CANADIANISMS
2016
A "Canadianism" is a word used by Canadians for something that already exists throughout the English-speaking world… in other words, it’s a uniquely Canadian word for something.
At the point of this study, I had been living in Canada for 4 years and had noticed Canadians using terms that were different from the ones I would hear in typical North American media. Think “washroom” instead of "bathroom".
I was interested in exploring Canadian and American McGill students’ use of Canadianisms versus the American equivalents of these terms.
The 6 Canadianisms examined and their American equivalents were:
grade one vs first grade
eavestroughs vs gutters
bank machine vs ATM
bachelor apartment vs studio apartment
runners/running shoes vs sneakers/tennis shoes
washroom vs bathroom/restroom
And since these were McGill students, I was also interested in the effect the McGill experience had on their choice of words - were they using these words before or after they started living in Montréal?
Would Canadian students increase their use of American terms since coming to McGill in the presence of more international students?
Would Americans start using any Canadianisms since living in Canada?
This research aims to answer an even larger question:
Does our language change based on our location, even within a short period of time?