Dictionary of Canadianisms: How to Speak Canadian, Eh

More than one long joke about "Oot and aboot," this book details how those in Canada speak more than just English or French. We have a vocabulary--and a number of dialects--all our own. So, sit on the chesterfield with a box of timbits and read this tongue-in-cheek take on Canada's unofficial language:

airsome: Cold, fresh or bracing weather, especially in Newfoundland. Tis an airsome day this mornin'.

any-sex season: This rarely heard hunting term refers to an open season when it is legal to shoot either male or female moose or deer. However, for thousands of Canadian university students it could just as easily refer to reading week.

back forty: Literally, the forty acres of a large farm or ranch farthest away from farm house and barn. Figuratively, a remote area devoid of regular human inhabitants, and, as such, possibly preferred for camping.

What you doin' for May two-four?

Packin' up our tent and hittin' the back forty.

Baise-moué l'ail (Kiss my garlic): A French Canadian insult along the lines of Kiss my ass, but for some obscure reason, substituting garlic for buttocks. An exchange between two Anglos practicing insults for their trip to Quebec might go:

Ferme ton gorlot!

Oh yeah? Well, Baise-moué l'ail!

barley beverage: Beer. Would you like a barley beverage?

barley sandwich: Beer. As the previous entry suggests, all you have to do is take the word barley and shove it before an otherwise innocent noun such as beverage, sandwich or pop (not soda) and you have a phrase that any Canadian who isn't a pump sucker will happily identify as one that promises beer.

brain bucket: In hockey parlance, a helmet worn during play to protect the cranium.

Did he just score on his own net?

Yup. He really should have started wearing the old brain bucket earlier in his career.

And so much more…