Canada
Canadians and 'Eh'
14/01/17 11:30 Filed in: Interests
If you haven't heard a Canadian say 'eh" or 'aboot', you haven't been around and certainly don't know many Canadians. It is a bit of a joke about this lovely group of people but why do they say it?
Well, this article does give a bit of the story behind the phrase. When you are done, you realize it shows how nice and polite Canadians are.
"Canadians are not particularly amused when you eagerly point out their “eh” habit, but the word has become emblematic of the country in a way that is now mostly out of their control. In response, some have embraced it, adopting it as an element of Canadian patriotism. But what even is this word? How did it come to be so associated with Canada?
“Eh” is what’s known as an invariant tag—something added on to the end of a sentence that’s the same every time it’s used. A tag, in linguistics, is a word or sound or short phrase added after a thought which changes that thought in some way. The most common tags are question tags, which change a thought into a question. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” would be one example. The tag “isn’t it” turns that statement of fact into something that could prompt a response; the speaker is asking for confirmation or rejection.
But “isn’t it” is a variant tag, because it will change based on the subject and tense of what came before it. If you’re talking about a plural subject, you’ll have to change that tag to “aren’t they,” and if you’re talking about something in the past you might have to change it to “wasn’t it.”"
Well, this article does give a bit of the story behind the phrase. When you are done, you realize it shows how nice and polite Canadians are.
"Canadians are not particularly amused when you eagerly point out their “eh” habit, but the word has become emblematic of the country in a way that is now mostly out of their control. In response, some have embraced it, adopting it as an element of Canadian patriotism. But what even is this word? How did it come to be so associated with Canada?
“Eh” is what’s known as an invariant tag—something added on to the end of a sentence that’s the same every time it’s used. A tag, in linguistics, is a word or sound or short phrase added after a thought which changes that thought in some way. The most common tags are question tags, which change a thought into a question. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” would be one example. The tag “isn’t it” turns that statement of fact into something that could prompt a response; the speaker is asking for confirmation or rejection.
But “isn’t it” is a variant tag, because it will change based on the subject and tense of what came before it. If you’re talking about a plural subject, you’ll have to change that tag to “aren’t they,” and if you’re talking about something in the past you might have to change it to “wasn’t it.”"
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Newfoundland
15/07/16 08:15 Filed in: Interests
Another spot that Bob and I would like to visit is Newfoundland. We were closer than usual when we were in the Canadian Maritimes. We read a fascinating book about this province years ago and have wanted to visit since. There is a historical site, L'Anse Aux Meadow, which is on the uppermost northern tip of the province. I'd love to see this area though it is a challenge to get there in a way. I came across this description of one intrepid traveler who made the journey.
Wolfe at Louisbourg
31/05/13 20:22 Filed in: History
I found a new interesting website today called historion.net. A library for time travelers, or those who love to travel through history learning from the past. One chapter is on Canadian history and the siege of Louisbourg by Wolfe. We visited Louisbourg Fortress and one could spend hours there on tour and learning the history of the Fortress and people who lived there. Here is the article and a photo of its colorful main quarters.
Bangor to Annapolis Royal N.S.
30/06/12 16:57 Filed in: Travel | Photography
Rousing ourselves early this morning, we hit the road shortly after 7 a.m. to go to Acadia National Park, the Park Loop, and Bar Harbor Maine. We knew we would have to leave the north part of the Island by 1 p.m. to head along Hwy. 1 along the Maine Coast to Calais (pronounced “Callous”, which Bob laughed about more times that I could count), the border crossing with Canada. Back to the DownEast area..............Acadia and Bar Harbor. We went up to the top of Cadillac Mountain which is the highest spot on the East Coast and the first part of the United States to see the sunrise. The island was named Desert Island by Champlain in the early 1600’s because it is bare of most trees and has a lot of rock with little cover soil. You can see how happy Bob is to be on vacation and seeing new territory.
After visiting the mountain, we stopped by Bubble Pond and then Jordan Pond. These are more beautiful small lakes than ponds that have been dug out of surrounding ground by glaciers many years ago.
We then shortly visited Seal Harbor, the Northeast Harbor and drove along Sommes fjord. One boat was out in the fjord checking his lobster traps.
Our final stop while on Desert Island was Bar Harbor, a very quaint town that brings to mind Carmel or Calistoga CA. it looks like a neat place to stay and then see the sights around the area. We enjoyed a Lobster Roll with fresh Maine lobster on grilled toast. We bought 1/2 lb. crab meat at the same place to eat along with way with a box of fresh strawberries. The crab was really great, mild and melt in your mouth like butter. Yum!
It was on to Calais and entering Canada. The border crossing was fairly quick. They wanted to know if Bob was an unemployed Terrorist and if I was his veterinarian accomplice. Since we weren’t, it was OK for us to be Canadians for a few weeks. We found a lovely beach and view of the Bay of Fundy at Dipper Harbor located about 18 miles west of St. John.
We rushed off to get in line for the ferry crossing from St. John to Digby NS. For some reason, the ferry left the dock about one hour before we expected. Later we found out that the time zone changed to one hour ahead at the border. A very good thing that Bob pushed us to be there early or we could have missed our ferry and lost the $178 it cost to take it. It is about 72 km across the Bay of Fundy (where the tide change can be 4 stories in itself). We will arrive about 11 pm at Digby and on to the B and B.
After visiting the mountain, we stopped by Bubble Pond and then Jordan Pond. These are more beautiful small lakes than ponds that have been dug out of surrounding ground by glaciers many years ago.
We then shortly visited Seal Harbor, the Northeast Harbor and drove along Sommes fjord. One boat was out in the fjord checking his lobster traps.
Our final stop while on Desert Island was Bar Harbor, a very quaint town that brings to mind Carmel or Calistoga CA. it looks like a neat place to stay and then see the sights around the area. We enjoyed a Lobster Roll with fresh Maine lobster on grilled toast. We bought 1/2 lb. crab meat at the same place to eat along with way with a box of fresh strawberries. The crab was really great, mild and melt in your mouth like butter. Yum!
It was on to Calais and entering Canada. The border crossing was fairly quick. They wanted to know if Bob was an unemployed Terrorist and if I was his veterinarian accomplice. Since we weren’t, it was OK for us to be Canadians for a few weeks. We found a lovely beach and view of the Bay of Fundy at Dipper Harbor located about 18 miles west of St. John.
We rushed off to get in line for the ferry crossing from St. John to Digby NS. For some reason, the ferry left the dock about one hour before we expected. Later we found out that the time zone changed to one hour ahead at the border. A very good thing that Bob pushed us to be there early or we could have missed our ferry and lost the $178 it cost to take it. It is about 72 km across the Bay of Fundy (where the tide change can be 4 stories in itself). We will arrive about 11 pm at Digby and on to the B and B.
