SPEAKING OF CANADA LET'S talk CANADA

What do the words you use say about you?

Across this great nation of ours, there are approximately 30 million speakers of Canadian English. Typically, when we think of Canadian English we identify it by what it is not: American English (and sometimes British English). However, right here at home, within our 9,984,670 square-kilometres of space, there is a massive assortment of words we use to describe the same thing and even when we agree on a single term, the pronunciations we employ are sometimes completely different.

We would like to give massive shout-outs to The 10 and 3, whose 2017 survey on many of these terms helped us tremendously, as well as journalists across the Postmedia chain who contributed by sharing their own local way with words.

It turns out the terms we use have an awful lot to do with what part of the country we live in and where we spent our formative years. So much so, that we can confidently pose the question (and, at least in part, answer it): What do the words you use say about where you’re from?

Don’t believe us? Try answering these questions, and see if your dialect matches the majority of people in your region of Canada.

1. When you were in school, what did you call the game in which you would kick an inflated rubber ball on a baseball diamond? a) Soccer baseball b) Kickball c) California kickball

Reveal: Western Canadians are more likely than Eastern Canadians to call this schoolyard game by the same name as our American neighbours: kickball (not soccer baseball). British Columbia insists on being difficult, however, and refers to the game as California kickball. If we go back in time, though, the sport was originally called Kick Baseball, so all of us are right (or wrong, depending on your perspective).

2. During the summer months, where do you go to escape the city? a)Cabin b) Cottage c) The lake d) Chalet e)Camp f) Bungalow

Reveal: Bungalow? Seriously? Those fancyshmancy Cape Bretoners are most likely to refer to their summer homes as a bungalow. Meanwhile, Western Canadians and Newfoundlanders are prone to visiting a cabin, Quebecers will probably go to a chalet, Northern Ontarians most often drive to their camps, Southern Ontarians and Maritimers spend their summer weekends at cottages and a random cross-section of dads across the country simply go to the lake.

3. What do you call a sweatshirt that has a hood? a) Hoodie b) Bunny hug

Reveal: You cannot make this up. What the rest of the country refers to as a hoodie, many in Saskatchewan call a bunny hug. There are several competing origin stories for this odd bit of prairie terminology, but one thing is certain: the term “bunny hug” has become a part of the province’s identity. Our best money is on the name being rooted to a scandalous dance from the turn of the 20th century. That’s what Tyler Cottenie, a University of Saskatchewan linguistics major told the StarPhoenix back in 2007.

4. How do you pronounce this word: decal? a) Deck-ell b) Dee-kal

Reveal: If you’re ever possessed by the desire to have a fellow Canadian look at you like an unwanted sticker has been stamped to your forehead, might we recommend going to Western Canada and asking an auto body shop to plaster dee-kals all over your car. Alternatively, you can visit Eastern Canada and request a similar place of business for several deck-ells on your chassis. Our Prince Edward Island expert, Matthew Dorrell, says he was delighted to find it was pronounced the same way when he moved to Vancouver.

5. Which infamous school supply did you use to colour maps in geography class? a) Coloured pencils b) Pencil crayons c) Leads

Reveal: Of all the primarily English-speaking regions of Canada, Newfoundland is home to the most unique terminology. Even when the rest of the country is divided between two terms — coloured pencils and pencil crayons — the province emerges with a word all its own. While many people in Nova Scotia and Quebec will refer to a geography teacher’s favourite school supply as coloured pencils, the rest of the country — save Newfoundland — is more likely to call them pencil crayons. And the people on Canada’s most Eastern point call them leads. Newfoundland is believed to be home to the most diverse English dialect in the world. Our friends out East have a different word for almost everything, but it’s often related to their unique history.

6. Where would you go if you needed to buy a snack and a newspaper? a)Cornerstore b) Dépanneur c) Convenience store

Reveal: Remember how annoying it seemed when your friends moved to Montreal for university and constantly referred to the convenience store as “the dep” when you came to visit? Well, they were simply trying to fit in. No one, apart from Quebec, refers to it by the far too elegantsounding dépanneur. The English and French spoken in Montreal are especially interesting to experts because of the way the languages co-exist to inform the richness of each other’s linguistic identities.

7. What do you call a set of knives, forks and spoons? a) Silverware b) Utensils c) Cutlery

Reveal: Those fancy Cape Bretoners strike again. Just as they were alone in referring to their summer getaway as a bungalow, they’re also more likely to call a set of knives, forks and spoons silverware. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is split between utensils (Quebec, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick) and cutlery (Western Canada, Southern Ontario and Newfoundland). Food-related terminology is generally pretty diverse across the country, and it makes sense. Since much of our vocabulary is developed early in life by those closest to us, it’s hard to imagine a more fertile setting for terminology to be instilled than around the dinner table – or, for most of Canada, the supper table.

8. When it comes to household chores, what is your least favourite thing to clean out? a) Eavestroughs b) Rain gutters

Reveal: We have a theory as to why there is no discernible pattern attached to which areas of the country call the drainage systems attached to the roofs of their house: any Canadian who has ever had to clean an eavestrough/rain gutter likely refers to it by words not fit for print in a family newspaper. That being said, a survey done by The 10 and 3 found the biggest difference in phrasing to be between Manitoba (rain gutters all the way) and Saskatchewan (eavestroughs or die). A modest proposal: each year, the Blue Bombers and Roughriders should play in the Gutter Trough Cup, with the losing region having to use the other province’s term for the year.

9. When it comes time to do some outdoor exercise, what do you put on your feet? a) Running shoes b) Sneakers c) Runners d) Trainers

Reveal: There are few terms more clearly defined than what Canada calls its athletic footwear. West of Ontario, they’re typically referred to as runners. In Ontario and Quebec, they’re, more often than not, running shoes. As for out East? The sneaker reigns supreme. Some readers from different pockets across the country have pointed to “tennis shoes” as the term they’re most likely to use.

10. What do you call the meal you eat in the evening? a) Dinner b) Supper

Reveal: You are what you eat. Or rather, you live where you eat. People from both British Columbia and Southern Ontario are inclined to call the last meal of the day dinner. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is mostly content to call it supper. One reader who wrote to us, said that their family in Pictou County, N.S., refers to the mid-day meal as their dinner. Some people on the Prairies also do the same.