English to Canadian translations

Kate's thoughts on language & living in the UK!

Never did I expect that marrying an Englishman would bring with it a language barrier! I mean, we both speak English, or do we?

English English & Canadian English are similar, but have many differences! I find this out daily as I find myself asking Dave, yet again, "I'm sorry, what does that mean?".

To give you a flavour of this, we, in Canadian English, have a few words for getting "drunk". In England, they have an entire page of different words that mean drunk - here is but a sample:

drunk, plastered, smashed, slaughtered, arse-holed, sozzled, pissed, pissed as a fart, pissed as a newt, pissed up, battered, bevvied, shit-faced, bevvied up, caned, bladdered, blitzed, blootered, blotto, cabbaged, drunk as a skunk, gatted, lagered (up), lashed up, leathered, legless, ripped, mortalled, off one's chump, off one's face, off one's tits, out of it, paralytic, pickled, pie-eyed, rat-arsed, ratted, steaming, stewed, three sheets to the wind, trashed, trolleyed, trousered, twatfaced, twatted, sloshed, wankered, wasted, well gone, tanked up

I've therefore pulled together a collection of English English - Canadian-English translations that come up often for me - they may help or entertain, either way, enjoy! If you know of more, please send them along!

Category

English

Canadian

Clothing

winter hat

toque (tuque)

fancy dress

costume

knickers, pants

underwear

trousers

pants

jumper

sweater

nappy

diaper

trainers

running shoes

Sayings

jaded

cynical

tired

jaded

live “in” a road

live “on” a road

cheers

thank you

Bloody Hell!

Oh my god!

Bollocks!

Bullshit!

spend a penny

go to the toilet/go pee

Food

sweets

candies

pudding

desert

aubergine

eggplant

swede

rutabaga

bap

roll/bun

ale, bitter, lager

beer

butty

sandwich

chickory

endive

chips

French fries

crisps

potato chips

coriander

cilantro

prawn

shrimp

Shandy

beer with lemonade

lemonade

7up, sprite

tea

dinner OR tea

twenty four bottles/cans

two-four

Transport

pavement

sidewalk

car boot

car trunk

amber light

yellow light

estate car

station wagon

junction

exit

motorway

highway

lorry

truck

bike

motorbike

zebra crossing

cross walk

people carrier

minivan

petrol (station)

gas (station)

tarmac

asphalt

Other

hockey

field hockey

ice hockey

hockey

football

soccer

american football

football

loo

toilet

Alsatian

German shepherd

arse

ass

biro

pen

sello tape

scotch tape

hoover

vacuum

bloke

guy

brolly

umbrella

doctor’s surgery

doctor’s office

chemist

pharmacy

durex, french letter, johnny

condom

creche

day care

dummy

pacifier (baby)

dustbin

garbage pail

rubbish

garbage

fag

cigarette

fanny

vagina

flat

apartment

snog

kiss/make out

garden

backyard

to hire

to rent

lad, geezer

guy

lie in

sleep in

maths

math

mobile phone

cell phone

OAP (old age pensioner)

senior citizen

off –license

corner store, depanneur (dep)

poorly

sick

queue

line-up

roundabout

traffic circle

fortnight

two weeks

torch

flashlight