Canadian Vocab Lesson - Part 2

Time for another language lesson! (click here to revisit part 1)

Canadian English is a bit of a compromise between US and UK English. For example, the letter 'z' is pronounced 'zed' in Canada, unlike the US pronunciation 'zee', and spellings often follow the UK English rules (e.g. 'harbour' instead of 'harbor'). This makes Canadian English fairly forgiving to an Aussie, however there are still enough differences to cause misunderstandings.

While Australians are regularly exposed to American words and phrases through television and movies, North Americans are largely unfamiliar with UK English terminologies. This means that I rarely have a problem understanding Canadians, but I receive quizzical expressions when I accidentally say 'chemist' instead of 'drug store' or 'take away' instead of 'take out'. Differences in pronunciation can also result in confusion, so I have become well versed at ordering a 'mocha for Claire' in Canadian.

Words

Canadian	Australian translation
drug store	chemist
tylenol	panadol
grocery store	supermarket
biscuit	a savoury scone
cookie	biscuit
french fries	hot chips
potato chips	chips
ketchup	tomato sauce
lemonade	lemon squash
sprite	lemonade
jello	jelly
jelly	jam without fruit pulp
jam	jam with fruit pulp
take out	take away
trash	rubbish
bin	office filing tray
white trash	bogan
keener	do gooder
faucet	tap
gas station	servo
gas	petrol
hood	bonnet
trunk	boot
truck	ute
parking lot	car park
side walk	foot path
elevator	lift
sweater	jumper
cell phone	mobile
pissed	pissed off
drunk	pissed
play hooky	chuck a sickie
where's waldo	where's wally

Expressions

* "Brutal" - this adjective is used liberally in conversation to describe difficult, annoying or somewhat inconvenient situations (e.g. The traffic was brutal this morning, eh?).

* "Pot luck" - equivalent to Australia's "bring a plate".

Australian expressions that mean absolutely nothing to Canadians (and will result in blank stares):

* File that in the 'too hard basket'
* Arvo (short for afternoon)

Pronunciation

Word	Canadian	Australian
lychee	LIT-CHI	LY-CHI
liquor	LIH-KHOR	LIK-A
thorough	THUH-ROWH	THUR-A
Claire	CLAYR	CLEH
mocha	MOHW-KA	MOK-A