February 14, 2012
Look! It’s Maritime Canada as photographed from space. NEAT. I first moved to this chunk of Earth a little more than 10 years ago. Here’s some of the lovely language I picked up in this place. Fredericton 2002: Nice place, Fredericton. That’s where I learned to breath in as I say the word “yup.” I call this the inhaled affirmative. I also learned “very best”, which can mean anything from “thanks” to “yes” to “see you later, pal.” Iqaluit 2003-2005: Maybe not the Maritimes technically, but I learned some neat Inuktitut words here which I still use. “Taima” is a handy word which means “all done,” “that’s it,” “see you.” “Imaittuq” means “thinamajig” or “whatsit” or “thing I’m holding that I can’t remember the name of.” Totally useful word. Saint John 2003-2007: Here’s where I learned to use the words “some” and “right” as modifiers. As in, “It’s some rainy out,” or “it’s right foggy.” I also learned to effectively end sentences with prepositions. Why say “where are you?” when you can say “where are you at?” or, more accurately, “where y’at?” Sydney, Cape Breton 2007-2009: Here’s where I learned that “Oh, go away!” means “Hey, that’s neat!” but “Go on with you!” means “Oh, go away.” Also, call everyone dear, dear. Gawd love ya. Good, dear. Good. PEI 2009-present: “Look at you!” means “hello!” It’s slippy, not slippery, fool. Taima.

Look! It’s Maritime Canada as photographed from space. NEAT.

I first moved to this chunk of Earth a little more than 10 years ago. Here’s some of the lovely language I picked up in this place.

Fredericton 2002:

Nice place, Fredericton. That’s where I learned to breath in as I say the word “yup.” I call this the inhaled affirmative.

I also learned “very best”, which can mean anything from “thanks” to “yes” to “see you later, pal.”

Iqaluit 2003-2005:

Maybe not the Maritimes technically, but I learned some neat Inuktitut words here which I still use.

“Taima” is a handy word which means “all done,” “that’s it,” “see you.”

“Imaittuq” means “thinamajig” or “whatsit” or “thing I’m holding that I can’t remember the name of.” Totally useful word.

Saint John 2003-2007:

Here’s where I learned to use the words “some” and “right” as modifiers. As in, “It’s some rainy out,” or “it’s right foggy.”

I also learned to effectively end sentences with prepositions. Why say “where are you?” when you can say “where are you at?” or, more accurately, “where y’at?”

Sydney, Cape Breton 2007-2009:

Here’s where I learned that “Oh, go away!” means “Hey, that’s neat!” but “Go on with you!” means “Oh, go away.”

Also, call everyone dear, dear.

Gawd love ya.

Good, dear. Good.

PEI 2009-present:

“Look at you!” means “hello!”

It’s slippy, not slippery, fool.

Taima.

8:14am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZP72BxGPN25x
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