O Canada: Whatchamacallit?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

in britain, "serviette" is working/middle class, like saying someone "passed away" rather than died. a lot of canadianisms are middle-class because canada is a middle-class country.

snobbery of the english sort would actually compel the simpler word, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

Quite possibly, either as a reflection of the origins of British immigrants to Canada or of the time period (i.e. it could be that "serviette" was "U" in the Victorian age and has since become "non-U" in England while remaining "U" in Canada. That kind of thing makes for a fascinating study of Canadian and U.S. English in its own right. A bit like the difference between the way Europeans and North Americans use their cutlery to eat (if they still use cutlery! ).

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

"Parlour" - totally quaint. "Come in to my parlour, said the spider to the fly"

Here it would invariably be "living room" (with or without the TV), unless it were one of the new egregious open concept homes with their "great rooms", or whatever real estate term they've come up with this week!

Living room and TV room are both commonly used here as well. Having a parlor requires a certain type of house and lifestyle. You'll really only find it among the elderly (of any home-owning class) or old money. My grandmother (artisan plasterer's wife, not wealthy at all), for example, had a parlor. Linked by French doors to the living room. The only thing she ever did in there was dust.

These days, they often don't get much use. It's not a room the homeowners would spend time in without guests - and if they do, it's probably actually a library or reading room. Or, more commonly among the middle and lower classes, a picture room where every flat surface is blocked with family photos and keepsakes.

Great rooms exist here too, but only in real estate speak regarding new subdivisions.

A couple of examples from real estate listings in Newfoundland.

A parlor:



A TV room:

[Nashe]

I hear "foyer" (and not the 'merkin way of sayin' it) quite a bit here in the area of NB I live in. "Living Room" is the place you sit to talk that doesn't have a TV and "Family Room" is the one where you eat while watching TV and "Dining Room" is the one you eat in when company comes over. "Deck" is heard more than "Patio". In the country, older homes are more likely to have a "Porch" or "Sunroom" (if it's nicer) outside their Foyer. "Bathroom" is where you go potty, as opposed to a "Washroom".

[SignalHillHiker]

Bathroom and washroom here. There's no real rule - people interchange those two all the time - but for me, bathroom is in a home and washroom is in a business.

No one here says wash closet as far as I'm aware.

[Acajack]

The family home of one of my parents is in a region populated by Acadians who still speak French but with a good measure of anglicization. The house has view on the sea and has a glassed-in room all across the front that looks a bit like this:



Even when speaking in French, the family refers to this as a "sun parlour".

As in: "Viens t'assire (sic) dans le sun parlour avec moi, cher."

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Quite possibly, either as a reflection of the origins of British immigrants to Canada or of the time period (i.e. it could be that "serviette" was "U" in the Victorian age and has since become "non-U" in England while remaining "U" in Canada. That kind of thing makes for a fascinating study of Canadian and U.S. English in its own right. A bit like the difference between the way Europeans and North Americans use their cutlery to eat (if they still use cutlery! ).

well canada's "upper class" is middle in the english model (as canada has no tradition of a landed/titled aristocracy), so it makes sense.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

in britain, "serviette" is working/middle class, like saying someone "passed away" rather than died. a lot of canadianisms are middle-class because canada is a middle-class country.

snobbery of the english sort would actually compel the simpler word, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

The contemporary usage in Canadian English that I am familiar with would tend to be a mix of both sides of that list. Almost 50-50.

[Taeolas]

For those in NB's Saint John River valley, or those who are just curious, I found this dictionary a few years ago.

Having grown up in that region, I recognize a lot of the terms and used a lot of them (jigging school for example) but never used/heard of dooryard until I came across that dictionary.

[SignalHillHiker]

Ayreonaut tells me he's never heard the term "Christian Holy Week" until coming here.

What do you guys call it?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Ayreonaut tells me he's never heard the term "Christian Holy Week" until coming here.

What do you guys call it?

La semaine sainte. Literally "holy week". No need to add the word "Christian" to it.

Although "semaine sainte" I don't hear that often these days because it involves thinking of going to church on Wednesday and Thursday in addition to Good Friday, which most people do not do. So that notion is out of people's minds.

Also, I always say "Samedi saint" for the Saturday before Easter, which is the correct term, but I notice a lot of people now say "Samedi de Pâques" which also reflects a departure from traditional religious terminology.

Easter Monday is Lundi de Pâques, and Good Friday though is still "Vendredi saint" for everyone.

[MolsonExport]

gym-->physical education
janitor-->custodian
stewardess-->flight attendant
retail clerk-->associate
retarded-->handicapped-->differently-abled
Chairman (there were few chairwomen)-->Chair

Of course some things have gone the other way:
promiscuous (female)-->slut
Clothing-->swag (I fucking hate that word)

[SignalHillHiker]

Chair always struck me as strange. It reads like changing Fisherman to just Fish.

I prefer Chairperson.

[MolsonExport]

What if the Chair tables a Bill?

• Video Link

[GlassCity]

I don't know half the words you guys are using. Veranda, vestibule all ring a bell but I had no idea what they meant. I'd call a vestibule a foyer no matter how informal. We called the entrance to our high school where the vending machines were the foyer.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

I don't know half the words you guys are using. Veranda, vestibule all ring a bell but I had no idea what they meant. I'd call a vestibule a foyer no matter how informal. We called the entrance to our high school where the vending machines were the foyer.

We called that an entrance. Even though it was really a lobby.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

We called that an entrance. Even though it was really a lobby.

I'd use lobby only in an office setting. Or maybe the dentist

[SignalHillHiker]

We use lobby for A LITTLE more than that, but it's still understood the same way you do.

For example, the fancily-decorated common area with fireplaces, etc., on the ground floor of an apartment building would be a lobby here.

But other than a few extra uses, same.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Bathroom and washroom here. There's no real rule - people interchange those two all the time - but for me, bathroom is in a home and washroom is in a business.

No one here says wash closet as far as I'm aware.

Shitter. Or crapper, in polite company. John or head when you're trying to be very classy.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Ayreonaut tells me he's never heard the term "Christian Holy Week" until coming here.

What do you guys call it?

Coming from the secular part of the country, I have no idea what you're even talking about.

I'm guessing this has something to do with Easter, which out here is mostly known as "that pointless long weekend that would be better served in June when we can actually enjoy the outdoors", or "the one long weekend a year when whiny government employees get a 4-day, while us working schlubs have to suffer".

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Shitter. Or crapper, in polite company. John or head when you're trying to be very classy.

i wonder if there have been any sort of exchange student-type situations that have been derailed by such terms, or where their flippant use caused the whole thing to persist...

"eezcoos me, can you tell where is ze... sheeter?"