Canadianisms, Part the Fifth

On my recent voyage to Canadia, a few more Canadianisms occurred to me.

1. Shortening of "afternoon" to "aft," as in, "There's supposed to be a snowstorm this aft." I even heard a radio dude do it!

2. Getting in "heck" as the equivalent of getting in "trouble": "If I don't get the car home before the snowstorm this aft, I'm going go to get in heck." It's very wholesome, which makes me wonder if it might also be a Midwestern US expression. Anyone?

3. The Ceasar, a cocktail similar to a Bloody Mary but made with Clamato which is popular in Canada - in fact, according to Wikipedia, it's "popularly known as the 'official cocktail' of Canada." It's also quite delicious, and I highly recommend that my American readers mix one up. Usage: "If that kid doesn't get the car home before the snowstorm this aft, he is going to be in a lot of heck. Will you mix me a Ceasar?"

I'm back in the US of A, celebrating my final day of unemployment with a hangover. I bid farewell to HBJ with a few (OK, 4) glasses of red wine and I'm now welcoming HBF and, inspired by Deniser, I'm making 2008 the Year of the 140s. I haven't seen the 140s probably since high school, so it's going to be some good times.

The Timbits Post

Full disclosure: I have PMS and I was in a suck mood when I wrote that last post, but I thought you, my loyal reader(s), deserved a little somethin'. You know what they say, suck-mood Gillian is better than no Gillian at all!

Anyway, I went for a (sucky) run and followed it up with a nice phone call and a delicious cheddar & avocado sandwich (even though there are about 8 servings of veggie moussaka in the fridge - sometimes a girl needs cheese). I'm now self-medicating with Nutella and the internets.

The Other Gillian's comment on my last post and my gluttonous enjoyment of Timbits last weekend have inspired me to write tonight's post.

I'm not kidding when I say that I ate a lot of Timbits last weekend. In a 3 1/2 hour drive, two of us consumed almost an entire box of 40 Timbits. When we were down to about a dozen, we started a Timbit "drinking" game, wherein we would only eat a Timbit when we passed a Tim Horton's (which, at least in Ontario, is about as frequent as you pass a Starbucks in New York City, that is to say, A LOT).

I am happy, then, to present:

The Official Ultra Fine Flair Guide to Timbits

1. This dude used to be the Timbits, uh, dude. I don't know what happened to him (and I'd forgotten he even existed until I started googling images of Timbits). I'd forgotten about him, actually, but I used to have a stuffed one. I know. Weird.

2. The best Timbit variety: Chocolate. That's one there on the right, behind those two honey dip Timbits. Chocolate Timbits are perfectly chocolatey and cakey, but not too sweet. When I open a restaurant, chocolate Timbits are going to be on the dessert menu. I'll serve up maybe 3, in a little box that looks like a full-sized Timbits box. It'll be awesome. So will the profit margin.

3. Speaking of honey dip - they used to be my second favourite, until I discovered the French Cruller. It has just the right ratio of icing-y outside to creamy, puffy inside, and I'm kind of amazed that Tim Horton's gets the texture exactly right.

4. After chocolate, French Cruller and honey dip, my next favourites are: Sour cream glazed, apple fritter, old-fashioned sugared and old-fashioned plain. I'm kind of medium on the jelly-filled varieties, although I like them better than filled doughnuts (again with the better ratio, kind of like Hallowe'en-size chocolate bars - yum).

5. Down with Dutchies. Raisins don't belong in stuffing, and they certainly don't belong in doughnuts. Nature's candy, my ass.

6. If you want to smugg^H^H^H^H^Hbring Timbits across the border, stop at a Tim Horton's BEFORE you enter Terminal 3 at Pearson International, or you will be very, very sad. There is a Tim's on the Canadian side, which you can see through the glass once you're at your gate. It's heartbreaking.

Humid

I think this means it's going to be humid:



(84.2°F) And, I [heart] Google.

Canadianisms Part 4: The Drinking Game

Two-four: A case (24 bottles) of beer. "Do you guys need us to bring anything to the party tonight?" "Nope - we picked up a few two-fours this afternoon, so I think we're set!"

Rye: Rye whiskey. Bourbon is a good substitute in the U.S. I found this one out in a bar in San Jose, when I ordered a "rye and Coke" and received a blank stare.

Mickey: A 13-oz. bottle of alcohol (in the U.S., known as a fifth). In researching this particular Canadianism I found An American's Guide to Canada which basically renders the Canadianisms series on UFF obsolete, but, whatever. I know you'll be back, even if I am just rewriting content that exists elsewhere on the interwebs.

Pissed: Drunk. "They showed up with a two-four, but I was already pissed after drinking that mickey of rye." (Thanks to MFD for telling me about this one - it's a recent discovery.)

Give 'er: I would have defined this as "Step on it!" but a Google of the phrase gives me this rather crude definition:

To party as hard as possible and let nothing get in your way. Comes straight from Canada and indirectly Fubar [the movie, which is also Canadian, and about which I also learned tonight!].

Canadian #1: "Theres a party at Johnny's tonite..."
Canadian #2: Well, we best fuckin' give'er, eh"
Canadian #1: "Fo' shizzle, lets get some beer"

(Please note that thanks to K-Dog I LOVE the expression "fo' shizzle," even though it totally isn't Canadian.)

Canadianisms Part 3

Icing vs. Frosting: As Little Lisa pointed out in her comment on yesterday's entry, in Canada it's called "icing." In the US of A, it's more commonly referred to as "frosting." These are pretty interchangeable and nothing really gets lost in translation - until, of course, you're trying to *make* frosting/icing, in which case you need something called "powdered sugar" aka "confectioner's sugar" aka, in Canada (and apparently the rest of the Commonwealth) "icing sugar." It's our turn to be literal on this one.

Also, while looking for a colouring implement to make my bunny cake's sweet pink ears, I found a pack of Laurentien pencil crayons (from Canada), and was surprised to see the package labeled "colored pencils." Interestingly, they refer to "pencil crayons" on the main page of the site, and have a whole explanation of "The Making of a Pencil Crayon". Why the discrepancy? Also of interest, according to the history on the company's Web site, Laurentien spelled "colored" on the package without a "u" until the latest redesign in 2003.

Not Just π Day

Apparently it's also National Potato Chip Day, and to celebrate I present yet another Canadianism: Ketchup Chips! We also have Dill Pickle Chips and Sour Cream and Bacon Chips (but saying "Crème sure et bacon croustilles" makes them sound a lot fancier).

Apparently it's also Steak and BJ Day. Who knew?

Not Really About My Lunch

Bringing lunch to work update: I'm 2 for 2. Today I had help from Bob, who in addition to being an excellent musician (I saw his band P.G. Six play Tonic on Sunday night and they were great!) can also cook, and brought extras of his delicious Shepherd's Pie to work today. As an added bonus, that means I can have my PB&J (on delicious no-knead bread, of course) for lunch tomorrow!

New Canadianism: Keener. Using intarweb 2.0, and specifically LinkedIn, I recently got in touch with my first-ever QA boss. (LinkedIn has a professional focus, but I've only really used it socially, kind of like my day job. Just kidding! Hi co-workers!) Anyway. We emailed back and forth a bit, and she said she thought I'd always been a keener. I said the word out loud a few times at work this afternoon, and garnered the same response as when I use the term "point form": blank stares. Again using the power of the internet, I learned that it is indeed a phrase of British origin:

• A competitive personality, especially with regards to academics and athletics.
• A first-year undergraduate who takes meticulous notes, often at the expense of understanding course material as it is presented
• A Bristolian saying for someone who works hard.

I also learned that Catherine Keener is 47 - man, she looks great!

Expats

"Hey G, thanks for the Smarties. Did you get them in Canada?"

"Yeah. You know they have Smarties here, but they're really--"

"Rockets! I know! So weird."

"Hey, you know they don't have point form."

"What? What do they call it?"

"Bulleted points? Or bulleted list, I think. And also... What do you call the thing you colour with when you're too old for crayons?"

"Pencil crayons?"

"Right, but here they're coloured pencils."

"Huh, and a toque is a knitted cap. It's all very literal."