From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...: Canadian English Dictionaries Are Vestigial

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Canadian English Dictionaries Are Vestigial

April 13, 2005

Canadian English dictionaries? I saw some on display in a Vancouver bookstore the other day and just about burst into laughter. Sure, I'm a swaggering American cultural imperialist, and all that, but really.

Yes, Yes. There are certainly a few distinct terms and abbreviations in Canadian English versus American or British English. But Balkanization of the English language is to be eschewed. If Canadians are really so clueless, there are always online guides to Canadian English, such as this. Now you too can bum some stubbies and hork on cars.

This explanation of Why Canadian Dictionaries, After All.....is so unconvincing.

Canadians need a dictionary that defines the words used by Canadians and also records how Canadians (not the Americans or the British) pronounce and spell words.

Eh what? Canadians want to sound Canadian? I'd advise against that. Yet, Oxford University Press believes Canadian dictionaries are necessary so that Canadians will be able to understand certain phrases their fellow countrymen use, such as:

...Caesar to mean a cocktail (or) book off work....

And excuse me for horking this one back at 'em. In their grand Canadian dictionary:

...the definition for the word scraper....mentions that scrapers are used for removing ice as well as paint or mud!

Slay me. Mysteries of the universe revealed, eh?

What we have here, once again, is an appeal to misplaced Canadian pride, a pride that may be more evident on the part of marketers and the media than actual Canadians. In the same bookstore as the Canadian Dictionary display was a wall featuring a boastful references to all the luminaries Canada has given to the world in arts and letters. You know the drill: Neil Young, Anne Murray, The Cowboy Junkies, Mike Meyers, John Candy (wow, scraping the bottom of the barrel pretty quick there....eh?)

Look. Canada has plenty to be proud about. But face it; a country that celebrates the sport of curling is never going to be known as a cultural Goliath. The best of Canada includes both coasts, Vancouver, Montreal, maybe Toronto, plus the Rocky Mountains, the islands, the wildlife....and all the Canadians who don't hate the U.S. and aren't busy worrying about whether their country...or phraseologies measure up to those of the Yanks.