That’s pronounced stag-ette, by the way. Not stage-tte, or a poor pronunciation of “staged.” In the States, we know them as a Bachelor or Bachelorette party. We might know them more by the corresponding reality TV shows, The Bachelor and…
Category: Words for Things
A small thing, trivial almost: what those 5-6 digits in address are called. Or, as it is in Canada, the 6 letter/number combination in a street address. It is a Postal Code in Canada, a Zip Code in the States.…
I’ve noticed this on a few occasions, especially when meeting a large group of people. They don’t ask what you do for a living, but rather who in the group you know, and how you know them. And sometimes the…
During a practice before our first playoff game, I improperly caught a softball and jammed my right thumb. It hurt like hell for a couple days but once I could grip and swing a bay I didn’t think much more…
It’s summer. People are taking time off, except in Canada they say “going on holiday.” Makes me think of the clay animation chicken movie whose title escapes me. Holiday. It occurred to me that, in the States, “holiday” is generally…
I didn’t pay much attention to this at first because I only heard it used by one person. And then I kept hearing it. Apparently in Canada, you don’t say “Do XYZ,” you say “Do XY Zed.” If you’re an…
A series of thoughts zipped through my head while browsing my Twitter stream, and a conversation popped into my head. Spelling of words comes up now and then, and “check” is one of them. I noticed this on a sign.…
Another to add to Words for Things. I’ve joined a recreational league basketball team that starts the end of February. Yesterday, at the Bonsor Community Center, there was an opportunity to meetup, shoot around and play pickup games. What is…
Canadians really like coins. Anything less than five dollars is a coin. A coin! So, two dollars is a coin. One dollar coin. Quarters, Nickels. Dimes. Pennies. Makes me think of a line from The Grinch: “All the noise! Noise!…
On the way back from DC, my colleague was giving me some tips on what words to use in Canada. “Garbage” instead of “trash,” for example. Apparently saying “trash” immediately marks you as non-Canadian. The word is used to describe…