I think we can all agree the English language is a regular ol’ hoot sometimes. The rules, the syntax. The quirks that make absolutely zero sense.
And then there is pronunciation.
Growing up Canadian, I learned what I assumed was the right – and only – way of speaking and didn’t think that shared words in the same language would come out of different mouths…differently.
Turns out they do. So let’s have some fun this Wednesday morning, shall we?
Loading ...PAW-sta always sounds so…pretentious to me. But maybe I’m just horrifically unsophisticated with my crude “Pass the pass-ta!” requests.
Loading ...Emphasis on the “zen” astonishes me every single time I hear it. To me, it will always be “present“-ation.
Loading ...Coop-on just sounds…wrong to me! I have never heard a single Canadian pronounce it that way, but it seems many (most?) of my American friends do?
Loading ...We still laugh about the first time we heard an (American) family member discussing their ve-HICK-le insurance.
Loading ...John’s favourite dessert is pecan pie, so anytime I hear someone say Puh-khan, my spidey senses go on alert. Like PAW-sta, it sounds much more regal to say puh-khan, but we are regular old hicks I suppose, and definitely fall into the pee-can camp.
GRANDPARENTS
What did you call your grandparents? Growing up I called both maternal and paternal grandmothers (both my grandfathers passed before I was born) Grammie, followed by their last name.
It always puzzled me as a kid that friends had Nanas and Papas and Omas and Opas and Grandmas and Grandpas – often distinguished between maternal and paternal relationships based on the name.
With our kids, we’ve repeated the trend and it is Grammie and Grampie, followed by the last name. But it would be easier, I suspect, if the title alone distinguished my parents from John’s parents.
WHAT DO YOU CALL IT?
Loading ...COUCH! Only ever couch.
Loading ...Sneakers. Only ever sneakers.
Loading ...Pop. Only ever pop.
Loading ...Cookies are sweet (think ginger, chocolate chip). Crackers are thin, crispy, and almost always savoury; served as a snack or alongside soup. Biscuits are fluffy, served alongside a hearty stew or with butter and jam for breakfast. This has more to do with North American vs. European than American vs. Canadian.
FUNNY SAYINGS
- That changes the water on the beans. A certain someone in our house makes fun of me mercilessly when I use this expression, but growing up we said it all. the. time. As in: that changes the situation.
- Potato scallop. My mother has a home economics cookbook from high school that specifically names the dish Potato Scallop. John is quick to point out that scalloped is the type of potato; we don’t, for example, have Potato Whip or Potato Mash or Potato Bake. But I refuse to call it Scalloped Potatoes. To my dying day it will be Potato Scallop (as a proper noun, I see no reason why it can’t be).
Your turn. What word do you pronounce differently than others? What did you/do you call your grandparents? Any funny sayings that are part of your family vernacular but not wider culture?
Header photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Sophie
This is fun! Being Australian, I also say coo-pon, but then runners, biscuits are cookies (no idea what your biscuits are! Scones maybe?), and it’s not soda OR pop but rather soft drink haha!
Elisabeth
Biscuits are a lot like scones though generally a bit softer and fluffier. I’d make scones out of my biscuit recipe by adding a bit of extra flour.
Soft drink. I would see that on a restaurant menu here (not pop – ever), but I would never think to actually call it that. I wonder what the aisle label says in the grocery store? I bet here it WOULD say soft drinks.
Melissa
Haha! I was just going to comment that it’s soft drink in Australia.
Melissa
Yep, Australian here too and it’s coo-pon, runners, biscuits and soft drink.
I called my grandparents, Grandad and Nanna on my dad’s side and Mumma on my mum’s. My maternal grandfather died before my parents were married. My kids call my parents Grandad and Grandma and G’s parents Grandpa and Nan.
Elisabeth
It’s also interesting how people spell Mom. My mother always writes Mum, but I always spell it Mom.
Michelle G.
I love this kind of stuff! Language is a fun topic! My husband and I are from different towns in the same state, yet we pronounce several things differently.
Coupon: I have always said cue-pon. My husband says coo-pon. I can’t change, and neither can he!
Mayonnaise: Hubby and I both say MAN aze.
Pasta: I used to say PASS-tah. My husband says PAH-stah. Somehow, I changed to PAH-stah. But most of the time, I just say noodles.
Creek: I grew up saying Creak. My husband says Crick.
Manure: I say Ma Newer. Hubby says Ma NER. (On a ranch, it’s a word that’s used frequently!)
Elisabeth
Oh, these are some great ones!
– I also say MAN-aze.
– Ha – saying noodles does solve the issue of PASS-tah vs Pah-stah.
– I say creak (never crick!). And I say Ma-newer as well.
Paulien
What a fun topic! I voted as a non-native speaker of English (I am Dutch), but i still found myself to have strong opinions on most of these! Although the thing you describe as biscuits I do not get, no idea what that would look or taste like.
I called my grandparents oma and opa, which is short for the word for grandmother/father. Did your word come from the dutch maybe? I know that happens sometimes with words and also in place and last names in us/canada.
Elisabeth
Biscuits are a lot like scones; generally a bit smaller with nothing added in and a bit fluffier/moister than a scone.
I have some friends originally from The Netherlands and they say Oma and Opa!
Hana
I love this post so much! I definitely use the pretensious pronunciation of pecan and pasta, but I had no idea there was a pretensious connotation, ha! I’m in the American south east, but my parents are British and Canadian, so my pronunciations are all over the place. My kids call my parents Oma and Grandad (Dad dad) for short, and my inlaws are Sitto and Gramps.
Elisabeth
I don’t think they’re actually pretentious; more I have hick-like pronunciation myself!
Sitto? Now that’s a new one to me!
Mary
Another vote for it always being soft drink and never soda or pop.
Elisabeth
I think that’s what it would be labelled on a restaurant menu and in a store, but I only ever say Pop.
Alimc
In England it’s pass-ta, coo-pon and biscuits (we do have cookies too though they tend to be much larger than normal biscuits). We say trainers rather than sneakers etc and veer-kle (there’s no ‘ik-le/hik-le’ sound in the middle, if that makes sense?). It’s fascinating to learn of the differences!
In our family there’s a Grandma and Grandad on one side and Mamgu and Tadcu (Welsh for Grandma and Grandpa) on the other. It definitely makes it easier to know who we’re referring to but very difficult to get personalised cards for the Welsh grandparents in England!
Elisabeth
I suspect there are not a lot of Mamgu and Tadcu cards! A niche market for some creative efforts on your part, perhaps?!
Doris
Oh oh, this US dialect quiz is so fun! For your american readers 🙂
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Tk0.Whxy.AXfBIt0oIOJO&bgrp=g&smid=url-share
Elisabeth
That WAS fun. I was curious if I would line up with Maine on things but I was all over the place…
Sarah
I love this post and am going to come back to see more votes.
One weird Wisconsin thing is to call a drinking fountain a bubbler.
Elisabeth
A bubbler. It’s cute, though I’ve never heard of called a bubbler!
Suzanne
This is so fun! I love how differently we all say the same things. I say both “PREH-zentation” and “PRE-zentation,” but not quite sure when or why.
I say “pih-CAN” or “pih-CAHN” — again, based on unknowable dialectical rules.
One set of grandparents were Grandpa and Grandma; my other grandmother was Gram. (My other grandfather died when I was fairly young, but I think we called him Grandpa First Name.) My daughter picked the names for two of her grandparents — and they’ve stuck. My mother-in-law picked her own grandparent name. All three names are what I would refer to as non-traditional but not unheard of. Like, you probably won’t find them on a greeting card, but you do encounter other grandparents with similar monnikers. My husband’s aunt is a beloved relative; she’s my daughter’s great aunt, so we refer to her as The Great First Name.
My parents grew up on one side of the country and I grew up on the other side, so I say a LOT of things that seem to be typically divided regionally here in the US! Sofa AND couch. (I have never heard of a Chesterfield! My grandmother called it a davenport.) Soda AND pop. Sneakers AND tennis shoes.
But as someone from the US, I say cookie. (And, in fact, I LOATHE biscuits. Hate the taste, hate the texture. No thank you.)
I think I’ve written about this before but one phonetic divide in my household is the word “bury.” My husband says it rhymes with “furry,” I say it sounds exactly like “berry.” He and I also disagree on the pronunciation of Dawn and Don (I say they sound identical; he does not.).
Elisabeth
I also call bury, “berry” and Dawn and Don are pronounced identically in my world!
Nicole MacPherson
I say coop-on! Also I say runners and puh-kan. And, of course, pop. I find regional accents to be so interesting. Like anyone, I never thought I had an accent until a Southern friend of mine saw a youtube video of me talking, and she said “Oh, you have such a Canadian accent!” But now, I can spot different accents from different parts of Canada AND of the US. It’s so fascinating.
Another word – mischievous. I say miss-chee-vious.
Elisabeth
You say runners? Really! And coop-on? Wow, that surprises me. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Canadian say coop-on!
I can usually tell if someone is from Newfoundland or Cape Breton, but I think the Maritimes in general have an “accent” compared to the rest of Canada.
Nicole MacPherson
Oh! And I grew up saying chesterfield, but now I say couch. I still have a warm place in my heart for the word chesterfield and I always feel immediate kinship when I hear someone say it. I always picture a 1970s brown and orange floral piece when I hear it.
I say Grandma and Grandpa, and so do my kids. My husband had one set that was Grandma and Grandpa, and one that was Nana and Granddad, which seems very British to me.
Elisabeth
Chesterfield sounds…so dignified!
Our British roots show through frequently in our spelling and pronunciation!
ccr in MA
Oh, I could do stuff like this all day! My grandparents were Grandma and Grandpa (pronounced gramma and grampa) Lastname, and then Grandpa (pronounced grampa) Otherlastname, and I don’t know why we didn’t spell them the way they sounded but we did not.
I have never heard the expression That changes the water on the beans! What fun.
I went to boarding school in England for a year between high school and college, and at morning assembly one Saturday, the headmistress, who was also American, told us that as it was a nice day, we should put on our sneakers and get out in it. Cue hundreds of girls giggling–trainers to them, not sneakers!
Elisabeth
Trainers! I forgot that one!!
Maria
I grew up in Pennsylvania, then lived in upstate NY, then southwest Ohio, and now in NB. I noticed the biggest difference in speech in SW OH. They do this weird thing of dropping “to” or “to be”. As in “it needs shoveled “ or “needs done” etc. It surprised me every time I heard it, which was a lot.
Growing up it was soda, but here it’s usually pop. My almost four year old told us excitedly after church on Sunday that she had had “black pop WITH BUBBLES “ at church and we realized with horror she’d been caffeinated with Coca Cola.
Couch and sofa are used interchangeably in our household . It’s always sneakers. And I agree with your cookie/cracker/biscuit breakdown.
Elisabeth
One thing I notice in the Maritimes is people say “seen” a lot. I “seen” her at the store yesterday. Drives. me. crazy.
And adding a “t” to the end of cousin. She’s my “cousin-t.” Why?!
Katie
I live in Indiana. Most people I know (myself included!) say “Coke” for any carbonated drink… so, “do you want a coke?” would really mean, “do you want coke, sprite, root beer, etc.?”. I always feel like I’m acting in a play if I say soda or pop!
I always pronounce words like pen/Ben/when with the same vowel as pin/bin/win. It drives my friend from Chicago crazy!
I took a phonetics class in college and it was a large lecture- our professor would occasionally call out things like “Can someone from the southern half of the state stand up and say ‘Louisville’?” and we would transcribe it. It was so interesting and all of those subtle differences still stick with me. When I meet someone new, I always find myself guessing where they grew up!
Elisabeth
Oh, yes! I’ve heard people call any soda/pop a Coke! I do the same with Kleenex and Bandaids. I never call it a tissue or a plaster. It’s the “brand” name.
I also never call it toilet roll; it’s toilet PAPER. I think toilet roll is how they refer to it in Britain, though?
Jenny
Ah, I love the soda vs. pop debate!!! Probably because it makes me nostalgic for my childhood. Growing up in the midwest, it was “pop.” But once I moved away, I gradually began calling it “soda” and now “pop” sounds funny. Also… I just read Katie’s comment, and I DO remember saying “coke” meaning any soda (er, pop.)
About the “pawsta”… I just have to point out, in my defense, that I don’t actually say “PAWSTA.” It’s really more like “pah-sta.” Just wanted to make that clear!
I do say “cue-pon” but I definitely hear both.
You didn’t even get into the things we like to tease you Canadians about- like pronouncing “about” “a-boat.” You probably didn’t mention it because you’re like, what are you talking about? There’s no debate there!
Elisabeth
I don’t say “a-boat” but I DO say “Eh?” a lot at the end of sentences. It’s a cold do out there today, eh? Or we add “some” to a lot of sentences. It’s some cold out there. She was some mad.
Colleen Martin
I didn’t know anyone called sneakers anything other than sneakers until we had Irish college students work at my parents ice cream shop in the summer. They called them runners. I was like no, that’s wrong. And they said but what do you do in them? Well that got me…I’m not wearing them to sneak.
My kids have a Gammy and Grandpa (my parents) and Nana and Gramps (Phil’s parents). Like you, both of my grandfathers died before I was born, and I had Grandma Sweeney and Grandma Kane.
Elisabeth
Fair enough re. the sneakers!
NGS
I love these types of things. I think in my little corner of the internet, there’s been a garbanzo/chickpea debate raging for the last week or so. Team Chickpea.
It’s pop here. Always pop. Midwest represents! I say coo-pon and laugh when people say cue-pon. Why do I laugh? I don’t know. I think if it’s clear what word you mean, then language has achieved its purpose. I say tennis shoes and have never actually met a person who said sneakers without being snarky about it. Is that a Canadian/US difference, I wonder?
Do you say “law-yer” or “loyer” for lawyer? I have a friend who says the word law in the word and it never fails to spark a big debate in our world. What do you call the strip of land between the sidewalk and the road? I call it the median, my husband calls it the boulevard, and our town calls it the terrace. This is a true controversy.
Elisabeth
Team Chickpea (that’s all that shows up on cans where I live).
Long live pop.
I exclusively say sneakers. I don’t play tennis. Though, to Colleen’s point, I don’t “sneak” in my sneakers.
I say loy-er.
I don’t have a word for that space. Median to me is the central part of a highway or road where traffic can’t drive. I think I’d call that strip of land part of the sidewalk. Maybe edge if I was pressed really hard to come up with something.
Christa Lamb
A few of them I didn’t pronounce either of the ways (I’m a Brit).
Allison McCaskill
Northern Ontario here – coupon, never cue-pon. I find the last one annoying because cookies, crackers and biscuits are three different things, how are we supposed to know which one they’re asking about?
My husband tends to say pawsta and it annoys me out of all proportion, but according to my daughter I saw avocado with a short a and she says it avocawdo and my way sounds crass. Ah, the subtleties of language and interpersonal dynamics.
We called my dad’s parents Grandma and Grandpa and my mom’s the Polish words for grandma and grandpa. My kids called my parents Grandma and Poppa and my husband’s parents Nana Barb and Grandpa Mike – then we had my husband’s grandparents, Nana and Gramps. It just kind of happened that way. I love hearing different kids’ names for their grandparents – one of my daughter’s friends has a grandma by marriage who ended up being called B.T. – I’m friends with her and I tend to call her the same thing because it just suits her.
Elisabeth
I also saw avoCAWdo. The other pronunciation really throws me off!
Christa Lamb
….and as a Brit we call tennis shoes/sneakers….trainers! Soda/pop etc is just called by it’s actual name (Coke etc). I have been living in the USA for almost 12 years now, and I’m still misunderstood much of the time. I have adapted to a certain extent, but not fully.
Elisabeth
It does make a lot of sense to call pop by the actual flavour! And it sounds like many people use Coke for all sorts of fizzy drinks (just like I use the term Kleenex for any facial tissue, not just that specific brand).
Ally Bean
Fun, fun post. We don’t put the “hick” in vehicle, but many people around us do. That takes some getting used to. I drink a soda pop while wearing tennis shoes as I sit on the sofa. I called my mother’s father “grandpa” because that’s who he was. He’s the only grandparent I knew.
Elisabeth
You got the sofa part right…but you’ll never catch me in tennis shoes – haha. Just…sneakers. Where I would might be drinking a can of POP.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
I’ve never called scalloped potatoes “potato scallop” but now that I’ve heard it I can’t unhear it so this may be a new thing for me.
It looks like I’m 50% Canadian and 50% ‘Murican based on the poll. I’m a Puh-khan kinda gal, but I’m sure that we can work out our differences over a piece of pecan pie.
Soda vs pop is a sticking point. Where I grew up it was soda and where I live now it’s pop. I always say pop to pretend that I’ve assimilated.
Elisabeth
Pop is the correct way, so it’s wonderful news.
I can pass on pecan pie. Cheesecake? Never. But John adores pecan pie and it’s his favourite dessert. A bit too sweet for me!
ccr in MA
I tried to get this to “reply” to NGS but it isn’t letting me: in Florida, that strip of land is called the swale! That was a new one to me. And up north where I lived, that land was generally flat, but here they tend to be almost hollowed out, so the water builds up there instead of flooding the streets right away.
Jenny in WV
I’ve mostly lived in the Pittsburgh TV market – tho not actually in PA – so my accent is mostly Pittsburghese. Pop, yinz, wush, etc.
Both sets of grandparents are Grandma and Grandpa.
Creek is an interesting one. When referring to a small body of water I would say “Crick” but in a place name I would say “Creek”.
Elisabeth
Grandma and Grandpa sounds so sweet (and slightly old-fashioned, but in the loveliest sense; it reminds me of Little House on the Prairie and Ma and Pa). I’m not sure where Grammie and Grampie came from – inherited 100% from my side of the family because John grew up calling his paternal grandparents Grandma and Grandpa.
Sarah
Interesting to read the different ways people pronounce words. No one where I live pronounces “pasta” as either of your two choices. We all pronounce the “a” like “ah.”
Elisabeth
The “ah” sounds is a bit like “paw” maybe? But I’m always pass-ta. Short with no drawn out vowels.
Language is fascinating!
Gigi
I had to bow out of the following categories:
Pecan – I’ve always pronounced it PE_KHAN but here in the south of the USA it is most definitely PEE-CAN usually.
Shoes – I don’t wear them often enough to refer to them in any particular way. It’s usually either tennis shoes, tennies, or sneakers (or sneaks, for short).
Soda vs. pop – neither. When I was growing up any kind of dark soft drink was called a “Coke” – whether the product was actually Coca-Cola or not. Why? Don’t ask me. But after being married to a Yankee all these years, I’ve learned to call any soft drink a soda; but secretly – in my head – I think of it as a Coke.
Elisabeth
Sneaks. I love it 🙂
I won’t tell your husband you’re harbouring thoughts of “Coke” in your head!
Shelly
Growing up we said canned drink because what else cami in cans then for kids?! Now I would say by the name Coke, sprite, etc. my dad’s side we called them Big grandpa and grandma. Why big? I have no idea.
My grandma said chesterfield but I say couch.
I am Canadian and say coopon usually. But I also realize that I will often province in both ways interchangeably for a few like pasta.
I don’t say a-boat.
Definitely runners and cookies, crackers and biscuits are all very different!
I also unfree up saying chips instead of French fries.
This is fun!
Elisabeth
I am shocked that Canadians say coopon. I have literally ONLY ever heard American’s pronounce it this way.
Chips is such a classic British nod! So are “chips” crisps to them?
Stephany
Oh, this was so fun! And so was that NY Times dialect quiz someone posted above – I speak like I’m from the Midwest, apparently, even though I was born and raised (and still live) in Florida. But it’s always soda, never pop.
I called my maternal grandparents Grandma and Pops. My paternal grandma was Mommers, and I have no idea how she got that name! My brother and I were the youngest grandkids so it must have come from the older ones!
Elisabeth
Pops is just…SO SWEET! I love it. And Mommers. Adorable.
Lisa's Yarns
I had never heard anyone pronounce pasta as “pass-ta” until I made friends in Canada through blogging. I don’t know of anyone in the US that say “pass-ta”! So it’s definitely a regional thing. A couple more that come to mind for me is the pronunciation of aunt. We do not say “ant” in this region of the country. There are maps that show the different pronunciations of that work and there are all these pockets of people who say “awwnt” (not sure how to phonetically type that out but you get my point I think).
Another one is when you say you are waiting “in line” or “on line.” People from the northeast generally say they are waiting “on line” if they are queueing for something. I don’t know of any other region that says “on line.” I mean, you aren’t standing on a line, so how are you waiting on line? You are waiting in a line for something. I notice this all the time in novels!
I called my grandparents grandma and grandpa but my kids call their papa and nana.
Elisabeth
I saw ant vs awwnt depending on the person. So I have an Ant Kathy and an Ant Heather, but an Awnt Nadja and Awnt Shirley.
I’ve never heard of on line before!
JMH
I’m originally from Minnesota (aka the Canada of the US) and you and I basically have identical words/pronunciations (pop, creek, etc.) To me, Canadians sound just like US midwesterners until you say a-boot (about) and then you give yourselves away 🙂 After many years in California, I now say “soda” because people do a double take when you say “pop.”
Elisabeth
I literally don’t know a SINGLE CANADIAN who say a-boot (or a-boat). I say a-bou-t. I think Newfies say it a-boot?
I do say “eh” a lot, though, which is very stereotypical.
San
Oh, I am all confused now… I’ve never heard people pronounce pasta either you mentioned, I always say “PAH-sta. (long “a”).
I also thought the emphasis in presentation was on “prezen-TATION”. MMh.
I definitely noticed that some words that are similar in German and English emphasize a different syllable (e.g. alter-NATIVE vs. al-TER-native).
My grandparents of course were Oma and Opa (but Opa was my paternal grandfather and Opa+first name was my maternal grandfather, for distinction ;)). I only had one Oma, my mom’s mom died before I was born.
Anne
For so many of these, it was “both”, or “multiple”. I wish I’d had the option to choose that, because it would have been true for pop/soda, sofa/couch, and several others. I’ve done the NY Times dialect quiz before, and I am (oddly) Philly- AND Midwest-dominant. It’s kind of hilarious. 🙂
Also? It’s pah-sta, like San says. Oh, and Gram and Grandpa (not Grampa), and Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop (although I don’t remember them). We had friends who said Meemaw, which is (I think?) a PA kind of thing. So interesting to consider all of these slight differences among us. And yet, we manage to communicate, just the same. 🙂
Joy
I grew up saying tennis shoes but now have converted to saying sneakers, which I prefer. I think of soda as the *right* term but use pop to fit in with local customs. Still firmly on team pawsta and puhkahn…give me another 15 years and the American/west coast-isms might be ironed out of my language. 😄
I grew up with Grandma/Grandpa (last name) but my kids have an Oma and Opa on one side because they are Dutch and that’s how you say it. I never knew anyone with a Grammy or Grampy until I moved to NS.
Is the term lipchap specifically Nova Scotian? I first heard it from a preschooler so assumed they were mixing up the brand name Chapstick but have since heard it used by others. Also, pronouncing decal as dekkle (I would say DEE-cal), and referring to a folder as a duo tang.
Language is so interesting!
Elisabeth
I never say lipchap. I usually say Chapstick or lib balm or Lypsyl. But never lipchap.
I say dekkle! I don’t think I’ve ever noticed you calling it DEE-cal!
Joy
Lypsyl is new to me, although I think I remember you saying it. It’s a brand name, I assume?
Another difference I thought of is Pro-duce vs Prah-duce. I say pro-duce but have heard Prah-duce a lot in NS. And Super Mary-o vs Mahrio. I say Mahrio. 😂 OK, I could go on all day. West coast to east coast means a lot of variety, I guess!
Elisabeth
It is a brand name but, like Kleenex, I use it interchangeably. This makes NO sense because I can’t remember the last time I bought Lypsyl-branded lip balm.
I say Mary-o! I say produce both ways.
There are a few words – can’t actually remember them now – that I realize I say differently since meeting you. I add a little twang that wasn’t there before because of how you say them. I’ll need to make a mental note to let you know the next time I think about it!