To keep me in touch with Canada while I’m away, I listen to CBC Radio 3, the Canadian indie off-shoot of our public national radio station CBC. Sometimes they have a feature called “The Canadian Dictionary”, which highlights a uniquely Canadian word and provides the definition. I thought I’d present my own version of the Canadian Dictionary, featuring words that I sometimes say and Americans have no idea what I'm talking about.
In alphabetical order:
Boxing Day – December 26th (the day after Christmas Day); origin explained on Wikipedia
brown bread - whole wheat bread
caesar – a cocktail apparently originating in Calgary – made with vodka and Clamato (clam & tomato) juice with tabasco sauce served on ice with a stick of celery
cheezies - cheese puffs; a genericized trademark based on a brand of crunchy cheese snack sold only in Canada
cheque - a written order to a bank to pay the stated amount of money from one's account; a check (Am)
chesterfield - a couch or a sofa
fountain pop – drink machine commonly at fast food restaurants; mixes drink syrup and water to make pop
freezie - a frozen, flavoured sugar-water treat
ginch or gonch – slang for (male) underwear
gongshow - a slang word meaning "everything is chaos" or a way to describe a crazy event/experience
keener – someone that is really enthusiastic towards something, often a student, over-achiever
line up – a queue, a line
loonie – a one dollar coin
mickie - a pint/flask sized bottle of liquour
Ogopogo – a fabled sea serpent that lives in Okanagan Lake, like the Loch Ness monster
parkade - a parking garage or parking structure
pencil crayon - coloured pencils
poutine – a delicious dish originating in Quebec consisting of fries, cheese curds and gravy; often consumed late-night after the bar
runners - athletic sports shoes
serviette – a napkin
skookum - sturdy, heavy duty
stagette - a bachelorette party
suck - a weak, self-pitying person; a crybaby or a sore loser. Can be used as a term of endearment for pets or children
toonie – a two dollar coin
toque – a knit/wool winter hat, sometimes with a pom-pom on top
two-six - a 26 oz (750 mL) bottle of liquor
washroom – a public bathroom, also “I have to go to the washroom”
zed - the last letter of the alphabet, not zee (Am)
Also, a few strange pronunciations or phrases that throw off my fellow American friends:
grade 3 - as opposed to "3rd grade"
pasta - pronounced pahsta (Can) not posta (Am)