Why Do Canadians Say "Eh" At The End Of A Sentence, Eh?

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Michael C...

"Hi".....and a good question actually ...lol

I suppose it's just we are polite and really don't wish to offend.

When we make a statement like "Nice day eh?"...we give you a chance to respond, and tell us if you agree !

Without that liitle "eh" at the end one could presume that the weather on that day is our "considered opinion" and without it we are making a statement without the option for rebuttal on your part .

The little "eh" also enables the initial start of the conversation to continue....and indicates it's your turn to answer. Once the conversation is in full swing the use of the "eh" disappears !

The "Great White North" ( Forgot the two actors ) a Canadian comedy brought humorous attention to our little "eh"! lol

It also denotes rather clearly that we are Canadian and in some situations that's a good thing. *L*

But it's primary use is politeness and to reassure that we are friendly ,it's like a friendly poke in the ribs but done verbally.

Hope that helps ya eh ? *S* lol (Michael C)

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"Hi" BB...*ROFL*...good one ! *S*

Star

the same reason people say "ya know what I'm sayin" after each sentence.

phil

''Eh" is just a canadian expression, and, don't you think it sounds better than ''Huh''?

itssoeasy

believe it or not, I have heard americans use that expression.

Karen C

Why not, eh??

chuckles951

I lived in Canada for 49 years and almost never heard anyone use "eh". I believe it is a Newfie or Maritimer sort of thing.

And since I moved to LA seven years ago, I hear it hear just as often from native born Americans.

MIka

because we are *that* cool!

Habit of thought.
Michael C you're such a hoser! lol.

mj_puce

No we don't eh?! Well not all the time. Some Canadians never say it at all, ever, but in some areas we say it a lot. It can be either a questioning word or an invitation for people to agree with what you just said, or an expression of confusion, depending on the exact pitch and intonation of the eh. It might derive from the French Canadian "hien" which is french for "huh".

I don't know what Proteacher is talking about. He is describing the way most people would use "um" to stall in the middle of a sentence. The eh that is distinctly Canadian comes at the end of a sentence, that is either a question, or turns it into a kind of question- eh? (translation: do you agree with what I just said?).

Sara L

lol i too say that often in my sentences

Jim B

It is not used by all Canadians.

It is a figure of speech, just as many Americans use " you all " and "you know " in their sentences.

I would suggest that the use of the expression " eh " is related to two factors. Locality and education levels. More educated people won't use it much, and the east coasters are more likely to use it than westerners.

Jim B. Toronto.

will biz

they say eh, because they are that cool and they love to play hockey while drinking!

proteacher@ymail.com

Don't know what you mean, but I got an idea of what it might be. Its like this:

Eh, what are you, eh,eh, doing,eh, here?

we do this in quebec, don'T know if it's what you are looking for, but I'll explain.

In quebec, hockey is like a religion; everyone knows hockey, plays hockey, live by hockey. Every single quebecer heard a NHL player speaking. Teams have a reserved behavior; they ask player not to say too much, nor less. So, many players start sentences without ending it or changing words, thus bringing thew problem of thinking while speaking.

It happens here, that we have the most secret team in the whole NHL: Canadians. Their player are glued to the: eh,eh,eh... Some cuts words, some use them as a coma.

An other variation of this linguistic problem are politicians who have also to think twice, except this time they use pre made big lines and long sentences even loosing themselves. Sometime they don't even answer the question while adding some words here and there and making a rescue use of this "EH" coma.

And the last one is what you are directly saying the end "eh". In french I can call it a mispronunciation and distortion of the word "et". It means "and". Some times you can use it pretty much like a figure of agreement. Also, you can consider the : Hey, which became over common and took the meaning of agreement as so.

In conclusion, it's due to mispronunciation that lead to meaning distortions which caused people to use it more often and in a wrong way. This combined with slang and took the meaning of agreement of himself at the end of his own sentence. To make it short: they use it to say he was right. Ex.: What do you want, eh? It's life ,eh. It can be understood like he unconsciously agree with himself, just using common terms. You can see it as a primitive kind of emphasis.

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