Speech pattern and typographical variations across Canada - Page 116

kwoldtimer · #**2301** Posted **May 22, 2016, 5:22 PM**

Overheard yesterday in deepest suburban Markham from out of a group of three 30 year olds born and raised in the area:

"Well, they say yull see T-bone steak if yuh stick yer head up the butcher's 🞵🞵🞵, but yull havta take his word for it".

I have no idea but now I'm thinking there may be even less to suburban GTA than I had thought!

SignalHillHiker · #**2302** Posted **May 22, 2016, 6:13 PM**

Making the rounds on FB today... reminds me of hanging out with Ayreonaut all the time.

SignalHillHiker · #**2303** Posted **May 24, 2016, 11:30 PM**

The hot blonde girl in the house downhill from mine moved out. Now it's rented by three dudes. At least one of them is from Nova Scotia, because their car has NS plates. But two of them are from there, I can tell by the accents. And they definitely work at Long Harbour somewhere because they're all up at 5:30 and wake me up with the stomping and chatting as they head down to the van with music blasting.

Anyhow, tonight, one of them - shirtless and hot as 🞵🞵🞵🞵 - was out on the street kicking around a ball or hacky sack thing with some missus. This guy with the thickest East Indian accent came by and started teaching them how to play cricket.

While they were chatting, the hot shirtless guy was talking about missus the next block over and he said, "The body is gear, my buddy, but she's got a face on her like a week of bad weather."

I died.

Loco101 · #**2304** Posted **May 24, 2016, 11:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

The hot blonde girl in the house downhill from mine moved out. Now it's rented by three dudes. At least one of them is from Nova Scotia, because their car has NS plates. But two of them are from there, I can tell by the accents. And they definitely work at Long Harbour somewhere because they're all up at 5:30 and wake me up with the stomping and chatting as they head down to the van with music blasting.

Anyhow, tonight, one of them - shirtless and hot as 🞵🞵🞵🞵 - was out on the street kicking around a ball or hacky sack thing with some missus. This guy with the thickest East Indian accent came by and started teaching them how to play cricket.

While they were chatting, the hot shirtless guy was talking about missus the next block over and he said, "The body is gear, my buddy, but she's got a face on her like a week of bad weather."

I died.

HAHA!!! Thanks for sharing that.

Since you mentioned cricket:

Last night as we were almost home from my inlaws' camp I did a double take. This was in a baseball diamond (Bozzer Park) in Timmins, ON. There were a bunch of men playing cricket! And they all appeared to be of Indian and/or Pakistani descent. Something I had never seen here before.

Something unique to our area is that the long weekend in May is called the "May Run." If you say "Victoria Day" most people won't know what you are talking about. I know that in some places people call it May 2-4 but even that will get you strange looks in Timmins. I believe the May Run name came from the fact that it's the first chance for everyone to run to the bush after the snow melts and the "run" also has to do with fishing. It is when the pickerel (walleye) seasons opens.

A big May Run tradition go camping and drink a lot. You should see the insanity at the Beer Stores and LCBOs during the couple weeks leading up to it.

SignalHillHiker · #**2305** Posted **May 24, 2016, 11:58 PM**

Whoa, drank too much.

Loco101 · #**2306** Posted **May 25, 2016, 12:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Whoa, drank too much.

If it wasn't for my 2 year old daughter I would be saying the same!

A question for everyone:

Here in Northern Ontario most people say "packsack" for what is called a backpack elsewhere. Does anybody on here call it a packsack?

SignalHillHiker · #**2307** Posted **May 25, 2016, 12:40 AM**

Nope.

I've never even heard of that before. I've heard of "rucksack" but wouldn't say it.

I call it a "book bag", even out of school.

Xelebes · #**2308** Posted **May 25, 2016, 12:45 AM**

It's knapsack out here.

kwoldtimer · #**2309** Posted **May 25, 2016, 12:50 AM**

Backpack, knapsack, rucksack in that order, with rucksack a distant third. According to Urban Dictionary, "packsack" can be used and understood only in Thunder Bay without the speaker being mocked.

Loco101 · #**2310** Posted **May 25, 2016, 3:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Backpack, knapsack, rucksack in that order, with rucksack a distant third. According to Urban Dictionary, "packsack" can be used and understood only in Thunder Bay without the speaker being mocked.

Also commonly used in Timmins which is 800 km to the East. And a co-worker of mine who is originally from Hearst used it today. But I'm pretty sure it's used across much of Northern Ontario.

Acajack · #**2311** Posted **May 25, 2016, 3:34 AM**

Packsack is also used in Canadian French sometimes.

BTW a backpack to me is different from a packsack. A packsack is smaller. A backpack is what you use to carry all of your gear on a trip to Europe, or when camping.

Rucksack sounds like a Britishism to me.

GlassCity · #**2312** Posted **May 25, 2016, 3:37 AM**

"Backpack" and just "bag" are the two most common ones here. Rucksack or knapsack would be understood but I would think you were weird for saying it, I've never heard of either from anyone but teachers. Never heard of packsack.

Stingray2004 · #**2313** Posted **May 25, 2016, 3:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I've heard of "rucksack" but wouldn't say it.

Rucksack? The only time that I have ever heard that term utilized before was from relations speaking in German. And, of course, this memorable scene from the flick Trading Places:

• Video Link

EDITED TO ADD: "Rucksack" is German for "backpack". Derived from Rücken in German, which means one's "back".

Architype · #**2314** Posted **May 25, 2016, 4:16 AM**

In Vancouver, I'm sure I've heard backpack (standard), as well as (rarely) packsack. But not the others.

SignalHillHiker · #**2315** Posted **May 29, 2016, 1:14 PM**

J. and I went to Big R's for breakfast this morning and got toutons.

A guy at another table asked the waitress what we were eating, and the waitress said, "Oh, you're not from here?"

He said, "No, I'm here from Halifax, via Ontario."

And the waitress said: "Oh! I'm a mainlander too!"

Cracked me up because, thanks to SSP, I know she certainly didn't self-identify as that before coming here. He must've been thinking, "You're a what now?"

SignalHillHiker · #**2316** Posted **May 29, 2016, 1:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stingray2004

Rucksack? The only time that I have ever heard that term utilized before was from relations speaking in German.

That could very well be where I heard it. It was just somehow already in my brain.

Andy6 · #**2317** Posted **May 29, 2016, 5:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loco101

If it wasn't for my 2 year old daughter I would be saying the same!

A question for everyone:

Here in Northern Ontario most people say "packsack" for what is called a backpack elsewhere. Does anybody on here call it a packsack?

Northern Ontario is a place where packs would have been in very common use in mining, lumbering and hunting long before they were common in urban areas, so it wouldn't surprise me if a more traditional name has survived there.

No kid would have had a backpack or "book bag" when I was young. At one point little carrying bags that we called "Adidas bags" became all the rage for carrying your schoolbooks, gym clothes or swimming stuff, but before that I'm pretty sure we mostly used old shopping bags to take things to school (not that we ever had homework or even lunches to take, since we all generally went home for lunch).

Xelebes · #**2318** Posted **May 30, 2016, 3:11 AM**

To me, a rucksack is a much simpler implement than a knapsack. Larger as well. My grandfather had a military rucksack which he used in World War II; it was almost entirely just a duffle bag slung over his back with military markings. This would have been different from the backpack that he used in combat.

Loco101 · #**2319** Posted **May 30, 2016, 5:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy6

Northern Ontario is a place where packs would have been in very common use in mining, lumbering and hunting long before they were common in urban areas, so it wouldn't surprise me if a more traditional name has survived there.

I think you are right about the origin being from the early days of mining / lumber / hunt camps. I have heard it used twice since I last posted and it was by two different females in the federal government office that I work in.

There used to be lists of words and terms that are pretty much unique to Northern Ontario but I can't fine them anymore.

Some words we use here that I don't hear elsewhere:

mucking or mucking out: cleaning out something or getting rid of a bunch of things (it's a mining term for removing the rock)

going to the show: going out to see a movie

camp: can be a fancy cottage, a rustic cabin or a piece of land where you take your trailer (origin: in the early days any place where one would stay that isn't in town would be a camp and the name stuck)

Acajack · #**2320** Posted **May 30, 2016, 12:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loco101

I think you are right about the origin being from the early days of mining / lumber / hunt camps. I have heard it used twice since I last posted and it was by two different females in the federal government office that I work in.

There used to be lists of words and terms that are pretty much unique to Northern Ontario but I can't fine them anymore.

Some words we use here that I don't hear elsewhere:

mucking or mucking out: cleaning out something or getting rid of a bunch of things (it's a mining term for removing the rock)

going to the show: going out to see a movie

camp: can be a fancy cottage, a rustic cabin or a piece of land where you take your trailer (origin: in the early days any place where one would stay that isn't in town would be a camp and the name stuck)

Going to the show I am pretty sure is antiquated (North) American English. I'd guess people used to say that across much of this continent.

Also, in low-brow Franco-Ontarian some people will say "on va aller au show" when talking about going to the movies.