Okay, how many amercans think canadians say 'eh' alot?

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Danelady

And that is stereotyping Maritimers. I'm a sixth generation Canadian Maritimer, and have never said "aboot" or "eh" in my life. Nor does anyone else around here.

You will find pockets of such speech patterns in all the Maritime Provinces, where isolated communities, such as Cape Breton Island, Newfoundland, and the islands in the Bay of Fundy continue to use the accents and speech patterns of the original settlers from the southern US or British Isles, 200 plus years ago.

But for the most part, our speech is similar to the rest of Canada, except for local idioms like "happy as a clam at high water" and other similes relating to forestry and fishing.

TitoBob

Only a few Canadians use "eh" a lot, and most of them come from a specific area of Canada. This stereotype arose from the routines of "Bob" and "Doug Mackenzie", two Canadian comedians who in real life are actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. Check them out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_&_Doug_McKenzie

SteveN

This is a direct result of Bob & Doug McKenzie, a pair of fictional Canadians created by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas for the Second City TV show, and later made into a movie called "Strange Brew".

It is mostly Canadians from the east coast (Maritimes) that use terms like "no doot aboot it" and "eh".

This is similar to saying all Americans sound like the southern "twangs" that you hear from residents of Texas, Arkansas, Tenessee, or Alabama. Someone in Vermont, North Dakota, or Oregon may take offense to that.

If you want to see typical Canadian stereotypes, watch the Rick Moranis "Strange Brew" movie, or watch the late John Candy in a movie called "Canadian Bacon".

@@@@

Three.

Sly

Who in here think Californians say; "hella", "whatever" and "like" a lot, eh?

joyfulpaints

A couple of weeks ago I met my husband's American cousins for the first time. They BEGGED me to say "eh" just so they could tease me - but it's just not part of my regular speech. I did, on the other hand, tease them (from Michigan) about replacing the letter O with an A in words like Costco and pocket.

Funnily though, when I came back to work, my first customer regaled me with a story... "I found this log, eh, in the park, eh? And it looks like a snake, eh?" I had a hard time keeping a straight face... and my co-worker nailed it when she asked if he was a logger.

It's not all that common to hear your average Canadian say "eh". And I've never heard anyone but a Scotsman say "aboot" - I personally always say "aboat".

Where I live, the local idiom is "It's just down the road a bit". It could be 2 kms or 100 kms, it's still just down the road a bit.

:-)

coolshades

I don't think Canadians say "eh" as much as Americans claim they do.

Canadians seem to pronounce words ending in "out" differently than Americans...they elongate the "ou" sound.

There are also certain terms for things that Canadians use...such as "parkade" instead of "parking garage, "washroom" instead of "restroom, " and "holiday" instead of "vacation," which I've always thought were interesting :)

snoopy l

Not eh. Ay.

As in, "Nice day, ay"
Or "No way, ay"

We also think Canadians also pronounce 'water' weird.

Feinschmecker

Well, they do. And "Murricans" seem to manage to get an interrogative "Huh?" into most sentences.

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