Sometimes people around the world don't realize Canada has its own distinct culture and our own way of doing things.
Case in point: our language. So when user u/DoggyLover75wastaken recently asked: "what are some words that are only used in Canada? I just found out Americans don’t say duotang or elastic" my mind was blown. So I did a deep dive to find out which words are different south of the border!
1. "I'm pretty sure only Canadians call them 'pencil crayons'."
2. "Freezies."
"I was in another sub (not Canadian) that was discussing what freezies were called and a lot of people called them 'ice pops' or 'otter pops'."
3. "Weedwacker. I only discovered this because I dated a girl in the states for a few years and she laughed at me for calling it that, proclaiming it’s called a 'Weed eater'. We then subsequently laughed at each other."
4. "I didn't crash my car in the ditch, I PUT 'ER IN THE RHUBARB."
5. "Unless they are hockey fans, if you say you made a 'deke' or deked someone out, the average non-Canadian will have no idea what you are on about."
"I threatened to Jersey an American friend once (all in good fun) and he thought I meant kill him (like the mobsters from New Jersey) lol"
6. "Darts for cigarettes."
7. "Dont ask for Homo milk in the states, they call it whole milk."
8. "Alcohol terms such as '24' of beer or '26' of whiskey for example."
"Pronounced two-four and two-six of course."
9. "I'm pissed, meaning I'm drunk not angry."
10. "Smarties are candy coated chocolate and Rockets are cylindrical shaped compressed sugar candy stacks. Americans got these all messed up."
11. "Tabarnak."
12. "Chesterfield."
13. "Marks. As in 'what mark did you get on your test?'. Americans say 'grade'."
14. "Parkade. Surprisingly that one is almost never used outside Canada. (I've only seen it once outside of Canada and it was in Bellingham, a border town that Vancouver folks invade every weekend.)"
15. "University vs college."
16. "Americans: freshman, sophomore, senior prom. Canadians: grade 10, 11, 12 grad."
17. "Pylon. Referring to traffic cones."
18. "Serviette for napkin."
19. "You say bill we say cheque."
20. "Washroom, got some funny looks when I asked for the washroom and lots of 'dOnT yOu MeAn tHe BatHRoOm.'"
21. "Zed."
"Dude almost all Commonwealth countries use Zed. Zee is exclusively American."
22. "Gyprock is used in BC, but it’s called drywall or sheetrock in the US."
23. And finally: "I’ve recently learned “shit disturber” is mostly a Canadian thing."
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.