Canada, Eh?

[hstahlke at ATT.NET]

I can only speak for parts of rural southwestern
Ontario, but there it appears to be socially
stratified.  I've heard it most from working class
people, tradesmen, etc.  I haven't heard it much outside
of that group.

Herb Stahlke
Ball State University
> 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.
>
> ****************************************************************************
>                                Peter A. McGraw
>                    Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
>                             pmcgraw at linfield.edu