Canadian words and phrases to get used to

When you move overseas and start talking to people in your new community you soon realise that South Africans have some odd and unique sayings, and sometimes a weird way of pronouncing things. I think, as new comers, we all have that story of walking into a store and asking for something, only to be greeted with a blank stare by someone who has no clue what you’re talking about.

Hare are a few of the random things South Africans say, and their Canadian equivalents that you’ll need to get used to:

South Africans tend to also use the word “shame” quite a lot, and this is definitely something Canadians don’t understand. While South Africans use this as a way to show sympathy for someone or a situation, this is seen as an odd expression here.

Here are a few other common Canadian terms to get used to:

Loony – one dollar
Toonie – a two-dollar coin
Poutine – a local dish consisting of fries, gravy and cheese curds
Double-double – when you want double cream and double sugar in your coffee
Eh – a common phrase equivalent to “ya know”, “huh”, “right”
Timmies – Tim Hortons
Canuck – a Canadian
Two-four – a case of 24 beers
Klick – a term for kilometer

So that’s a little overview of the Canadian language. Now don’t get us started on the units of measurement used in Canada. It’s Imperial, no it’s Metric. NO, it’s a combination of both. It’s messy, it’s weird, and it’s confusing!