Canada, Eh?

[Peter A. McGraw]

How sad--"Eh?" was one of my favorite things about Canada.  I hope someone
will convince them that it was one of the characteristics that
distinguished them from Americans and that it is therefore their patriotic
duty to restore it to favor.

Just one more thing--could you explain to some of us south-of-the-border
types what "hoser" means?  (Not related to "Hoosier," eh?)

Peter Mc

--On Wednesday, November 28, 2001 2:33 PM -0500 Paul McFedries
<lists at MCFEDRIES.COM> wrote:

> "Eh" is used much less frequently nowadays, and you can blame (or praise)
> the SCTV characters Bob and Doug McKenzie. Before they came along,
> appending "eh" to the end of a sentence was as natural as breathing for
> many Canadians. The McKenzie brothers exaggerated this trait and, thanks
> to their eventual popularity, inexorably linked the use of "eh" to the
> unattractive "hoser" demographic. So although, as Herb Stahlke pointed
> out, "eh" remains popular in working class settings (and with true hosers
> of all classes), the decline of "eh" among the rest of the population
> (particularly in Toronto) proceeded in four steps:



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