Canadian/U.S words & pronounciations

[T.O_2_FL 0]

Sometimes I hear things that make me do a double take...one that comes to mind is:

Canadian pronounciation: Niche = neeche

U.S. pronounciation: Niche = nitch

Edited February 20, 2008 by T.O_2_FL

[MsZ 6]

I don't think that one is straight across the board for the US pronounciation. A lot of people say "neesh" and not "nitch" in the US.

[Alex+R 0]

Where I'm from, we say "neesh" and "vwala" but also the more American "FOY-err"...but that could just be MN.

[rhymeswithcandi 0]

Diction:

US / Canadian

Semi / Transport Truck

Line / Line-up

zee / zed

toque / beanie

Pronunciation

Saaawry / Soory (this is always a dead giveaway that I'm Canadian)

Baaysel / Bahsil (Basil)

When I say words like Mazda, Yamaha, Pasta, Yahoo and Nissan my husband cracks up and mocks me repeating the word a few times..

I also notice that Americans say "boo-coo" when they use the work "beaucoup" It drives me up the wall.

[jundp 191]

I also notice that Americans say "boo-coo" when they use the work "beaucoup" It drives me up the wall.

I'm a New Orleans girl originally and the mispronunciation of this one always bugs me too.

[Delicia 1]

The words with prefix of pro- is always a dead give away for a Canadian vs U.S. The Canadians say proh where the U.S. say prah (like process) (with some notable exceptions like professional where both are pronounced the same). Its Mayzda in Canada and Mahzduh in the U.S. Canada = toook U.S. = hat or cap.

Little funny story: my first winter in Toronto and I would get up early with husband and send him off to work. I would watch Toronto's Breakfast Television and Frankie Flowers (I miss that guy) would advise to wear a toook and for about a week I just sat and wondered what a toook could possibly be. I finally asked my husband who explained it was a knit hat. I felt pretty stooopid.

[Marilyn. 340]

Diction:

US / Canadian

Semi / Transport Truck

Line / Line-up

zee / zed

toque / beanie

Pronunciation

Saaawry / Soory (this is always a dead giveaway that I'm Canadian)

Baaysel / Bahsil (Basil)

When I say words like Mazda, Yamaha, Pasta, Yahoo and Nissan my husband cracks up and mocks me repeating the word a few times..

I also notice that Americans say "boo-coo" when they use the work "beaucoup" It drives me up the wall.

my hubby mocks the way I say Yahoo too ...

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I miss BT watched it everyday before work while putzing around

The words with prefix of pro- is always a dead give away for a Canadian vs U.S. The Canadians say proh where the U.S. say prah (like process) (with some notable exceptions like professional where both are pronounced the same). Its Mayzda in Canada and Mahzduh in the U.S. Canada = toook U.S. = hat or cap.

Little funny story: my first winter in Toronto and I would get up early with husband and send him off to work. I would watch Toronto's Breakfast Television and Frankie Flowers (I miss that guy) would advise to wear a toook and for about a week I just sat and wondered what a toook could possibly be. I finally asked my husband who explained it was a knit hat. I felt pretty stooopid.

[Lona.C. 16]

I luv my husbands accent hes a joisey boy and of corse instead of ( you all its yaw'll , and istead of you people are nuts its "yous people R all nutz" ,lol best one yet is "whatcha want ya douchbag" , lol

luv the joisey and New york accent LOL another one instead of alright , its " alwight"

[one_day_at_a_time 0]

Cool, a reason to bring this up. Celica: American, "sell-la-cah"; Canadian "sah-leak-a". I used to own one and when it came up in conversation, my US husband had a wonderfully (annoying) holler at the way i pronounced it.

[Krikit 1,165]

Cut and pasted from the other thread cause I'm lazy today.

Canadian pronunciation 'foyer': foy yay

US pronunciation 'foyer': foy yer

Canadian pronunciation 'voila': vwa la

US pronunciation 'voila': wa la

[thermophile 0]

the hubby refers to my tatoos as decals pronounced deck-el, I say de-cal

pasta vs. paasta is another one

I'm not playing anymore cause I suck at trying to write pronunciations, but we have more. hours and hours of fun in the field with mixed work groups mocking the pronunciations of either the lone Canadian or the lone American.

[Krikit 1,165]

I'm not playing anymore cause I suck at trying to write pronunciations, but we have more. hours and hours of fun in the field with mixed work groups mocking the pronunciations of either the lone Canadian or the lone American.

I know what you mean. My brother-in-law (from England) was just here visiting with my sister, and he was always constantly amused by my husband's southern accent. He says he can't wait to take him down to his local pub and have him order the first round.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Diction:

US / Canadian

Semi / Transport Truck

Line / Line-up

zee / zed

toque / beanie

Pronunciation

Saaawry / Soory (this is always a dead giveaway that I'm Canadian)

Baaysel / Bahsil (Basil)

When I say words like Mazda, Yamaha, Pasta, Yahoo and Nissan my husband cracks up and mocks me repeating the word a few times..

I also notice that Americans say "boo-coo" when they use the work "beaucoup" It drives me up the wall.

I think you have toque and beanie switched. I had never heard toque until I met Lindsay.

The over-pronunciation of the letter A always gets me with Lindsay. Everytime she says bag, I mock her.

That said, I am a southerner with a noticable accent, so I can't say too much.

[DeadPoolX 9]

I'm the USC here and must have a very odd accent. Even though I grew up in Texas (and no, relatively few of us speak with a "drawl" or like cowboys from the Old West; at least not in the major cities, anyway), my parents and the rest of my family are from New York. So I've had a mixture of both in my life, including terminology and yes, this may come as surprise to those not native to the U.S., the words we use can differ dramatically depending on what region of the U.S. you're from.

For instance: What Canadians would call "running shoes," Texas (and I imagine most of the Southern states) refer to as "tennis shoes." However, in the northeast, they're called "sneakers." Because my parents always called them sneakers, my brother and I grew up saying that word (in addition to other terms as well). Doing so apparently identified us as "northerners" to the ears of many Texans, even though we were born-and-raised in the Lone Star state.

In fact, it's rather funny, now that I think about it. When I'm in the north, people faintly pick up that I'm from Texas (I've been told that my so-called "Texan accent" is extremely mild, only coming out when I get very angry) and when I'm in Texas, a lot of people think I'm from a northern state, such as New York.

Anyway... back to the point of this thread. My wife and I have had discussions about the differences in American and Canadian English before and sometimes it's quite startling. The first time she noticed it was when I was telling her about my Dad's raised marble entry and I used the word "foyer." She stopped mid-sentence and asked me to repeat myself. So I did and then wanted to know if I was joking around with her. I had no clue what was going on, and told her I wasn't joking. When she told me what the issue was, I laughed. I said we (the United States) tend to pronounce "foyer" as "foy-err" and not "foy-yay."

My wife wasn't quite comfortable with it, for some reason or another, but she eventually let it go. We've come across other U.S./Canadian pronunciation differences as well. I've noticed she says "pasta" different than I do, but I've never said anything. I figured there's no need to make a scene; she won't change her pronunciation (why should she?) and she might take what I had to say as a criticism, so I'm better off avoiding that mess altogether. We discovered that we pronounce "niche" differently as well. The "pro/prah" and "zee/zed" stuff were immediately noticeable, but not a big deal (although she did once refer to a BMW Z4 as a "Zed-Four" instead of a "Zee-Four" which just sounds so very, very wrong).

My wife's said that a lot of words from the U.S. (including the spelling and pronunciation) have creeped into Canadian English over time, due to the closeness of our countries, trade/economics and above all, Hollywood. Since Canada sees more of America than the U.S. sees of Canada, it makes sense that Canadians would get a larger dose of American English than vice-versa.