Quote: Are You A Canadian?

Since the subject of this morning’s article was my home and native land, I thought I’d post a quote on that theme. In How To Be A Canadian by Will and Ian Ferguson, the brothers suggest the ultimate test of a person’s status as a Canadian, as only a Canadian would be able to decipher this paragraph:

Last night, I cashed my pogey and went to buy a mickey of C.C. at the beer parlour, but my skidoo got stuck in the muskeg on my way back to the duplex. I was trying to deke out a deer, you see. Stupid chinook, melted everything. And then a Mountie snuck up behind me in a ghost car and gave me an impaired. I was sitting there dressed only in my Stanfields and a toque at the time. And the Mountie, he’s all chippy and everything.

Did you get all that?

Comments (12)

1
Anonymous's picture

Not a word but it was sure funny reading it.

Josh”…the word of God is not bound.”—2 Timothy 2:9

2
Anonymous's picture

Every word! Thanks for the chuckle.

3
Anonymous's picture

I think you have a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock.

4
Anonymous's picture

I just about fell of the chesterfield and I dropped my serviette while dabbing my eyes. I did however find a few loonies and a twoonie between the cushions. I think life would be so different if we didn’t turn the Arrow into scrap and PET didn’t introduce the Charter…sigh…we didn’t even really get Charlottetown right.

5
Anonymous's picture

Moved to Canada 10 weeks ago from Australia, you guys have some funny things to say eh?

6
Anonymous's picture

hello.i googled “chicken burgers toronto” while i was eating a chicken burger on a break and came across your site. started reading a bit, but now i gotta go back to doing what i do.

this doesn’t really have nothing to do with the article … thought i might just say hello and God bless.

later man.take care.

7
Anonymous's picture

certainly made me chuckle. :) good thing i’m canadian and can “get it”. :)

8
Anonymous's picture

I guess I don’t have the gift of interpretation!

9
Anonymous's picture

I AM Canadian! Understood every word. Read it to my sister and her husband; they had a good chuckle too!

10
Anonymous's picture

honestly, if I had seen this without the introduction and someone asked me what national slang it represented, I wouldn’t know if it was South African or from New Zealand. Oh wait, when I look at the last part about the Mountie I would realize it was Canadian. Never mind.

Maybe you’d all get a laugh out of an American’s best guess at some of these words? (this is without the help of google or wiki, just what first comes into my head—and I have visited England, South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand so I have had exposure to some of the quirks of the English speaking world)

1. pogey - paycheck?

2. mickey - is this derived from mickey finn (a knockout drug added to drinks? that would not make much sense though)? a pint? a bottle?

3. C.C.- a brand of beer?

4. beer parlour - a pub?

5. skidoo - no idea. a snowmobile? I can’t decide if this paragraph is that over the top that it would depict a Canadian going to the pub on a snowmobile or not.

6. muskeg - is this a layer of permafrost? I think I learned about that in school.

7. duplex - a row of houses with a shared wall?

8. deke - outrun? hunt?

9. chinook - a Chinese-Canadian?

10. Mountie - the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

11. ghost car - unmarked police vehicle?

12. an impaired - D.U.I, driving under the influence infraction?

13. Stanfields - long johns? boots?

14. a toque - a hat! of some kind…

15. chippy - either meaning “with a chip on his shoulder”, which would imply aggressiveness, or “chipper”.

Did I do OK? Maybe… 10 out of 15?

11
Anonymous's picture

Not bad Blake … . for basically guessing. I’m Canadian and understood it perfectly. Some is pretty straight forward. CC is not a type of beer … those I know who do drink would be scandalized that anyone would think that. A Chinook is neither a salmon or a Chinese Canadian.

12
Anonymous's picture

Wow. I am so glad I was born and raised in Northern California. I had to learn Spanish and some ebonics, which seem easier than Canadian. I thought you guys just said “eh” as much as we say “dude”. :-)