Moran Abroad

After eight months as a British girl in Canada, I’m still learning new Canadianisms every day.

• A fringe is called bangs, which I find strange to say because it’s a plural
• Baked beans are not for breakfast, and they’re not for putting on a baked (jacket) potato. I think they’re for putting next to mashed potato
• Bathroom doors, more often than not, have gaps between the door and the cubicle down either side. I do not remember this ever happening in England
• Canadians say “thank you so much”, my favourite reply is “you’re welcome so much”
• Car dealership, not showroom, gas not fuel, gas not accelerator, trunk not boot
• Full stops are called periods
• Grey, three-walled office cubicles as seen in the movies are a common feature of workplaces
• Painkillers of choice are Advil or Tylenol not Nurofen and Anadin, Lemsip is called something completely different, but I can’t remember what it is
• Paper isn’t described as A4 or A3 unless you’re really into paper. A3 is a 11 x 17
• Someone said I had “good teeth for a British person” and inquired about blood pudding, so some old British stereotypes are still knocking about
• Spring onions are called scallions
• The useless, annoying office jargon seems to be the same here in the most part. Touch base, low-hanging fruit, whizz that email across
• The word fanny isn’t funny
• There are places called Moose Factory and Yellow Knife
• Ulcers are called cankers (incidentally, cankers always makes me think of cankles)