Speech pattern and typographical variations across Canada - Page 45

SignalHillHiker · #**881** Posted **Sep 16, 2014, 8:02 PM**

I suppose it all comes down to numbers.

I'd be very surprised if French is the mother tongue of anyone my age on the Port-au-Port.

Acajack · #**882** Posted **Sep 16, 2014, 8:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I suppose it all comes down to numbers.

I'd be very surprised if French is the mother tongue of anyone my age on the Port-au-Port.

Indeed it does.

Just looking at Cap-St-Georges, francophones are supposedly around 20% of the population. Obviously those francophones spend much of the day speaking in English. So their brains and accents are affected accordingly.

Someone living in Baie-Ste-Marie, Nova Scotia, where francophones are 70% or more, will likely be spending much more of their day speaking in French. So their French skills and accents are obviously reinforced by this.

Trevor3 · #**883** Posted **Sep 16, 2014, 10:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Indeed it does.

Just looking at Cap-St-Georges, francophones are supposedly around 20% of the population. Obviously those francophones spend much of the day speaking in English. So their brains and accents are affected accordingly.

Someone living in Baie-Ste-Marie, Nova Scotia, where francophones are 70% or more, will likely be spending much more of their day speaking in French. So their French skills and accents are obviously reinforced by this.

The English out there in Cape St. George is pretty rough around the edges, as in barely english. Honestly, about 75% of the time it sounds like english words laid over french grammer constructions and intonation. I do know of people from out there who speak french at home, are educated in french, etc... and there are offices and businesses that operate in french first, so it is definitely a mother toungue for some. But english is an absolute necessity of life since shopping, health care, and general services are provided in english outside the community.

For those native speakers, though I'm certainly not tuned to the accents in french, I would agree with you that there are probably only residual traces of the traditional accent/dialect from the region pre-1949.

SignalHillHiker · #**884** Posted **Sep 16, 2014, 11:54 PM**

I don't know no what you means, me, Trevor. Their English they speaks in there is great. Now pass me from the kitchen my coffee, you, luh!

SignalHillHiker · #**885** Posted **Sep 20, 2014, 11:37 PM**

A date just texted me: "I should be left here now the once."

*Swoon*

kwoldtimer · #**886** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 1:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

A date just texted me: "I should be left here now the once."

*Swoon*

Problem drinker, is he?

SignalHillHiker · #**887** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 3:26 AM**

No, it's just a really old way of saying, "I'm leaving shortly". The "now the once" is still very common, but the "should be left" has faded somewhat. We still do Irish past tense (I'm after leaving), but - in St. John's at least - whatever tense "should be left" is you'll find typically expressed in more standard English.

Here the same phrase would be:

I'm leaving directly
I'm leaving now the once

And you can replace leaving with "coming", "going", etc.

Wentworth · #**888** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 4:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Eastern Ontario still ringing in my ears (cows produce "melk", doncha know) I am wondering how people pronounce "bagel" across the country? I have on several occasions in Kingston and points east heard people pronounce it "BAG-ul", whereas for me it is and can only be "BAY-gull".

How do you pronounce it?

Is this a regional thing? I'd never heard the "BAG-ul" pronunciation until moving to Calgary, and now my son uses it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boris2k7

Does the A in Bag and the A in Bay sound different to you? Because they don't to me.

The "a" in bay and the "a" in bayg sound the same to me, not so much the "a" in bag, though.

I'll just leave this here:

• Video Link

kwoldtimer · #**889** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 12:18 PM**

Exactly! I wonder how widespread "BAG-el" is?

SignalHillHiker · #**890** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 12:23 PM**

God, I love that show.

Britta: Oh, so you won't believe me when I say I didn't take it, but you'll believe Mother Hen here.
Shirley: Mother Hen? I think we about the same age.
B: Yeah, if time is linear.
S: I'll make your ass linear.
B: That doesn't make any sense.
S: I'll make your ass sense.

kool maudit · #**891** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 12:40 PM**

"bag-el" happens across the country. i first heard it in new glasgow, nova scotia. you hear it in places without much tradition of bagels or deli.

you cannot order karnatzel in new glasgow. it could see it even being rare in vancouver (it's rare in halifax, where one can get day-old st-viateurs at an organic shop but where most people's exposure to bagels happens at places "the great canadian bagel factory").

verenekes, gefilte, blintzes, kishke, kreplach soup... you basically need to have had a lot of jews in about 1920 to get this. bagels are the most popular element, but without a grounding it wanders... such is language.

lio45 · #**892** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 1:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

A date just texted me: "I should be left here now the once."

*Swoon*

Wow, before you explained, I had no idea how to correctly interpret what that guy had told you.

Well, the first part, "I should be left here", could only mean "I should be abandoned here, left behind here", literally. And then the "now the once", I didn't know what to make of it.

miketoronto · #**893** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 1:27 PM**

Don't know if this has been posted. But I have a neighbor in Toronto who sounds like this. But you don't get much of it anymore. He even does the head thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-dIipLlwY4

kwoldtimer · #**894** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 1:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool maudit

"bag-el" happens across the country. i first heard it in new glasgow, nova scotia. you hear it in places without much tradition of bagels or deli.

you cannot order karnatzel in new glasgow. it could see it even being rare in vancouver (it's rare in halifax, where one can get day-old st-viateurs at an organic shop but where most people's exposure to bagels happens at places "the great canadian bagel factory").

verenekes, gefilte, blintzes, kishke, kreplach soup... you basically need to have had a lot of jews in about 1920 to get this. bagels are the most popular element, but without a grounding it wanders... such is language.

Reminds me of a friend of mine who, at a deli counter many years ago, asked for a "nish" rather than a "knish". Who knew?

SignalHillHiker · #**895** Posted **Sep 21, 2014, 3:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

Wow, before you explained, I had no idea how to correctly interpret what that guy had told you.

Well, the first part, "I should be left here", could only mean "I should be abandoned here, left behind here", literally. And then the "now the once", I didn't know what to make of it.

It's weird how "should be left" is uncommon enough that I notice it, but still completely understandable, and sensible, to me.

It just... makes sense.

And "now the once" is still quite common, so that's completely normal for me. It's just... there's no other phrase that conveys exactly what "now the once" means. You can say "soon", "shortly", etc... but it's not exactly that. It kind of means... "I'll come casually at my leisure, because I'm doing something else right now, perhaps just getting ready, but you're my top priority and I'll be there ASAP." But "as soon as I can" doesn't work to replace it, because that's too far in the other direction. It's somewhere in between "right away" and "as soon as I can".

It can also be used more symbolically, like... "I dragged off on George last night and missus is still asleep in my bed." "She'll be living with ya now the once."

SignalHillHiker · #**896** Posted **Sep 23, 2014, 12:06 PM**

Another old one that you hear relatively commonly in St. John's but it certainly isn't the most popular way to express the same sentiment:

"Good job", in this context, means something in between good planning and luck.

It St. John's, it leans a little more toward planning than luck, and you'll still hear it today in phrases such as:

"It's a good job we left when we did or we'd've been stuck in traffic."
"It's a good job she left him before he got on the coke."

But in the context above, I think people from town would be more likely to rephrase the sentence and use "I was [best kind/just grand], sure, with the seaweed to protect me" instead.

Nashe · #**897** Posted **Sep 23, 2014, 12:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

It St. John's, it leans a little more toward planning than luck, and you'll still hear it today in phrases such as:

"It's a good job we left when we did or we'd've been stuck in traffic."
"It's a good job she left him before he got on the coke."

I hear that a lot around here too. "Good job that car missed ya."

SignalHillHiker · #**898** Posted **Sep 23, 2014, 12:39 PM**

Oh awesome!

I never would've guessed.

Nashe · #**899** Posted **Sep 23, 2014, 12:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Oh awesome!

I never would've guessed.

Alternatively, it can mean there was some skill involved too...

"Good job I had my snow tires on. Roads were slippy this morning."

SignalHillHiker · #**900** Posted **Sep 23, 2014, 12:51 PM**

Yeah, same here! Or simply... talent...

"Had to drive a fork lift at work today. Good job I knows machines."

Or... even just good character.

"Missus dropped her wallet getting off the bus. Good job I'm not a bleeding arsehole."