Canada, Eh?

[Peter A. McGraw]

When I visited the Atlantic provinces of Canada about 20 years ago, the
signature "Eh?" bombarded my senses.  EVERYONE seemed to use it as an
all-purpose sentence-final punctuation mark.  A couple of years ago on an
extremely brief foray across the border to Niagara Falls, Ont., I couldn't
resist buying a T-shirt bearing a Canadian flag and the legend, "CANADA,
EH!"

But now I've just returned from a 6-day visit to Toronto--and not ONCE did
I hear anyone say "Eh?"  Is this quintessential Canadianism dying out, or
has it always been regional and I was in the wrong region this time?

If anybody knows, please enlighten me, eh?

Peter Mc.

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                               Peter A. McGraw
                   Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
                            pmcgraw at linfield.edu