Rallygirl's Dumb Questions About Regional Differences Thread

[4NDR01D]

Sneakers or running shoes, I've heard the term runners but only from a British kid in public school.

A couch. Pretty sure chesterfield is British too(?), never ever heard the term davenport in my life.

A case of beer here is a two-four, long May weekend is May two-four. I thought there was a connection.

Hate the words toonie and loonie (sounds tacky) but saying dollar coin and two dollar coin is weird as well.

If you live in the "country" aka outside the city or suburbs you live in the "sticks". If you come from a small town your a "hick".

Dirty people are referred to as "skids" and doing something like wearing pyjamas outside the house is "skiddy".

Calling tim hortons "timmies" makes my blood boil as does calling walmart "wallyworld" or mcdonalds "Micky d's" or "mc raunchy's"

Milk comes in bags but also cardboard cartons or jugs if you prefer, I don't.

Stereotypical canadian words like "aboot" for "about" are only accurate out on the east coast I think(?)

I assumed freezies were universal.

carbonated drinks are referred to as "pop" and maybe "soda pop", definitely not "coke", but I've taken to calling it "cola" when I'm out to imply either coke/Pepsi.

Where I'm from (Picton, Ontario, prince Edward county) is referred to by residents and just about everybody else as "the county". There's many county's, but this was the first in Canada so it's THE county. You will constantly be asked "are you from the county"? Doesn't matter if you've lived here 50 years, unless you're actually born and raised here your not (I'm not). People from here are also referred to as "county". It's weird.

[piecemaker]

Okay, how about these (I'll put the one I generally use first):

convenience store, corner store, or corner shop
purse, handbag, or pocketbook (there could be more of these I think...)
washroom, or bathroom (or others?)
"when I was in grade 2" or "when I was in first grade"


I can't think of any more off-hand, but those ones seem to come up a fair amount with my American friends.

Also, pronouncing the word clique "click" always confuses me. In Toronto this is generally pronounced "cleek" which I guess is a UK influence.

gas station
purse
bathroom
when i was in first grade
click
tea can be either hot or cold,both can have sugar added or not.
weiner or hotdogs,there Oscar Mayer Hotdogs to me.
Italian ice sounds like just a snowcone

[cjefferys]

I'm surprised about that! I only hear "click" when Americans say it.

I guess the spelling thing makes sense. I also see "peeked my interest" instead of "piqued" all the time. (I'm a terrible speller, so I sympathize with these things. If it were up to me we wouldn't need any stinking qs anymore.)

I'm more often around Americans than Canadians most of the time these days. But I guess that actually "cleek" would make more sense, considering the word "clique" has a French origin, and I'm pretty sure it would be more or less pronounced "cleek" in French. Yeah, I see "peeked my interest" all the time, that and people spelling "segue" as "segway", which is actually something completely different.

[Rallygirl]

And Earth2Chris, and Italian Icee (which is different than a sno-cone), is ice ground so fine, its consistency is almost like creamy snow, w/ flavor in it. There's no milk in it though, It's served w/ an ice-cream scoop in a gathered paper cup. Typically sold at pizza places in NYC and other parts of the east coast.

Now that I have a general idea of what it is, I can safely say that whether to call it Italian ice or water ice isn't even an issue here because I have never seen anything like it in my area.

[jwyblejr]

Google the brand Luigi's Italian Ice and you should have an idea of what they are.

[Brazoo]

^ Brazoo, I think Wikipedia is confusing Italian Icees w/ Gelato. That's closer to sorbet. If you're still confused about Italian Icees, think of it this way; if a Slurpee and a Sno-cone got together and had a baby, it would be an Italian Icee. Denser than a Slurpee, yet finer than a sno-cone, OK?

Okay thanks! I think I do get it now - but I guess I'll have to try one some time just to be sure!


Mmm gelato...

[HardyGirl]

^ Brazoo, I think Wikipedia is confusing Italian Icees w/ Gelato. That's closer to sorbet. If you're still confused about Italian Icees, think of it this way; if a Slurpee and a Sno-cone got together and had a baby, it would be an Italian Icee. Denser than a Slurpee, yet finer than a sno-cone, OK?

[HardyGirl]

Sorry - I did the same thing! I only noticed your explanation after I posted. From hearing someone from Philadelphia explain water ice on a podcast once I thought it was a sno-cone!

According to Wikipedia water ice and Italian ice are more like a sorbet - is that right? I also read that it differs from sherbet because it has no dairy or eggs.

Uh...no. Sorbet (I believe) has more fruit and pectin in it. There is absolutely no fruit in Itailian Icees. They're closer to sno-cones, except sno-cones are more like a shaved ice, and Italian Icees ice is ground so fine it's like the first snow when you can make a snowball and it sticks together w/ flavored syrup in it. That's why it's served w/ an ice-cream scooper. Does that make sense?

[Brazoo]

I've never heard clique pronounced "cleek" before. But I've seen it spelled "click" many times on various forums, including here.

I'm surprised about that! I only hear "click" when Americans say it.

I guess the spelling thing makes sense. I also see "peeked my interest" instead of "piqued" all the time. (I'm a terrible speller, so I sympathize with these things. If it were up to me we wouldn't need any stinking qs anymore.)

--

Ok, apparently NO ONE read my last reply b/c I do explain what Italian Icees are (and no, they're not sherbet, Ubermanx).

Sorry - I did the same thing! I only noticed your explanation after I posted. From hearing someone from Philadelphia explain water ice on a podcast once I thought it was a sno-cone!

According to Wikipedia water ice and Italian ice are more like a sorbet - is that right? I also read that it differs from sherbet because it has no dairy or eggs.

--

And of course you have to add an ", eh?" at the end of everything (So you like those there Mego dolls, eh? Whatta dork.)

- Marty

P.S. If you want to know just how far the English language has fallen around where I live go to YouTube and search for "Go for a rip". That is EXACTLY how my two step sons and my oldest daughter speaks. I had to get one of them to translate the video for me.

Haha - yeah man! Toronto is such a bubble from this though. I almost never hear anyone who even says "eh". Occasionally I'll meet people who come to "Taranno" and "wanna go out n' giv'er, eh?!", but it's really rare here, to be honest. I've never heard the term "go for a rip", is it the exact thing as "goin' out n' givin' 'er?" or does it have a different meaning?

A few years ago a friend of mine who grew up in Peterborough, Ontario told me that calling someone a 'goof' was the worst thing you could ever call someone, and if someone called you that you automatically had to fight them no matter what. I never heard that before, and thought it was hilarious - goof seems like the lamest thing to me - like what a little kid might say - but, I've had this confirmed many times since It seems that in many places outside of Toronto (including prison) goof is the worst thing you can call someone.

[cjefferys]

Okay, how about these (I'll put the one I generally use first):

convenience store, corner store, or corner shop
purse, handbag, or pocketbook (there could be more of these I think...)
washroom, or bathroom (or others?)
"when I was in grade 2" or "when I was in first grade"


I can't think of any more off-hand, but those ones seem to come up a fair amount with my American friends.

Also, pronouncing the word clique "click" always confuses me. In Toronto this is generally pronounced "cleek" which I guess is a UK influence.

-convenience store
-purse
-I use both washroom and bathroom pretty much equally
-"grade 2" -pretty sure this is strictly a Canadian thing. We also don't use the terms "Freshman", "Sophomore", etc in high school. It's just Grade 9, Grade 10, etc

I've never heard clique pronounced "cleek" before. But I've seen it spelled "click" many times on various forums, including here.

[HardyGirl]

Ok, apparently NO ONE read my last reply b/c I do explain what Italian Icees are (and no, they're not sherbet, Ubermanx).

[ubermanx]

Up here in Ontario, Canada
====================

hot tea = tea
cold tea = ice tea (cold tea with sugar and lemon)
bag vs sack = bag
sneakers vs tennis shoes vs runners = running shoes
hot cakes vs pancakes vs griddle cakes = pancakes (occasionally flapjacks and McDonald's around here calls them Hot Cakes on the menu)
rubber band vs gum band = elastic band or elastics ("Hey, you have any elastics lying around?")
soda vs pop vs calling everything "coke" = pop
sub vs grinder vs hoagie = sub (also heard them called a hero sandwich but not around here)
yard sale vs tag sale = yard sale
Italian ice vs water ice = sherbert

And of course you have to add an ", eh?" at the end of everything (So you like those there Mego dolls, eh? Whatta dork.)

- Marty

P.S. If you want to know just how far the English language has fallen around where I live go to YouTube and search for "Go for a rip". That is EXACTLY how my two step sons and my oldest daughter speaks. I had to get one of them to translate the video for me.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I live on sweet tea. The wife and I drink it by the gallon. It keeps me from drinking a lot of pop. Sure it has sugar and caffeine, but not all that other gunk.

And we call soda pop or cola, "pop".

Clique is "click".

A convenience store is often called that, or honestly just a gas station.

Restrooms are often called bathrooms, even when there is no bath, like a public restroom.

Chris

[Brazoo]

Okay, how about these (I'll put the one I generally use first):

convenience store, corner store, or corner shop
purse, handbag, or pocketbook (there could be more of these I think...)
washroom, or bathroom (or others?)
"when I was in grade 2" or "when I was in first grade"


I can't think of any more off-hand, but those ones seem to come up a fair amount with my American friends.

Also, pronouncing the word clique "click" always confuses me. In Toronto this is generally pronounced "cleek" which I guess is a UK influence.

[Rallygirl]

Never heard of balkenbrij. I am familiar with scrapple, though only because I have seen it on TV. My father and grandfather both enjoyed head cheese. I will also admit that bagged milk is blowing my little mind...

Balkenbrij is a Dutch word, but it is basically scrapple. One holiday with us and you will know we are Dutch by our holiday foods,..balkenbrij (scrapple), anijs (anise candy), banket (almond roll), olie bollen (fat balls), boerenjongens (brandy & raisins).