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...
A caller from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, says that cops in Canada will often say to contact them on their shoe phones. The shoe phone comes from Maxwell Smart, the hapless hero of the 1960s sitcom Get Smart, who kept a phone on the sole of his shoe...
SUV stroller n.— «Regardless of the venue, if you’ve walked around Ottawa on a Saturday, you’ve likely crossed paths with a Bugaboo, Baby Jogger or other model of what some people call “SUV strollers.” These sidewalk behemoths have caused a growing...
green hornet n.— «Like more than two dozen others crammed into the courtroom in a City of Ottawa building on Centrepointe that spring morning, Mr. Howard had come to fight a parking ticket. Every Wednesday, the court convenes to hear protests of...
