I often get made fun of by Americans down here in Kentucky because I am Canadian and thus speak various Canadian slangs and idioms without knowing it.  Them Americans can be quite uninformed about us Canucks who just live north of the border!

Anyways, here’s some help in learning to speak Canadian, for those ignorant Americans (and closet Canadians) among us!

Terms and Phrases

• Eh - “Eh?” is a word you add to the end of a sentence, to ask for a response of agreement or disagreement, similar in meaning to “don’t you think?” ex. “Looks like a storm comin’ in, eh?” It is also sometimes used with “I know”, and in that case it doesn’t really mean anything. -”Wow, the Oilers really kicked butt tonight!” -”I know, eh?” Basically ‘do you not think so too?’
• Bathroom - Bathroom and washroom are used interchangeably in Canada to refer to a place where you would find toilets. Say “Bathroom” in some parts of the US, and you’ll get a place with a bathtub in it. Biffy can also be used.
• Deadly - A reaction to something done “over the top”; overdone; excessive. Can also be used as a response to something done very well. Circa 1974ish.
• Touque - A knit cap. Usually worn in winter.
• Hoser- calling someone is a “hoser” is really just calling them a loser. In the old days, the team that lost the hockey game would have to hose down the rink, and hence the reference “hoser”.
• Loonie - the Canadian one-dollar coin.
• Toonie - the Canadian two-dollar coin.
• Brown Bread - Whole wheat bread.
• Homo Milk - Whole Milk
• Dooryard- The front garden.
• Wicked - Something or someone amazing. i.e. “Cheryl is wicked at her job”
• How’s She Bootin’er? - It’s the equivalent of “How’s it going?”
• Beauty - A reaction to something done extremely well.
• Double-Double - Said when ordering a coffee; indicating two creams and two sugars.
• Growl - to yell.
• Brutal- to be very bad at something.
• Chesterfield - A couch.
• Chinook - From the aboriginal word for the language of trade used by First Nations people. Refers to a warm westerly “trade” wind that blows east from British Columbia over the Rocky Mountains and blankets the Alberta foothills with out-of-season warmth, changing the temperature rapidly.
• Gorby- what some Canadians call a “tourist” (considered derogatory)
• Gawn- To showoff, or to force.
• Newfie - a derogatory term used in Canada for a person from Newfoundland and Labrador. The term is primarily used in “Newfie jokes,” the typical Canadian ethnic joke (akin to Polish jokes in the U.S. or Belgian jokes in France). While the term may be commonly used in a derogatory sense by those not from Newfoundland, many Newfoundlanders use the term with pride amongst themselves, not taking offense to it when used without intention to insult.
• Two-Four - Pronounced ‘Two-Fer’. The Canuck way to buy beer, generally a 24-pack. For example, “I’ll take a couple two-fours”.
• Whadda’yat? - How are you doing? A Newfoundland term.
• Click - this means a kilometre.
• Bunnyhug - Saskatchewanian term for Hoodie.
• Poutine - Gravy poured over cheese curds and French fries. Found mostly in Quebec.
• Caisse populaire - A kind of co-op bank, found mostly in Quebec. Popularly known as a caisse pop.
• Canadian bacon - back bacon cured in Maple Syrup. Not the ham that you find Amereicans calling Canadian bacon.
• Francophone - Someone who speaks French as a first language, as opposed to an Anglophone, who speaks English as a first language.
• Housecoat - A housecoat is the kind of bathrobe you can wear to get the morning paper, and not worry about being seen by the neighbours.
• Kerfuffle - This Scottish word refers to a flurry of agitation, as in, “There was quite a kerfuffle after Mike asked for the project three days early.”
• States - The US of A is almost always referred to as the States, except in writing, when it becomes the US.
• Frog - Pejorative way of saying French Canadians.
• Square head - Pejorative way to call Anglophone Canadians. Principally used in Quebec.
• Quebecois - Official term. People that are living in Quebec. Principally use for the Francophones. “Quebeckers” is often used by Angolophones.
• Soda vs Pop - Canadians drink pop. Ask for a soda and you’ll get soda water.

Tips

• Generally, Canadian pronunciation is almost identical to American pronunciation in northern states, especially in Ontario.
• In Quebec, the accent is an interesting combination of Jewish and French influences. Quebec Anglophones have freely adopted French words, such as autoroute for highway and dépanneur for corner store, as well as French constructions, such as take a decision and shut a light. In Quebec, people take the Metro instead of the subway, belong to syndicates instead of unions and attend reunions instead of meetings. Many Anglophones in Quebec are bilinguals and so are a lot of Francophones in Montreal.
• In Atlantic Canada, accents are more influenced by Scottish and Irish sounds, especially in Cape Breton and in Newfoundland. Newfoundland has hundreds of distinctive words, many of them derived from its fishing industry. One common Newfoundlandism is outport, meaning a small coastal community, which brings us to the endless rivalry between townies (people from St. John’s) and baymen (people from outports and, to their great consternation, inland communities such as Gander and Corner Brook).
• In the Ottawa Valley, the accent is heavily influenced by the Irish who settled the area. The accent here is even more close-mouthed than it is elsewhere in Canada.

Warnings

• Never call a Quebecois a frog. Quebecois are very proud of their identities and this term will be received as an insult. Use at your own risk.

Source: WikiHow