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Could be. I've never found a big difference between BC and, say, Ontario in terms of the Canadian balance between American and British influences.
Though one thing has always stood out: you guys seem to be the only place in Canada where you put West, East, etc. before the street name, not after. I associate this with the U.S.
Toronto: Queen St. West
Ottawa: Somerset St. East
Calgary: Chuckwagon Crescent Southwest
Montreal: Ste-Catherine St. West (Rue Ste-Catherine Ouest)
Vancouver: West Pender St.
But other than this little nitpick, back when I was an Ontario guy I always found that BC felt more like back home than the Prairies did. Not that there is anything wrong with the Prairies, it's just that when I got to BC (especially SW BC) the American-British juxtaposition became more obvious again. The Prairies were much more "new world" (esp. SK and AB) - somewhat similar to the American West in fact - and almost devoid of the old world trappings that My Canada was peppered with.
In BC all of that stuff kind of reappeared again.
There are a few differences, although of course not universal across either province. I have a friend who is born and bred Ontarian, born in the southern part. He says " Ruff " for " roof ".
As for streets, never really thought about it, but just a quick glance at Seattle, they, like Toronto, seem to do it 4th Avenue West as well. They also have streets the do it the other way, such as West Crocket Street.
So I'm not sure if it's that country specific, , Vancouver, Washington does it the same way Vancouver, BC does. Not sure who was first or if that way is American or not. My guess is was up to some clerk at city hall who had a preference for it being that way.
"Section 11.04.040 Street name prefixes.
A. All numbered streets will have a prefix as described in this section. Streets with non-numeric names may include a prefix consistent with this section."
Speaking of addresses, one thing I notice that we do and is put the suite number before the building number. Such as, 609-3344 W. 7th ave. Instead of what friends do in Ontario 3344 W. 7th ave Suite 609. I'm curious what the patterns are between us and the ROC.
As for the Prairies, well they did have a different migration history with a lot of Ukrainians etc, so besides the government structure and institutions, they would naturally have less " British and French " influence. ( except for St Boniface of course!! )
Perhaps, but my point is that you are more likely to hear Zee in Ontario than BC...maybe????
Heh heh. This American always says "zed" nowadays because in the past, too often the sound of the "zee" gets confused with "cee", especially when talking on the phone.
Heh heh. This American always says "zed" nowadays because in the past, too often the sound of the "zee" gets confused with "cee", especially when talking on the phone.
Since you live in the U.S., don't some of your fellow Americans get confused when you throw a "zed" at them? In my experience, a decent chunk of the population down there has absolutely no idea that there is a way other than "zee" of pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet.
Since you live in the U.S., don't some of your fellow Americans get confused when you throw a "zed" at them? In my experience, a decent chunk of the population down there has absolutely no idea that there is a way other than "zee" of pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet.
I would think they would. I'm familiar with "zed" as used in Britain/Canada etc., but I have never once heard an American call the last letter of the alphabet "zed."
On the phone or in other situations where confusion is likely, it's "zee as in zebra." Which is zee-bra and not zebb-ra.
I would think they would. I'm familiar with "zed" as used in Britain/Canada etc., but I have never once heard an American call the last letter of the alphabet "zed."
Yeah, but you're you!
I've dealt with lots of Americans who were totally clueless when I said "zed". (My postal code used to have a zed in it.) I generally make the switch to "zee" when dealing with U.S.-ians but sometimes I slip up and lots of the time people don't get what it means. Though it's true some do know and often say "uhhh... you mean zee by that, right?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
On the phone or in other situations where confusion is likely, it's "zee as in zebra." Which is zee-bra and not zebb-ra.
Is there somewhere in the Anglosphere where people pronounce it "zebb-ra"? If so, I was not aware of this.
In all my written exchanges in my lifetime, I've noticed that Canadians are the least likely of all Anglosphere nations to stick to their national spelling standard.
Americans basically all spell the American way.
Brits basically all spell the British way.
Aussies and Kiwis basically all spell their country's standard way (which tends to lean British).
But Canadians are really a hodge-podge. Relatively few Canadians spell the full British way, unless they're originally from the UK and emigrated to Canada.
But tons of Canadians spell predominantly the American way. Especially words like center, dialog, etc. And of course many drop the U in colour, etc.
And many Canadians write with a mix of British and American spellings that may or not be consistent with what is considered to be Canadian spelling.
Australia is not entirely consistent either. So not surprising that Canada is not, being closer to the US. Our standout inconsistency is that the major political party is the Labor Party but otherwise the u is generally used. I think when the Labor party was formed there was a push towards Americanised spelling, which later faded.
Australia is not entirely consistent either. So not surprising that Canada is not, being closer to the US. Our standout inconsistency is that the major political party is the Labor Party but otherwise the u is generally used. I think when the Labor party was formed there was a push towards Americanised spelling, which later faded.
I was told that it was to distinguish the party from organized labour (unions).
Since you live in the U.S., don't some of your fellow Americans get confused when you throw a "zed" at them? In my experience, a decent chunk of the population down there has absolutely no idea that there is a way other than "zee" of pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet.
Oh of course some of them do. Not everyone though. There are actually a lot of individuals with a familiarity of French or British English here in Boston (many folks in the academic circle here have traveled or even studied abroad in Great Britain for instance). I met one individual from Algeria who thought the whole "zed" thing was originally from French, which kind of explains why the British adopted it. Still, if someone is just outright confused, then I might repeat myself using "zee" but then again as I stressed in my last post, it might have to be repeated more than once in order to distinguish it from a "cee".
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