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Summary

Shawn Mendes Teaches Us Canadian Slang & Proves He Really Is The 'Pickering Gawd'

Turns out all we've ever wanted was Shawn to explain "Whose Mans" to us.
Staff Writer

If you've ever wanted Shawn Mendes to patiently explain what a two-six is, your prayers have just been answered.

The Pickering-born pop superstar was invited onto Vanity Fair's Slang School to explain some of Canada and Toronto's oddest slang.

And he instructed the world on some of the basic bits of Canadian slang — like Timmies, toque, and washroom — while also dipping into some great region-specific terms, like "Scarberia" and "Whose Mans." 

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"I love being Canadian," Mendes says in the interview. "I love these words that we use."

If you're wondering about Mendes's cred, don't worry — he tells Vanity Fair that Drake dubbed him "Pickering Gawd" when he was only 17.

So if there's anyone suited to explaining our slang to the rest of the world, it's Shawn.

He breaks down "beauty" — "if you do anything that is good for your boys, they'll call you a beauty," he says — and "loafter," calling out his friend Brian in the process.

Sorry, Brian.

It shouldn't be so exciting to hear Mendes tell the world about Durham Regional Transit and the GO train, but you'll excuse us if we spend the next few hours putting this on repeat and saying "that's jokes" over and over again.

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    • Cormac O'Brien was an Associate Editor at Narcity Canada, covering all things exciting and trending about Canada. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Journalism from the University of Victoria, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the campus newspaper and was awarded the BCYNA Community News Scholarship for his writing. He was also the producer and co-host of Now On Narcity, Narcity's flagship podcast.

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