You won’t find “come from away” or “screech-in”—a mock ceremony depicted in the musical that confers Newfoundland “citizenship,” featuring extreme drunkenness and the osculation of a raw cod—in the Oxford English Dictionary. But the second edition of the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (D.C.H.P.-2), released online, includes these and many more examples, common and obscure, of Canadian English.

The original D.C.H.P. was published in 1967, on the Canadian centennial. This new and greatly expanded edition, which took eleven years of work by a team of linguists at the University of British Columbia, appears on the country’s hundred and fiftieth anniversary.

Canadian English, like other varieties of the language, is decidedly a real entity, despite a certain perception among Americans (and even some Canadians) that it is more or less an exaggerated version of Minnesota speech, peppered with “eh” and a funny way of saying “about.” Canada is a huge country, with many influences, chiefly British English, American English, French, and various native languages.

The entry for the stereotypical Canadian term “eh” is almost five thousand words long, discussing its history (it’s first found in British English), its status as a marker of Canadian identity, its main functions, and its use in other English-speaking countries. “Hoser” is shown to have been created by the comedians Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, on “Second City TV,” in 1981. The development of “chesterfield”—once a common Canadianism for a sofa of any sort, but now somewhat moribund—is explored at length. “Toque,” for a close-fitting knitted hat, “one of the most widely known Canadianisms,” is discussed in detail, ending with the dry note that “Today’s common spelling toque with the pronunciation in [u] confuses many non-Canadians.”

The dictionary also includes regionalisms from around the country. A “parkade” is a multilevel parking garage, found chiefly in Alberta and associated with the Hudson Bay department stores. “Bunny hug” is used in Saskatchewan for a hooded sweatshirt. In Quebec, “guichet” is a term for an A.T.M., from a Canadian French word for “counter.”

Many entries in the dictionary are extended with pictures or even videos. The entry for “all-dressed,” a term denoting a dish served with all possible condiments and a potato-chip flavor based on this, displays a photograph of a very plain-looking bag of potato chips; “garburator,” the Canadian term for a garbage disposal, has a somewhat blurry picture of one in a kitchen sink.

The dictionary not only includes “double-double,” a coffee with two creams and two sugars, a specialty of the Canadian Tim Horton’s coffee shops, but also goes on to discuss the importance of the chain as a marker of national identity. The entry for “two-four,” a case of beer containing twenty-four cans or bottles, likewise refers to this term’s status as an informal identity marker, and quotes Barack Obama cracking a joke about it at a state dinner for Justin Trudeau.

The entries in the dictionary are divided into seven main categories, including terms of explicitly Canadian origin; terms that are culturally significant in Canada (hockey-related terms come to mind); and, curiously, a hundred and thirty-six entries for things that are not Canadian—“hotline,” “brekkie,” “browned off”.

source: newyorker.com

Which is which? Can you match the expressions and the definitions?

Key

1. f.

2. o.

3. h.

4. c.

5. n.

6. a.

7. b.

8. m.

9. l.

10. d.

11. i.

12. e.

13. g.

14. k.

15. j.

“One morning I came out of my room to see my mother packing. She said war is coming, we have to leave within 12 hours,” says Mr. Sárosy. Soon they were on a torpedo boat that took them to a port in Herzegovina and from there to a passenger ship to Trieste and finally to a train to Budapest.

It’s safe to say Mr. Sárosy is the only man in Canada who remembers where he was when the First World War started. He celebrated his 110th birthday on August 23, and while there are no individual Statistics Canada records to point to, that will likely make him the oldest man in Canada.

Today, Mr. Sárosy lives in a seniors’ home. Though he now uses a wheelchair to get around – at 102, he finally conceded he could use some help and got a mobility scooter – his mind is still sharp, perhaps from a lifetime of chess.

“He remembers the past but what amazes me is his short-term memory,” says Elena Yeryomenko, lifestyle program manager at the Chartwell Grenadier Retirement Residence Mr. Sárosy calls home. “It is phenomenal at this age to have such a sharp mind. He remembers his life as a child and he remembers what he had for breakfast.”

Mr. Sárosy is still curious about the new. The interview was being recorded on a smart phone, and he wanted to know how it works as a recorder. “A marvellous little machine,” he called it.

He has a computer he bought in 1999 to play chess. At the time he played correspondence chess where people from around the world would mail each other the next move. Since games could take four or five years, he felt that at 93 he might not be around to finish a game.

Mr. Sárosy was born in 1906 in Budapest, the second capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He started playing chess in public parks at the age of 10.

“I was with my mother and I saw a boy playing chess and I asked, ‘What is that?’ The next day I was back at the park. That boy’s mother wouldn’t let me play with him but I found others,” said Mr. Sárosy.

He continued playing in school and at university in Vienna, where he studied international trade. He graduated in 1928 and returned to Budapest where he continued his chess career. He was soon a grandmaster.

“In 1943, I played in the Hungarian championship and gained the Hungarian [chess] master title,” he says.

Young Zoltán was fluent in Hungarian and German, a skill that probably saved his life in the Second World War. In 1944, he volunteered as a translator when other Hungarian men his age were drafted and sent to the Eastern Front.

At the end of the war he fled Hungary, worried that Russians might have him imprisoned for being a military translator. He left his wife and daughter behind. He later sent for them when he was in Canada, but his wife refused to leave Hungary so they divorced.

Once over the border in Austria, he managed to find a room in Salzburg, then moved to a refugee camp. He then drifted across Europe, ending up in Alsace, the German-speaking province taken back by France after the war. In 1950, he read that Canada was looking for immigrants and he went to Paris to get papers.

He arrived in Halifax on Dec. 27, 1950, and then took the train to Toronto. He soon found a room on Kendall Avenue and work laying tiles on an upper floor at the new Bank of Nova Scotia building at King and Bay in January, 1951.

“I started my career in Toronto at a high level,” he jokes.

He didn’t like working for other people. “I wanted to be independent, so I started selling cosmetics. Eventually I thought it was much better if I imported them myself,” he says.

After several years, he bought a convenience store which he ran until the late 1970s. All the while, he still played chess. He won his first championship in Canada in 1955 and was Canadian Correspondence Champion in 1967, 1972 and 1981. He is a member of the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.

After divorcing his first wife, he married Heino Mallo, an Estonian immigrant, in Canada. His daughter from Hungary came to visit him in Canada at one stage with the intention of living here. “She didn’t want to stay, silly girl,” says Mr. Sárosy.

He and his wife lived on Royal York Road in Mimico, just west of downtown Toronto, a couple of hundred metres from Lake Ontario. His wife died in 1998 and he sold his house and moved into the Grenadier home in 2000. For the next decade he was completely mobile, did his own shopping and walked everywhere. When he was about 102 he started riding a mobility scooter, and used that until two years ago.

Mr. Sárosy laughs when asked about the secret to his long life.

He has a couple of ideas: He tried smoking when he was a teenager, but he didn’t like it so he quit; he was a light drinker, just the occasional brandy. But he still hasn’t figured it all out quite yet.

“I’m still working on the formula. However, when I get it, I’ll go to the patent office,” he says. “I’m like an old used car with rusty body, wobb ly wheels but a good engine.”

source: theglobeandmail.com

Let’s have a look at some Canadian slang words.

1. Loonie: A common word for the Canadian one-dollar coin.

2. Double-double: A coffee with two cream and two sugar.

3. Homo Milk: Homogenized whole milk (3.25%)

4. Two-Four: A case of twenty-four beers.

5. Mickey: A flask-sized bottle of hard liquor.

6. Toque (pronounced “tuke”): A knit cap usually worn in winter. Known as a “ski cap” in the USA.

7. Klick: “Kilometer”

8. Washroom: The place where one would find the toilet, sink, and bathtub.

9. Pop: Sweet carbonated beverages. Known as “soda” in the States.

10. Rattled: When someone is shaken up by an incident, usually resulting in embarrassment or anger.

11. Chinook (pronounced “shin-uk”): A warm, dry wind blowing down the Eastern slopes of the Rockies across Alberta and the Prairies. These winds can cause the temperature to rise by 20° Fahrenheit (11° Celsius) within 15 minutes.

12. Beaver Tail: A flat, flaky, fried pastry in the shape of a beaver’s tail. Often served with a variety of toppings: ice-cream, maple syrup, powdered sugar, and fruit.

13. Canuck: A Canadian.

14. Hog Town or The Big Smoke: Toronto

15. Bunnyhug: A hooded pullover, also known as a ‘hoodie.’ Used mainly in Saskatchewan.

16. The Hammer: Hamilton, Ontario.

17. Whadda’yat?: Newfoundland term, meaning “What are you doing?”

18. Hammered: Very drunk.

19. Rink rat: someone who spends a lot of time on an ice rink.

20. Give’er: Go for it.

www.knowable.com

Here is a short text for you using Canadian slang words. Can you “translate” the highlighted words into English?

Last year I travelled to Canada and my destination was first The Big Smoke and then The Hammer. I travelled plenty of klicks in the country and met a lot of nice Canucks. They often invited me for a double-double or a Mickey. Once I got invited for a Two-Four. I drank so much of it that I fell asleep hammered in the washroom of my Canadian friend. I was so rattled when I woke up that from then on I only drank pop and Homo milk. I bought presents for my kids:a toque and a bunnyhug. I so enjoyed my stay in Canada that I keep a loonie on my desk to remind me of Canada. If you are planning to travel to Canada but you’re still hesitating, my advice is: Give’er.

Key

Toronto, Hamilton Ontario, kilometres, Canadians, coffee with two cream and two sugar, a flask-sized bottle of hard liquor, a case of twenty-four beer, very drunk, bathroom, shaken up by an incident, sweet carbonated beverage, homogenized whole milk, ski cap, hoodie,  Canadian one-dollar coin, go for it 

Brazil
A trip to this South American country would not be complete without sipping a sweet caipirinha. “It is a tropical drink, very fresh and can be made of several fruits like lemon, orange, watermelon, peach and others,” said Natalia Polidoro, a student in São Paulo.

The key ingredient is cachaça, Brazil’s national spirit, distilled from sugarcane juice. Unlike rum, which is made from molasses, cachaça is made from fresh, fermented sugarcane juice. The spirit is unmatched in popularity in its home country – hundreds of Portuguese synonyms exist for the liquor, from uísque brasileiro (Brazilian whiskey) to água-benta (holy water).

Sweden
A uniquely Swedish invention, punsch is a liqueur made from an imported southeastern Asian liquor called arrack. As Swedish resident Lucas Lundström explained, the Swedish East India Company started importing arrack in 1733. The resulting liqueur was “a smashing success in high society”, he said.

At 20% to 30% alcohol, the liquor has a “spicy, sweet” flavour and is usually served on ice. But in winter, the drink should be heated to 40C and makes an ideal complement to Swedish pea soup, Lundstrom said.

United States
Alex Pak of Santa Clara, California, considered a number of libations – including the martini and famous Southern sweet tea (iced tea loaded with sugar) – before settling on the root beer float as one drink every visitor should try. Getting its name from the sassafras tree root originally responsible for its unique flavour, root beer was an exclusively North American beverage until recently. Though sassafras itself is no longer used due to health concerns, its distinct flavour has been replicated today with a mix of spices, other roots and artificial flavours.

With unique versions now produced in every US state, root beer gets special treatment with the addition of a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. The resulting root beer float was made famous at the roadside restaurant chain A&W, where the treat is still served in a frosted mug.

Canada
When visiting French Canada, try Sortilège, a brand of whiskey made with maple syrup, advised Anna Demers, who lives outside of Ottawa. “We always had some kind of alcohol with maple syrup but now it [is] commercially produced,” she said. A sweeter liqueur called Coureur des Bois is also now available, and Demers said it’s more popular among women.

She also vouched for the liquid sap fresh from the maple tree that the native population first introduced to French settlers. “It’s very healthy to drink in its original form,” she said. The sap tends to be only 1% to 2% sugar and has a more subtle maple flavour than the boiled-down syrup.

source: BBC

Canada Day: July 1^st

Canada Day is a holiday celebrating the anniversary of the unification of three British colonies (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada) into a single country within the British Empire on July 1, 1867. The name Canada comes from an American Indian language, Iroquois, in which the word ‘kanata’ means "village" or "settlement".

In 1931 Canada gained full independence in most matters, but Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state. Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. As parts of Canada used to be a French colony in the 18^th century, about 22% of the population are French Canadians and the country is officially bilingual at the federal level. With immigrants arriving from many countries, it’s one of the world’s most multicultural nations.

The National Flag of Canada is also known as the Maple Leaf and it was adopted in 1965 to replace the British Union Jack. The maple leaf has been used as a Canadian symbol since the 1700s. The Sugar maple tree is tapped for sap to produce the world-famous maple syrup. It takes about 40 litres of sap to make 1 litre of syrup.

Canada is the world’s second-largest country after Russia by total area, including its waters. By land area alone Canada ranks fourth after Russia, China and the USA. Canada has around 31,700 large lakes, more than any other country, containing much of the world’s fresh water.

On Canada Day most communities across the country celebrate with outdoor events, such as parades, carnivals, festivals, barbecues, air and maritime shows, fireworks, and free concerts. People wear pins or T-shirts with a maple leaf pattern but some go as far as dying their hair red and white and wear the Canadian flag around their shoulders – think of devoted supporters at a Canadian ice hockey match. The capital, Ottawa throws a spectacular event on the grounds of Parliament House, with activities all day long.

Depending on which part of Canada you’re in, you can enjoy various types of party food: from the usual party favourites, like hot dogs, hamburgers and Canadian flag cupcakes to more surprising things, such as Baklavas and lobster rolls or fried clams. Local specialties include cupcakes decorated to look like beavers – another national symbol of Canada – and beavertails, a pastry made from deep fried bread dough with cinnamon and chili.

anniversary – évforduló
colony – gyarmat
British Empire – Brit Birodalom
settlement – település
full independence – teljes függetlenség
head of state – államfő
federal parliamentary democracy – szövetségi parlamentáris demokrácia
Commonwealth of Nations – Brit Nemzetközösség
population – népesség
bilingual – kétnyelvű
immigrant – bevándorló
flag – zászló
Maple Leaf – juharlevél
Union Jack – a brit zászló beceneve
sap – nedv (fáé)
maple syrup – juharszirup
to rank – besorolni, sorban következni
fresh water – édesvíz
community – közösség
outdoor event – szabadtéri esemény
parade – felvonulás, szemle
air and maritime show – légi- és víziparádé
pin – kitűző
pattern – minta
to dye – megfesteni (hajat, ruhát)
supporter – szurkoló
capital – főváros
the grounds – valaminek a területe
depending on – attól függően, hogy
lobster roll – homáros szendvics
fried clam – rántott kagyló
local – helyi
beaver – hód
beavertail – hódfarok
pastry – sütemény, tészta
bread dough – kenyértészta

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Number one: The CN Tower is Canada’s most recognisable icon and it is the world’s tallest building and free standing structure with panoramic views of Toronto. At a height of 1,850 feet 5 inches it is Canada’s national tower, an important Telecom hub and the centre of tourism in Canada with more than two million international visitors annually. Things to do in the Tower include shopping, eating over one thousand feet above ground at the revolving 360 restaurants and of course enjoying the view.

Number two: Castle Casa Loma, Canada’s famous castle with ninety-eight rooms, decorated suites, secret passages, stately towers and estate gardens. A visit to Toronto’s grand castle is like stepping back into the Edwardian era. Outside you will find a five acre estate with gardens offering dazzling colours, sculptures and water fountains. The on site café and gift shop offer delicate food, souvenirs and breathtaking views.

Number three: Chinatown. Toronto has one of the largest Chinatowns in North America. The Toronto region now has six distinct Chinatowns. Three are located within the city boundaries while the other three are located in adjacent suburbs that have emerged over the last fifteen years or so. On weekends the sidewalks are crammed with open air food stalls, vendors and thousands of people from all backgrounds eager to shop, eat and socialise.

Number four: Skydo. Skydo became the new home of the Toronto Blue jays on Monday June 5th of 1989. It is the first stadium with a retractable roof allowing any sport to be played indoors or outdoors. From the artificial turf to the one hundred and sixty one private sky boxes, the finest attention to detail was given. The jumbo tron video display board is the largest video display board in North America and second largest in the world second to Japan’s.

Number five: The Royal Ontario Museum, commonly known as the ROM. It is a major museum for the world’s culture and natural history in Toronto. It is the fifth largest museum in North America and contains more than six million items. It has notable collections of dinosaurs, near Eastern and African art, East Asian art, European history and Canadian history.”