to American one, especially in Ontario, which was first settled by Americans who supported George during the Revolution. There are some small differences, however. The most famous difference is the ou sound in words like house and out, which sound to American ears like hoose and oot. (Some say the words sound more like hoase and oat). Canadians also tend to pronounce cot the same as caught and collar the same as caller. Keen ears will hear a Canadian distinction in certain vowels: the i comes out differently in knife and in knives, in bite and in bide, and in price and in prizes. Many Canadians also will turn t sounds into d sounds, so Iron Maiden will seem to be a "heavy-meddle" band and the capital appears to be "Oddawa."

There are also pronunciation and vocabulary differences in three Canadian regions. In Quebec, the accent is an interesting combination of Jewish and French influences. Quebec anglophones have freely adopted French words, such as autoroute for highway and depanneur for corner store, as well as French constructions, such as take a decision and shut a light. In Quebec, people take the Metro instead of the subway, belong to syndicates instead of unions and attend reunions instead of meetings.

In Atlantic Canada, accents are more influenced by Scottish and Irish sounds, especially in Cape Breton and in Newfoundland. Newfoundland has hundreds of distinctive words, many of them derived from its fishing industry. One common Newfoundlandism is outport, meaning a small coastal community, which brings us to the endless rivalry between townies (people from St. John's) and baymen (people from outports and, to their great consternation, inland communities such as Gander and Corner Brook). In the Ottawa Valley, the accent is heavily influenced by the Irish who settled the area. The accent here is even more close-mouthed than it is elsewhere in Canada.

As time goes on and Canadians watch more American TV, Canadians everywhere are beginning to sound more like Americans. 

Complete the chart using the dictionary and the information from the text

British say	American Say	Canadians Say
boot	trunk
	vacation	vacation
petrol
shareholder
bill	check
lift	elevator
	can (n)
	faucet	tap
chemist’s	drugstore