I Am Canadian

When we began racing in Seattle, we were referred to as the Canadians. One of the racers still calls Kevin "Canada", much to my amusement. It didn't bother us much as we'd spent so much time up there that our friends designated us honorary Canadians. For awhile, I felt more comfortable up there than in my own hometown.

We were watching a DVD the other night of our friends and I realized how much that I miss them. (we don't see them in the off season) It also made me realize how much they've changed my speech.

I learned to say "washroom" instead of bathroom. I learned to NOT, NOT, NOT order "Canadian Bacon". Stickers are called decals ("dek-alls") They say "I'm going to phone him" instead of "call". I never could grasp using "Petrol" instead of gas.

And the freaking metric system, forget about it. But I can convert fahrenheit to celsius quite easily. And I was getting pretty good at determining speed limit conversions without using the speedometer.

And of course, there is "eh?" which creeps into your speech so insidiously that you don't even realize it. Hollywood, of course, exaggerates the use but it does become part of your vocabulary.

Other colloquialisms entered into our speech:

ending sentences with "right?"

Liberal use of "man"

Using the word f&*k regularly in a sentence, and in ways you would never dream possible.

"Good on you." (one of my faves)

"Right on"

"Gong show" - referring to something that is messed up.

"buddy..." This is derogative usually. "Buddy thinks he's cool."

"My friend" They also tend to label people. "I was talking to my friend Mark..."

My all time favorite is from my friend Miguel: "Give your head a shake." Which means "what the f*&k are you thinking?"


So, we'll see you soon eh?