A Typology of Canadianisms

Overall Reception & Scope

• Many commenters find the dictionary delightful, deep, and fun to browse; several plan to go through it with family.
• Some are confused by the “typology” title, noting the real star is the dictionary itself; others appreciate the clear 6-type classification but question what analytical insight the categories add.

Regional Variation & Missing Terms

• Strong theme: Canada’s English is highly regional; commenters note huge differences between Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, BC, and the North.
• Several complain the corpus skews central/eastern and underrepresents the West, Atlantic Canada, and especially Newfoundland and Francophone prairie history.
• Many point out missing or underexplained items: “transport” (semi-truck), “dart” (cigarette), bunnyhug (hoodie), “converter” (remote), “ginch/gitch/gotch”, “barmp” (car horn), “heatbag”, “bunk” (bad), “rip” (joyride), “brown toast”, “wet coast”.

Notable Canadianisms & Regional Meanings

• Alcohol: detailed debates on “two-four”, “two-six/twixer/twenty-sixer”, “mickey”, “Texas mickey”; clear east–west differences.
• “Pencil crayons” vs US “colored pencils”; multiple attempts to rationalize the Canadian term via material composition.
• “Washroom” vs bathroom/restroom/toilet triggers a long euphemism thread, including historical meanings of “toilet”.
• “Brown bread” means molasses-sweet steamed bread (especially Atlantic/NE US) for some; for others (esp. ON/West) it simply means whole-wheat.
• “All dressed”: pizza vs chips, closely tied to Quebec French; spread to parts of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Orleans analogues.
• Other highlighted terms: “soaker/booter” (wet boot), “chirp” (tease vs bullying, sports-specific nuance), “keener” (enthusiast/try-hard), “off-sale”, “renoviction”, “parkade”, “gong show”, “kerfuffle”.

French & Indigenous Influences

• Discussion of Quebec French terms diverging from France (e.g., “melon d’eau”, déjeuner/dîner/souper) and OQLF coinages (courriel, pourriel, divulgâcher, naviguer).
• Quebec English calques like “pass the vacuum”, “close the light”, and “open the road”.
• Chinook Jargon entries (e.g., “skookum”, “saltchuck”) are welcomed, seen as distinctively West Coast.
• One long comment traces “Canadian” back to Indigenous roots and French usage, touching on “province” vs “state” and the Montreal Canadiens’ name.

Pronunciation & Identity Markers

• Proposed “Canadian detectors”: washroom, “hydro” for electricity, “grade one” vs “first grade”, pronunciation of “resources”, “sorry”, “project”, “garage”, “asphalt”, “pasta”, and the letter “zed”.
• Some insist “went to hospital” is a Britishism rarely heard in Canada; others mostly hear “to emerg(e)”.

Cultural Observations & Cross-Border Confusion

• Canadians living in the US recount misunderstandings over terms like “hydro”, “keener”, “pop”, serviette, and casual beer at work lunches.
• Several note that context usually rescues comprehension even when words differ, though people sometimes confidently mis-infer meanings for years.

Methodology, Representation, and Politics

• A few see the classification and evidence as rigorous but incomplete; others call aspects of the regional analysis (e.g., on “all dressed”) “rubbish research.”
• Threads drift into Quebec language policy, systemic racism, Western alienation, and erased Francophone history in the Prairies, illustrating how vocabulary quickly connects to identity and power.