7 Words That I Will Never Be Able To Pronounce The 'Canadian' Way For As Long As I Live
Ga-rage? Nuh-uh, it's grahdge.
I was born and raised in Birmingham, England, which means that when I moved to Canada I started encountering a ton of Canadian words that just didn't sound right the way other people said them.
I've adapted a lot of my speech — pants for trousers, soccer for football — but there are a few words with a "Canadian" pronunciation that I just can't seem to wrap my head around.
If I haven't started pronouncing them like the rest of the country now, I don't think I ever will!
Garage
The word graaahge almost sounds more English than gah-ridge, which is the way I say it, but it has confounded plenty of Canadians plenty of times. How did you manage to turn this into a one-syllable word?!
Compost
This one's a common one. Whereas I take my food scraps to the com-post (pronounced like the "post" in "preposterous"), my fiancée takes hers to the com-post (like Canada Post).
It's because as someone who grew up in England, I'm used to the short O — think of words like "hot" and "sob "— whereas a lot of Canadians use a long O — like in "show" or "tow."
If you've ever wondered why actors in Sex Education pronounce "condom" the way they do, that's why!
H
This one really bugs people. If I ever find myself listing through the alphabet or spelling a word, I pronounce the letter h like haitch, instead of aitch. You can't convince me that I'm wrong, though. It's the letter h! When you pronounce it, the word should start with a haitch!
Herbs
Speaking of haitches, why on earth do people in Canada and America feel the need to cut the h off of herbs to turn it into erbs? If you're going to spell it like that, you have to pronounce the h. I don't make the rules!
Toque
OK, I'll admit that I'm probably wrong on this one, but I just can't understand how this is toque, as in two with a k on the end. I know that I'm pronouncing this wrong (like "toke") but it's just one bad habit I can't shake!
Toronto
If the word has two ts in it, it should be pronounced with two ts, right? Not according to anyone I've met in Toronto, who insist on saying "Trawna" or "Churonno." Honestly, I like the sound of Trawna, but there's something about it that my English accent just can't grab. To-ront-oh it.
Oregano
Another erb-based pronunciation? It's true. I've confused my fair share of grocery store clerks by asking about o-re-gah-no instead of o-reg-ano, but I'm okay with that. It's the fanciest way of saying the name, which my head seems to think means it's the best!
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