English is a screwed up language.

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Minus the obnoxious BRO BRO BRO stuff (which isn't really a Torontoism either - though the way it's said is), I use those phrases all the time. Why, mere minutes ago I sent a text to a friend asking "yo, what are you saying this weekend?" :haha: I hadn't realized they were a Toronto thing.

"What are you saying" definitely is. I had never even heard of this expression until a friend of mine went to Queen's and told us all about Ontario slang.

I'd normally say "what are you doing" or "what are you up to"

:haha: That's awesome. I love how nonsensical it is.

Here it'd be "What are ya at?" or "How's she cuttin'?", depending on age/region.

:haha: I have never heard of either of those! That's very cool.

There are a lot of websites that try to translate our expressions, but this is the first one I've found that actually gets them right. I've bolded ones that are so common as to be basically the only way of expressing the idea locally:

They've written the Newfoundland English above according to one rural accent in which the H is almost never pronounced. That's not the case in St. John's.

Best kind also means... admirable? Not quite sure how to translate it... but you could say, "Oh, her new boyfriend is best kind". And you don't mean he's feeling great, you mean he's acceptable, admirable, etc.

You could also use rotted instead of contrary. And by and by would be more commonly expressed as "the once" (in a bit) or "now the once" (in a short bit).

http://www.encounternewfoundland.com...r-on-the-rock/

My personal favourite, though, will always be "couldn'ts". It means leftovers. When I consciously realized why that is, I died.

Some don't think it be like it is, but it do.

:haha: I want to get that tattooed on me. I just love it so much. That baseball player, right? In the U.S., I think?

People call each other bro in many places, but it seems that "o" gets extended longer in Toronto.

The "sayin" thing I haven't heard anywhere else in Canada.

Toronto is a huge metropolis, so it's only natural that it is developing its own unique slang. A lot of it has to do with Toronto having a strong hip hop and electronica culture.

I don't think it's just for big cities like Toronto. We have a lot of slang here in Vancouver, and much of it even differs from suburb to suburb.

Well Vancouver is smaller, but it's also more isolated. It also has a unique demographic (approaching 50% Asian). So it makes sense that it would develop its own colloquialisms.

Hahah, I like this crotchety old man.

Actually, whatever slang comes from immigrant groups usually comes from the large Indian community. I think it's because Indians assimilate better into the city and hang out with their own crew as well as with locals, whereas Chinese people seem to only hang out with each other.

Correct. Camera, Handyman, Canada, Dance, Can't, all sound more americanized in Southern Ontario compared to Western Canada.

I find the "i" sound to be pronounced rounder in west coast US than here in SO, not sure if that's true for Vancouver as well. Personally I really clip the "i", for example "sometimes" I pronounce as "sum-tahms" where as the Seattle accents I've heard they'll say "sum-teyems"

So, here is how I say "Pembina", "Mario", and a quick story to try to give a relaxed, authentic version of my accent.

Set to separatist bikinis... lol

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I say sum-teyems
THAT'S AWESOME! From what I understood, the Newfoundland accent didn't really exist in St. John's so this was a nice surprise. Would you say this is how most people in town talk?

Come to think of it, I've never actually heard someone from Newfoundland talk so I wasn't 100% sure of what it sounded like. A lot of us here like to talk with that accent for fun, but none of us really know what it ACTUALLY is.

Also, I caught myself a couple times and had to change my wording. For future reference, is the term "newfie" considered offensive?

I don't know if you think I do have an accent or I don't from what you posted...

My accent is pretty generic, yeah. If you rank Newfoundland accents from 1-10 where 1 is basically identical to mainland Canadian and 10 is incomprehensible to mainland Canadians, 90% of people here are probably 3-6. I'm easily 3-4, depending on lots of factors (who I'm with, how comfortable I am, if I had some beer, if I'm reading, if I'm recording myself to post on SSP and talking like I'm reading, lol), etc.

I'm drinking tonight. I'll record myself again later and see. lol

As for Newfie, I don't like it. I prefer Newfoundlander. But it's a losing battle, even here. A majority of Newfoundlanders wouldn't blink, most have no problem with Newfie. However, just FYI, the term "Newf" is 100% always shocking and offensive. No exception.

Sorry, I meant you definitely have an accent. I just liked it because it's such a famous accent, but I'd never actually ever heard someone with it.

That was awesome. What it sounds like is an Irish lad who has lived in Canada for 20 years. It would definitely stick out here. Are you able to switch it off when you go to another province?