Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

• Canadians say "washroom" and also "bathroom". We never, ever say "restroom". If we say "toilet", we mean the actual plumbing item, not the room it lives in or the act of using it. (So we might say "I was on the toilet when you called" but we never say "I’m going to the toilet".)
• Canadians use a mixture of Imperial and metric measurements similar to, but not the same as, the mixture used in the UK. It is common to measure distances in kilometres but people in feet and inches; temperatures in Celsius except for oven temperatures; food in grams but people in pounds and ounces. (There’s lots more, but you get the idea.)  
• Canadians take Tylenol or acetaminophen, not Paracetamol.
• Canadians put bandaids, not plasters, on cuts and scrapes.
• Canadians mostly blow our noses with kleenex, not tissues, although that’s more of a mixed bag.
• Canadians wear sneakers, runners, or running shoes, not trainers or tennis shoes.
• Canadians use pencil crayons, not coloured pencils.
• Canadians use sunscreen, not suncream.
• We are likely to say "you guys" or "you folks" when addressing a group (both are gender-neutral in intent, but "you guys" is sometimes received as NOT gender-neutral). Some of us have adopted "y’all" to get around the gendered sound of "you guys". Almost nobody says "you lot".
• We are much more likely to say "how am I supposed to" than "how am I meant to". 
• We are much more likely to say "I’m standing / sitting" than "I’m stood / sat" (like how Shane says "I’m standing in the hallway like an idiot! Scott Hunter is right next door!")
• The knitted hat you wear in the winter is a toque (or just a hat), not a beanie.
• Smarties in Canada are identical to UK & Commonwealth smarties but completely different from US Smarties. (We call the latter Rockets.)
• Very few Canadians [EDIT: if any!] say "dungarees"; we just call them jeans (or, if overalls, denim overalls). A boomer or older Canadian might say dungarees.
  • Helpful reader Ratanist says probably not! I think this term is just generally best avoided if you want someone to sound Canadian.
• The appropriate and respectful terminology for Indigenous people in Canada: Indigenous (general), Inuit, Métis, First Nations. A First Nations person can call themself "Indian" (most don’t, some do) but other people shouldn’t. Likewise "Native". If you have characters use these terms, do it knowing they are being shitty, either out of ignorance or on purpose.
• Canadians drive on highways, not freeways or motorways. Our speedometers and our speed limit signs are in km/h. 100 or 110 is normal for a divided highway; 80 for a 2-lane highway; 50 or 60 for city streets.
  • We walk on sidewalks, not pavements. (HT to Virgolady1 for pointing out that I forgot this one!)
  • We cross at crosswalks, not zebra crossings, and stop at stoplights or traffic lights, not traffic signals.
• A sweatshirt with a hood is called a hoodie, whether or not it has a zipper. A hoodie with a front pocket and no zipper is called a bunnyhug, but only in Saskatchewan!
• Canadians put gas, not petrol, in our cars. The said cars have hoods and trunks, not bonnets and boots.
  • We park our cars in parking lots (and parkades or parking garages), not car parks, and they have windshields, not windscreens.
• Many Anglophones and most Francophones use the 24-hour clock, but we don’t call it "military time" (that’s an American thing).
• Canadians are likely to say "mum" but spell it "mom". This is not universal, though! Lots of us say "mom".
• If a Canadian says "hockey" with no qualifier, it is 99% we mean ice hockey. Other kinds of hockey get a qualifier: road hockey, ball hockey, floor hockey, air hockey, boot hockey, field hockey. The odds of hearing the phrase "ice hockey" in conversation in Canada are never zero, but always very low.
• Canadians almost never say "whilst", just "while".
• Canadians almost universally say "by accident" and "lineup" rather than "on accident" and "line/queue". We might stand in line but we never stand on line.
• For some reason, while most prescription medications have the same trade name here as in the US, Escitalopram is called Cipralex, not Lexapro.
• Ilya, who spent about a decade living in Boston, might say "Adirondack chair", but Shane, who grew up in Ontario, would absolutely call the same object a Muskoka chair.
• "Cottage" (largely eastern Canada) and "cabin" (largely western Canada) are regional terms for the same thing.
• We are more likely to say "it needs [verbing]" than to say "it needs [verbed]" -- for example, it needs doing, it needs washing, it needs cleaning (vs it needs done, it needs washed, it needs cleaned).
• We are more likely to "sort it out" than to "sort it." We sort the laundry but we sort out a problem.
• (Another HT to Virgolady1!) Canadians rarely say "..., yeah?" to solicit agreement at the end of a sentence. We are more likely to say "..., eh?" or "..., huh?" or "..., right?"
  • So for instance: 
    • You really missed me, huh?
    • He looks like shit, eh? Up all night with the baby again?
    • Okay, but we're good now, right? 
• Canadians get a paycheque from our job, a cheque from grandma for our birthday, and a bill when we eat at a restaurant; a check is something that happens in hockey ;)
• We know what gutters are, but we are more likely to say eavestroughs.
• A multilevel parking garage is usually called a parkade, although for some reason not if it’s underneath the building you live in; in that case it’s just “the garage.”
  • Per Virgolady1, at least some parts of Ontario also call it a parking garage!
• In many parts of the country (and definitely in Ontario), household electricity comes primarily from hydroelectric plants and so the electricity bill is colloquially called a Hydro bill. In Ottawa you pay Ottawa Hydro for your electricity.
• Canada has Guides (or Girl Guides) and Scouts; we do not have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
  • Girl Guides do sell cookies, though! There are the classic chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies, and the more recently introduced Thin Mints.
  • Guides in Canada is not coed but is explicitly trans-inclusive.
  • Scouts Canada has been coed for a while, although it’s still mostly boys.

All of this having been said, Canada—and especially big Canadian cities—is filled with people who came here from somewhere else and brought their vocabulary and accents with them! These vocabulary notes are for when you want to write someone who sounds like they grew up in Canada, like Shane.