h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I live in Toronto (North York specifically) and I think there are two things in this entry that I feel are incorrect.
Firstly its pronounced "Teronno" not "Trawna".
And secondly, Torontonians generally do not say "aboot". The only person I have ever met who pronounced it so was from Nova Scotia. It was quite apparent that he pronounced it that way when he proclaimed that we were "Out and about on a boat in a boat". Say it its fun!

Ah, then how do you explain the official greeting:

"How 'boot them Leafs, eh?"

It depends who you ask, I guess. Not many of the Electric Circus dancers would say "aboot" or "Trawna", I imagine. But you'd probably catch one or two fellas at the Legion saying it over a Canadian and a pickled egg.


JTG

I agree with you 100 percent. I've spent my entire life living in
the Hamilton-Toronto area and Teronno is by far the most common
pronunciation of Toronto. I also agree that "aboot" is an east
coast pronunciation. (my father etc. hail from Halifax Nova Scotia)
Lastly, I just wanted to add that it is also comon for people to
refer to Toronto as T.O.. (pronounced Tee-Ohh)

yeah...that or "Tee dot Oh dot" or just plain "Tee dot"
I have to say I don't like those ones. Cuz then you get people from Etobicoke saying they're from "E dot". And it's just plain annoying when that happens.

Researcher 229777!
I was just going over old conversations I've had. And I went to your space and realized that this was the only post you ever made!

Are you still out there?

It is interesting I came accross this today. I just recently met someone from russia who found it funny that both I and another friend from here in Toronto said 'aboot' -- I was totally shocked as I didn't believe that I pronounced the word that way. Nevertheless, I do believe her and my guess is that we Torontonians do, in fact, have a slight 'boot'nes to our 'abouts'. Certainly it is minor compared to a maritimer's but I imagine it is there and like any accent we just don't notice it ourselves.

The GalaxyPlanner

M.c.B. - eat my shorts: Re <>

Close but not quite. For a really good way to say it, listen to Blue Rodeos 'Sad Nights' on their 'The Days in Between' album:

'...typical summer, that time of year, you go back to Turranna and I stay here...'

As for saying 'aboot': hek, I dunno what I say anymore. I think it's something like this: eood n ebouwoot.

I'm in Turranna. Ani.

John the Gardener: I've never heard 'hoo boot them Leefs eh?' The traditional way of bringing up the Leafs in a conversation goes something like this:

Buddy's explaining the Young Earth Creation theory.

Other buddy takes issue with YEC, citing evidence for evolution and knocking holes in the Flood story.

Lass (that would be me) with other buddy says: 'Didya see Sundin skate down the whole length of the ice last night and squeeze that puck past buddy?'

None of that 'hoo boot them Leefs eh?' No sir. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. Ani.

By the way, something that should be added to the Canadian section is the pronoun 'buddy' which stands for anyone who is not immediately important to a sentence or whose name has been forgotten due to anything really, but mostly conspicuous consumption of I Am.

Shorts: Re <>

It could be worse. Buddy could be from Mr and Mrs Sauga or Scarberia.

(Mississauga and Scarborough, two vast tracts of suburbia, for anyone not from Turranna) Ani.

The following is a serious topic for correction. I think that saying that many in Canada (in somewhat disrespect jest) term Turranna 'the centre of the universe' is a bit of a reach.

This came to a head during the really bad snowstorm during the first year of Mayor Mel Lastman's term of office. Turranna was broke, having been bled dry by provincial mismanagement. The weather was appalling. Turranna usually doesnt get much snow, but that year the snow was piled over one story high on our street. And the city didnt have the money to hire snow clearance personnel. So Mel had to call the army out. (Mel the king of the foto op got his first big foto riding on the top of an army truck.) Well didnt the rest of Canada take every opportunity to take pot shots at us. But that wasn't really because they look down on us. It was because most of Canada was fed up with its governments and Turranna was a safe target.

Look, after the Stones concert last summer, my friend and I headed up to the North Channel. Sheesh we thought we were going to be celebrities in small town Ontario. Nothing doing on that score. It seems that simply everybody in Ontario once lived in Turranna or has a niece or grandson going to school here. I think a third of the 450 000 folk at the concert were our American cousins. Another third was from small town Ontario. A sixth were from Newfoundland. A twelfth were from Australia and Germany (they're everywhere). And the remaining twelfth were from GTA (Greater Turranna Area). There wasn't a person we met who hadnt been to the concert.

The long and short of us this is that Turranna doesnt stop at Mr and Mrs Sauga. It just keeps on going. Wawa is a suburb. And Parksville BC is too. Nobody looks down on us. We're family.

It's not that we're arrogant. We've just taken over the Troo North when nobody was looking. Ani.

I realise this is rather a trivial matter but I've been living in the Toronto area for nearly six years now (originally from the States) and I have never heard Torontonians pronounce the name of their city as 'Trawna' either. This sounds more like a lazy southern American accent. 'Teronno', on the other hand, seems to be the popular pronunciation. Someone once told me that it was pronounced this way because the natives pronounced it this way. Whether this is true or not I have no idea.

Anyway, fairly nice piece, otherwise.

Oh, and I find that 'aboot' is less of a city thing and more of a small town thing in Canada.

Regardless, this stereotype, like many others, has been blown way out of proportion, in my opinion.

Years ago I moved to Islington, which is my correct address in my view, but apparently not in the view of the Post Office. They want me to write Toronto, not Islington, or even Etobicoke. Islington is in Etobicoke.

So, you see how this monster city, Toronto has absorbed all our old neighbourhoods into one, an ubiquitous Toronto. I resent the changes. Why didn't they leave us alone who live in Islington, Etobicoke? We were happy in our own neighbourhood with our own local government.

I actually sometimes catch myself saying, "Ch'ronto".

I have lived in Toronto since 1962 and I say the correct pronounciation of Toronto, is Toronto. The way it is written.

I have lived either in Toronto or London, Ontario my whole life. Sometimes I pronounce Toronto as "Teronto", and sometimes as "Teronno". These are the only two pronounciations I've ever heard.

Same here!
I've never even heard of any of this 'Trawna' stuff...it's always been Toronto or Teronno for me.

I'd never heard of the stereotypical 'aboot' either, till I watched an american TV show with a 'Canadian' character in it. Perhaps it is an East coast thing, but definitely not a Toronto thing - which holds true even when we compare our accents (practically none existent) to those of the Americans just down south.

Also; perhaps the Church and Wellesley area should be mentioned in the Neighbourhoods section? Rainbow-coloured street signs should count for something! ;D