Montreal English

Hey everyone, I am in my hometown of Montreal and so I decided to write a bit of a short post about Montreal English. Here most people speak French fluently, so the French language has a big influence on how people speak English. I am going to talk about some of those differences ^_^

First off, when talking about apartments we use a 1 1/2 system. A 1 1/2 (one and a half) is a one room studio apartment with a bathroom(which is the half 1/2). So a 3 1/2 (three and a half) is a one bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom apartment. Interesting no?

When talking about what language some speaks, especially their mother tongue(first language spoken) we use anglophone for an English speaker, francophone for a French speaker and an allophone for someone who has a mother tongue other than English or French.

In Montreal, I think most people say breakfast, lunch and supper... Because dinner is too similar to diner which is French for lunch. While supper is the same as the French souper. So to avoid people getting mixed up when making plans to meet for a meal we use the words that are least likely to cause people to get confused¬!

Here are 5 words that are common in Montreal English:

5 - autoroute, this is French for highway but is commonly used by English speakers

4 - guichet, this means ATM and is short for guichet automatique

3 - stage, which is French for apprenticeship or internship

2 - all dressed, which is used for hot dogs, hamburgers and other foods with all the toppings, lettuce, onions, relish, mustard... but strangely all dressed does not include ketchup!!!

1 - depanneur or DEP, this is my FAVORITE Montreal English word! It means convenience store and is from French. I really love this word it is the shortest word for convenience store, konbini, corner store, 7/11... that I have heard in any language!

Ok everyone, I gotta go to the dep see you later!

Phil

'kay ma'am

Do you understand the above sentence? Today we will talk about words with dropped sounds in casual English. Some words have had their sound dropped for so long we now spell them with the dropped sound and few people remember the original word~!

For example, people often say:

"Will that be cash or charge ma'am?"

So the store clerk is asking if a woman wants to pay by cash or credit card, and adds ma'am to be polite. Originally, ma'am was pronounced madam from French but over time in English it was shortened to ma'am. The d was dropped...

There are many other words with dropped sounds so here is a short list of examples:

another -------> 'nother

okay ----------> 'kay

because -------> 'cause ----more casual----> 'cuz

What's up? ----> Wassup? ---more casual---> 'sup?

As you can see in casual English we often drop the sounds at the begining of words or sentences to make them shorter. We also drop sounds at the end of words:

thinking ---------> thinkin'

What are you doing? -------> What are ya doin'? ---more casual---> Whatcha doin'?

Probably the most commonly dropped sound at the end of words is the final "g" in "ing". So it becomes in'.

Ok that's it for now, have a nice week~!

Phil

Do you know...?

Hi everyone, today we are going to look at how to ask a stranger for information or help in a polite way. Now in a direct sentence you might ask:

What time is it?

But this sentence is too direct to ask a stranger passing by on the street, so you might make it a bit more polite:

Excuse me, what time is it?

And this is perfectly fine but to sound a bit nicer you can try:

Do you know what time it is?

That sentence is quite indirect and so more polite, if you want to be even more polite you can say:

Excuse me, do you know what time it is?

So you can see that we you "Do you know...?" to ask polite questions when asking for information.

"Do you know where the post office is?"

"Do you know when the next train is?"

"Do you know how to get to Kiyamachi street?"

Another way of asking for information OR help is by using "Do you have...?" This is most often used in these kinds of sentences:

"Do you have the time?"

"Do you have a pen?" (can I borrow a pen)

"Do you have a light?" (fire to light a cigarette)

These are standard questions where we use "Do you have...?" but most of the time when we want information we use "Do you know...?" because it's much easier~!

Have a great weekend,

Phil

It's an acquired taste...

Hi everyone, over the weekend I found myself often saying:

"It's an acquired taste"

Do you know what this means? If not, don't worry I will teach you the meaning today~!

According to thefreedictionary.com to acquire means:

ac·quire
tr.v. ac·quired, ac·quir·ing, ac·quires

1. To gain possession of: acquire 100 shares of stock.

ex: Fiat recently acquired Chrysler.

So you buy or are given something and it now belongs to you.

2. To get by one's own efforts: acquire proficiency in math

ex: By practice yoga everyday he has acquired great flexibility.

So you work hard to get something.

3. To gain through experience; come by: acquired a growing dislike of television sitcoms.

ex: I acquired a love of music as a child.

Because of your experiences and having many chances to try something, you start to like or dislike something.

4. To locate (a moving object) with a tracking system, such as radar.

ex: Target acquired, launch missiles. Target destroyed.

This is often used in war movies, you have a lock on a target.

So an acquired taste is based on meaning 3 of the verb acquire. It means that you have to LEARN to like something.

For example, most people try chocolate and love the taste immediately but when they first try coffee, cigarettes (tobacco), wine, beer, etc. they DON'T like it right away. So for these things we call them acquired tastes~!

When I was young, I didn't like beer but my friends all drank beer. Then I went to the U.S. where the beer is much weaker and I started to drink beer. When I got back to Canada I could drink our stronger beer. I got used to the taste of beer and eventually started to like it. So when I meet someone who says they don't like beer, I say:

"Yeah, it's an acquired taste."

You can also say the say about people! Some people, the first time you meet them you don't really like them or you think they are strange. But as you get to know them you start to like them, so you can say:

"He's an acquired taste."

or

"He grows on you."

This is often used by women to explain why they are dating a guy who their friends don't like~! hahaha

Have a nice week,

Phil

Horrible? Horrifying?

Hi everyone, today one of my students said something which I thought was interesting:

"It was horrible."

She was talking about the movie Angels & Demons and meant to say:

"It was horrifying."

So we will quickly look at the difference between these two sentences.

If you say terrible or horrible you are saying something is really really bad in a polite or formal way. If you want to say something is really really bad in a casual way you can say:

"It sucked~!" or

"It was garbage."

"It was crap." (crap means うんこ)

On the other hand, if you want to say something is really really scary, you can say:

"It was horrifying."
meaning scary and disturbing(makes you feel uncomfortable)

"It was terrifying."
meaning really scary

To sound more casual, you can say:

"It was really scary."

"It scared me out of my mind."

Well guys, I hope that helped and that now you can describe horror movies a bit better~!

Phil

Excuse me, where's the washroom?

Hey everyone, today I am gonna talk about many of the different ways to ask for the washroom. The most widely used word worldwide is toilet, this is really useful in Asia, Africa and South America but in English speaking western countries toilet is TOO direct. It sounds very rude to English speaking ears.

In North America, we usually use washroom or bathroom. I usually use bathroom, because in Canada and the US the toilet is usually in the same room as the bath tub. You might also hear the word restroom. This is not used so often in spoken English but is very common in written English, especially on maps and next to highways.

In the UK, you might hear the word WC. This stands for Water Closet and is from old English. It is common on signs in Europe and in former British Colonies, it is pronounced WC = double U C.

In restaurants, people usually say:

Excuse me, I have to go to the Men's room.

or

Excuse me, I have to go to the Ladies room.

Some women to sound cute will say:

Excuse me, I have to go to the little girl's room.

But that is a bit weird if you are over 25 years old I think~!

In REALLY casual English, usually spoken among men you might hear:

I gotta go to the can.

Where's the john?

There are many other words for toilet but I think these are the most common. I hope you enjoyed today's lesson!

Phil

Stop being such a poor sport~!

Hey guys, today I am gonna talk a bit more about being a sore loser and give you some other useful idioms and expressions. A more polite way of saying someone is a sore loser is by calling them a poor sport. It is kind of old fashioned but that is why it is polite. ^_- I hope you remember the opposite is a good sport. These are noun phrases so don't forget to add A~!

Negishi is such a sore loser!

Did you see him scream after he lost the game? What a poor sport...

Bob is a good sport he always acts graciously if he loses.

Some people who hate losing CHEAT. This means that they break the rules to win or get what they want. Students who copy answers from their friend's tests are CHEATING.

If you win and someone says "That's not fair! You cheated!" you might hear the answer "No, I didn't I beat you fair and square!". This means that you followed the rules and won because of your skill, you are a better player.

A: Woohoo~! I won!

B: Wow, you're really good at bowling, you beat me fair and square.

A: Thanks for being such a good sport. Maybe we can play again sometime.

B: Sure, I'll practice and next time I'll give you a run for your money!

One new idiom in that conversation ^_^ To give someone a run for their money, means the game or contest will be close. For example, the score will be 5 to 4 and you didn't win by much-I almost won or I beat you by a little.

Ok that's all for this week, have a nice weekend~!

Phil

P.S. I just remembered a more casual way to say a poor sport is by saying a bad sport.

a sore loser -----> a bad sport -----> a poor sport
casual ----------------------------------------------------------------->polite

He's a sore loser...

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a nice weekend. Yesterday, I taught a class of little kids about 5 years old and one of them was a sore loser... Do you know what this means? Don't worry~! I'm going to explain it to everyone today ^_-

A sore loser is someone who acts really badly when he/she loses a game. For example:

-Your baseball team loses and you refuse to shake the winning team members hands.

-You lose a game and quickly say:

"You cheated~! I want a rematch!"

"That was just to practice the next game counts~!"

"I'm not feeling good today, that's why you won."

-A child loses a game and starts to cry, scream or whine.

Whining is a high pitched noise of complaint or unhappiness, think of a dog that wants to go outside or is sad.

So as you can see a sore loser is someone who is REALLY unhappy when they lose and doesn't try to hide it. These are people you don't want to play games with because if they lose, they get upset.

The opposite of a sore loser is a good sport. This is someone who loses with dignity, they accept their defeat graciously.

So here are a few example sentences:

Don't be such a sore loser~!

He's a good sport, we're still friends even though I got the promotion he wanted.

I'm worried my son is becoming a sore loser, he always screams and whines when his soccer team loses.

Have a nice day,

Phil