Canadian words, phrases or slang that most Americans wouldn’t understand
By Blog of Lists - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - 0 Comments
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1. Two-four (24 beers)
2. Loonie (and, of course, toonie)
3. Toque
4. Klick (kilometre)
5. Toboggan
6. Peamealor back bacon
7. Washroom
8. Serviette
9. Chinook (the wind, not the helicopter)
10. Mickey (e.g. a mickey of vodka)
11. Knapsack
12. Kerfuffle
Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.
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Swearing as a second language
By Emma Teitel - Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 2:20 PM - 5 Comments
Slang just might make a new Canadian feel more like everyone else
Teaching adults English grammar as well as its naughty parts, says an ELL coordinator, is a lesson in survival skills | Joe Raedle/Howard Lipin/Getty Images
English as a Second Language (ESL) now goes by the new, politically correct name of English Language Learning (ELL), in official recognition of the fact that immigrants new to Canada may know more than one language already. That doesn’t, however, make the average ELL student a champion of political correctness. At least it’s doubtful that Amira Azad, an Iranian Muslim woman in her mid-40s, had cultural sensitivity on the brain when she interrupted our ELL tutorial on the prepositional phrase. “May I ask a question?” she said, and then leaned closer to whisper: “Tell me please, what is the difference between a slut and whore?”
“The first sleeps with a lot of men,” I answered when I recovered, “and the second gets paid to do the same.” “Oh,” she said, “same in Iran.” Amira (who, like the other students interviewed, requested that her name be changed) asked roughly 30 similar questions that day, compiling a mini lexicon of English curse words and expressions that she covered with her hands every time the program supervisor walked by. Writing down the definition of “bitch,” she noted: “Thank you. My sons will be punished.”
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How ‘The Beaver’ lost its name
By Martin Patriquin - Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 1:00 PM - 4 Comments
The story of how the Canadian magazine solved its 90-year-old branding problem
The Beaver is no longer, killed off on its 90th birthday. As of its April issue, the name of Canada’s second oldest magazine has been scrubbed from the masthead, replaced with Canada’s History. Though its staff says the name change is necessary to reflect its evolution—“We’ve become a multi-platform magazine,” says editor Mark Reid—the main reason was to put an end to the snickering, once and for all.
Call it death by double entendre. Rarely has the title evoked only the industrious, slick-haired rodent. The term’s other, more carnal meaning, a slang term for a specific part of the female anatomy, has been a distraction for years, cheapening this earnest, wholesome publication, clogging subscriber spam filters and ultimately hurting its bottom line. “Yes, I like beavers, the animals, just as much as anybody else,” Reid said recently.
“It’s a historic creature, it’s on our nickel, it’s a proud part of the fur trade. But in the 21st century, if you are going to rebrand your entire organization, including all that you do, ‘beaver’ is probably not going to be the word that best speaks to what you do, if you know what I mean.”
