The Canadian "Eh?"

In her book, Canadian English: A Linguistic Reader, University of Toronto professor Elaine Gold writes extensively about the common Canadian discourse tag eh? This word can serve as a confirmation marker, much like the discourse tag right? The word eh may also be used to soften an imperative. It's possible this distinctive use of eh derives from, or at least has been influenced by, French-Canadian hein, which serves similar functions. This is part of a complete episode.