Attention Americans! 'Eh' is just Canadian for 'Huh'.


Attention all Americans! We're just as guilty as the Canadians. Canadians simply use "eh" the way that we use "huh" (or vice-versa). Don't believe me? Check it out:

Canada-speak: "That Rush show was great, eh?"

America-speak: "That Rush show was great, huh?"

Same thing, different word.

I'm an American living in Canada and when my friends pointed out this fact, I said, "Oh my God! You're right!"

So, my fellow Americans, next time you make fun of Canadians saying "eh", just know that we say "huh" as much, if not more.

and they're making fun of us for THAT.:))

Pretty cool, huh? (eh?). Love ya. Bob's your uncle!

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once a year, i spend 5 straight days with nothing but canadians. they seem to say "eh" more often than we say "huh" i understand the point you're making, and it is valid. but i think they use it way more often that we do.

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http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?big%20jerm

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Nope, not true. I live in Canada so I'm with Canadians every single day and Americans say "huh" or "right" as much as Canadians say "eh". It's a natural punctuation, and every culture has their own word, and that's ours. We're just oblivious to it because it's how we speak. Anytime an American asks a question or states something to someone where they're looking for a confirmation or an opinion, we WILL say "huh" or "right". (i.e: "beautiful sunset, huh?"). Our ears just aren't tuned to the word "eh" because we never use it anywhere in our speech, so it stands out like a sore thumb when Canadians say it. But, their ears aren't tuned to the word "huh" so that's ALL they hear when we speak (that and "OWT" for "out"). In Canada, it's called the "American accent". The next time you're with your Canadians, have them point out everytime you say "huh" and you'll be REALLY surprised! I certainly was.

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O.K. eh?

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Not all Canadians say it the same amount. Half my family is from Canada and some of them say it after every few sentences and some almost never say it. For the most part though it seems like they say it more than we say huh. It takes the place of a lot of words that we say as Americans.

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Oh, really?

Thanks for the information. Never would have guessed that on my own, Sherlock.

Why dont you go investigate what Americans mean when they say "you're an idiot,

ok?"

Thanks for your time and wisdom



<font color=red><font size=4>IMDB isn't for me.</font></font>

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I think my fellow Canadians will agree when I say... just get over all of this!

We like hockey and our beer is better than that found in America. The metric system is better (the Imperial system doesn't even make sense) and we spell words more correctly (kudos to those in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and anywhere else who hates Americanized SpellCheck..)

"Eh" is just a figure of speech. They're everywhere - some point say "huh," some say "right" it's all the same thing. But what I wanted to contribute to this riveting discussion is that the most common of all Canadian stereotypes isn't even universal to all Canadians. It's true - out West they say "hey" in place of "eh." Don't believe me? Ask an Albertan.

Not that it matters anyways... Who really cares about how we Canadians speak anyways? It's not like those ridiculous American accents are any better...

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Yeah, because canuck land is SO much better than the States right?

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Well, when you've lived in Canada your whole life, then yes one would think that Canada is far better than the United States.

if there were some benefits to being Canadian they would be...

-If someone in the family gets sick, we don't get into major debt paying hospital bills and such. If you buy Medication you pay on the spot, but you get the money back.
-Our prime minister can go out in public, without a *beep* load of protection. there still is protection, but not a lot of it.
-the beer, well it probably is better, but I couldn't tell you who's is better, never tried American beer.
-Canada, seems much more free than the United States, America is great but I am perfectly happy to be Canadian.
-We're much more slack on movie ratings. Movies like Superbad, aren't rated R. They're 14A, which means if your under 14 you need someone over the age of 18 to see it with you.
- We have kick ass hockey players :p now I know that is a stereotypical thing to say, but it is true. But You guys could probably kill us at Baseball or Football any day.

Also, I couldn't explain how much I hate going on microsoft word and having words like favourite or colour show up as a spelling error.

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Your beer is better? Please tell me which Canadian beer is so great.

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moosehead, keiths, sleemans, labatts, molson. not too mention all the microbreweries. (although I think sleemans and molson were sold to foreign companies a couple years ago, but hey so was budweiser.

chicks given me their jersey, that's their name and number.

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You forgot Elsinore.

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Nothing against Canadians, but I did notice a lot of people saying "eh" A LOT. I'm American and when I ask a question, I actually ask the question. I don't say things like, "great sunset, huh?" I think of the word "huh" as a short term for saying "I didn't hear you, please repeat." If I wanted to mention the sunset, I would actually say, "Nice sunset, isn't it?" But maybe that's just me....

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...and, I for one, would probably do a William Hartnell-like "mmmm?" "Nice sunset, mmmm?"

I do use "eh", actually. American. If an Anglophile. But I probably use it in a different way than our neighbors up north.

Now, on the topic of things people say meaning "I didn't hear you, please repeat," is saying "Please?" a Cincinnatism as I've heard claimed? What would you think if I said "Please?" if I didn't understand you?

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My grandfather often used "eh?" whenever he didn't hear what someone said.

I don't know if "huh" is an exact equivalent of the Canadians' "eh." In one scene, Bob says "He saw Jedi 17 times, eh?" Americans wouldn't say "huh" in such a sentence. We might say, "He saw Jedi 17 times, you know?" We might not always use "huh" in situations where Canadians say "eh." We might say "you know," "you see," "don't you think," etc. There's a variety of different things we might say in these situations, not just "huh." (I think the British tend to say "what?" in similar situations.)

Now, on the topic of things people say meaning "I didn't hear you, please repeat," is saying "Please?" a Cincinnatism as I've heard claimed? What would you think if I said "Please?" if I didn't understand you?


I'm not from Cincinnati (nor have I even visited that city), so I don't know if "Please?" is a Cincinnatism. I often encounter that usage with foreigners who have limited skills in English and it's a way of expressing that they didn't understand what I just said. They might have heard it, but didn't understand the words. So, in that case, I would just try to rephrase what I said in simpler language, without slang or idioms.

Personally, I tend to just say "What?" or "I'm sorry?" if I couldn't hear what someone was saying. Some people might say "Excuse me?" in similar situations. I try to avoid "Huh?" when I can (my mother hated that word and pretty much beat it out of me), although I might use it when I'm trying to express befuddlement over something, such as something like this:

A: It's a nice day outside, don't you think?
B: Then we better make sure we have enough toilet paper.
A: Huh?

It's a situation where I heard what's being said, I understood all the words, but I had no idea why someone would respond that way. So, in some situations, "Huh?" can be an understated way of saying "WTF?"

I don't know that the Canadian "Eh?" is that versatile.

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we have but one reason to thank canada. canada is the reason the US has not slid off into the ocean. all the suction coming from that country keeps us from being the next atlantis.

***
Thread ender.

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"American beer is like making love in a canoe -- it's f--cking close to water!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8aPABF7nW4

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Plenty of Canadians say "huh" and plenty of Americans say "eh".

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Bob and Doug McKenzie are just crazy and sterotypical beer guzzling Canadians.

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[deleted]

In Northeastern Pennsylvania a lot of people use "hayna" (and several variations e.g. aina, enna, or henna)the same as Canadians use "eh".

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[deleted]

I've lived in the USA for my entire life and I can't believe anyone would need this pointed out to them. You're living in Canada and you couldn't figure this out, someone had to tell you? Ay carumba...

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