A Typology of Canadianisms

It's derived from Iroquois Nation words and used by French settlers to refer to Indigenous people. The word "Canada" was used by explorer Jacques Cartier to refer to the city now called "Québec". It broadly refered to the territory of a specific Indigenous tribe. (could be derogatory, but seemingly accurate / matter-of-fact)

After the British invasion, the British start using "Canadian" to describe both First Nations and French settlers (derogatory, "non-British)

Over time, "Canadian" generally refers to habitants of Canada.

Related: the hockey team "Les Canadiens" is from Montréal in the province of Québec in Canada. It's the oldest hockey team (1909, pre-NHL). The name is a reappropriation of the word Canadian at a time where it was used derogatively against "French-Canadians" (term that didn't exist at the time). Their chant "go, habs, go" refers to the "habitants", i.e., French settlers.

Related: "province" originates from latin used by Romans to described conquered territory. This is the term founders of Canada in 1867 decided to use instead of "state"

For anyone interested in Canadian history, always check-out the French version of a wikipedia page (and translate it). English pages have a lot of hand-waving and start history with their conquest. Also, ChatGPT makes outrageous historical mistakes all the time, such as suggesting that French-Canadians were a minority group in the 19th century

edit: format, typos

Apparently it's a direct translation from French and is pretty exclusive to Quebec English and the Easternmost part of Ontario (which is heavily French).

And Saskatchewan. Which the site notes is "a bit of a mystery".

Also found "parkade" interesting--apparently it's still much more heavily used in Western Canada, and they attribute that to it having been "seeded" by some Hudson's Bay advertisements run at their original 6 locations all in Western Canada.

Some other words/terms that surprised me: renoviction, gong show, kerfuffle, off-sale, stagette

Basically, when the snow starts to melt in the spring, you'll sometimes accidentally step on some thin ice that leads directly to a puddle underneath and soak your boot. It sucks! Also, we would often call these "booters" in Manitoba, where I'm from.

For example, in Ontario (perhaps elsewhere in Canada) the word asphalt is pronounced like “ash fault” (ˈæʃfɑlt) as opposed to U.S. pronunciation like “ass fault.” (ˈæsfɔlt)

Also “pasta” is often ˈpæstə as opposed to ˈpɑstə in American English.

What do you call them?

I don't see "transport" or "transport truck" though. I think It's an Ontario expression and it sounds kind of weird to me as an Albertan.

(rock paper scissors)

My absolute favourite Canadianism is how, on wikipedia, the 401 (major highway that goes through Toronto) is "colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_401).

"No guff"--meaning something like "no, really?" in a sarcastic sense

"My foot"--maybe something similar to "my ass!"

And later, when living in Montreal, I remember several expressions that were basically direct translations from the French

"Me, I..."--from the French "Moi, je..."

"In place of"--instead of "instead of"

My grandpa called toonies "bearbucks", which isn't listed, but is in one of the quotes on the toonie entry. No listing for "reef" as in yanking on something, though I don't know if that's a Canadianism or not.

Type 1 – Origin: a form and its meaning were created in what is now Canada

Type 2 – Preservation: a form or meaning that was once widespread in many Englishes, but is now preserved in Canadian English in the North American context or beyond; sometimes called “retention”

Type 3 – Semantic Change: forms that have undergone semantic change in Canadian English

Type 4 – Culturally Significant: forms or meanings that have been enshrined in the Canadian psyche and are widely seen as part of Canadian identity

Type 5 – Frequency: forms or meanings that are Canadian by virtue of frequency

Type 6 – Memorial: forms or meanings now widely considered to be pejorative

Non-Canadian: forms or meanings once thought to be Canadian for which evidence is lacking

> While brown bread may have contained some molasses in the early 1900s, post-WWII it was usually made without. So Canadian brown bread is, unlike Boston-style bread, not sweet (see the 1909 quotation) and also distinct from Irish brown bread, though the latter may have inspired it.

Brown bread is sweet, and you are supposed to cut it up into little hockey pucks and toast it. It is the perfect shape when it comes out of the can.

Is there a similar dictionary for US midwesternisms, or Texisms, or really any region?

It's missing.