fledermaus

no, it's a bit posey though. Like saying Paree.

Actually the correct RP way to say hotel is 'otel. You will find posh people would book into an 'otel rather than a hotel.

It amuses me, but does not upset me, that people will say filay, and Paree but can't get Worcestershire sauce right. On an American chefy programme the other week they were pronouncing turbot as turbo.... it isn't even a French word.

Hey ho. At work they laugh at the way I say things, that's not nice is it? chortling away like that.

Aviator

What amuses me is the American pronunciation of coupe as coop (as in car). I always though that chickens were kept in a coop.

Steve_P

Maybe it was turbo charged. Very difficult to catch them, you know. Fast buggers.

fledermaus

Coat

fledermaus

Chicken coop on wheels! excellent

Steve_P

Leaving

paolosmythe

too much bat in them tho

dthomas

OK - I've stfu now. Yet I'm clueless as to what you are referring here? Elaborate please?

Aviator

Between post 29 and 30. ?

Steve_

Umm, this is a good thread, evidence if any were needed that the British are famous complainers!

Anyway I have lived in a variety of other countries so I have a good basis for comparison.

I don't quite get the comments about TV, I think TV here is really good actually, because I can get the east coast feed of the American channels so I can watch things earlier (or PVR them and FF through all the ads). I always thought the BBC was utterly crap when I lived in the UK except for Top Gear and the odd documentary, don't miss it at all. I don't even subscribe to BBC Canada. I always seem to be able to find something to watch.

Some of the comments on here look Ontario-centric to me, like the comment about PST on second hand cars. Personally I think it's really good that GST is not included in the sticker price, then you know how much is going to the Govt. But tax here is only 5%, bit easier to work out in your head I suppose. VAT in the UK always used to wind me up.

I agree with the comment from the poster from Airdrie, supposedly people in Alberta work "really hard" and I have to say I've never seen a bunch of people who are so laid back in my life, takes twice as long to get anything done here as in the UK, but I think that's an Alberta thing because the people who keep the place running all seem to be from Ontario and Quebec.

One thing that did nark me off when I first moved here was the bank system, InterAC is rubbish, but I finally solved that one by using a credit card for everything.

I'm surprised no-one seems to have mentioned the weather, I remember going out to collect my mail in -48 C a couple of years ago. In Alberta everyone seems to sit inside during the winter (can't blame them) and they get extremely fat. Problem is no-one seems to realize that it's summer, when I go for a walk I see no-one at all, other than fat people loading their pick-ups in their driveways.

I do actually like the winter (otherwise I wouldn't have moved here) but in Calgary there are an average of 190 days pa with below freezing temperatures, the one saving grace is that it's very sunny during the winter.

I agree with the comments about houses, I work in construction, brick is no solution, it has a lower R-value, but the insulation on most of these wood-framed houses is total crap, my house is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. I keep thinking of moving, but all the other houses are just as bad! I've had to put sheets of Reflectix along the walls in one of the bedrooms in my house it gets so cold during the winter. (Tip: put Reflectix on the back of your garage door if you have an attached garage, it helps a lot with insulation).

Cellphone rates here are a complete rip-off, so bad in fact I bought a PAYG phone in the US and I use that instead. Rogers basically has a monopoly.

The postal service is rubbish, I think my mailman is dyslexic, I'm not kidding!

I don't think people in Alberta are that bad at driving myself, I keep hearing ads on the radio about how we should all be better drivers, I blame the road system which has major problems, several people have died on the QE2 because signs were missing. Road markings are very poor in Alberta, I noticed they were a lot better in BC but then their winters are not as harsh.

People are very polite in Calgary but they're not as sociable as in the UK, I put it down to the fact that Alberta has a pretty low population density and a lot of people have moved to Calgary recently so there isn't much sense of community.

Steve_

Oh yeah, on pronounciation, the one thing that has always gotten up my nose in the US and Canada are British and French placenames being used that are pronounced phonetically by Americans and Canadians. Nothing makes me cringe more. If I lived in Louisiana I think I would have gone insane by now.

Bizarrely, I note that Canadians can pronounce the French placenames correctly like Coeur D'Alene and Boise (which the people who actually live there can't), but then they can't pronounce placenames like Norwich and Scarborough correctly.

And then someone will say, "well that's just how we pronounce it". Yes, and guess what, you're ALL pronouncing it incorrectly which is what is driving me crazy!!!!

Londonuck

And Calgarians were far more up for a beer than Vancouverites. I would of moved to Calgary but the winter scared me too much!

el_richo

Yeah i don't understand why that would cause offence either, Steve

el_richo

In all fairness, the pronunciation of place names in the UK can be a little confusing if you're not used to them.

For example, Loughborough isn't so easy to figure out by yourself.

Still not sure why all the fuss with pronunciation.

My Spanish colleagues often laugh at the way the British pronounce the clothing store, Zara.

mandymoochops

I have a friend called Tara. Before we were introduced everyone reffered to her as Terra - so I thought that was her name and called her it when we met.

I lately saw her write it down - and I yelled "your names not Terra, it's Tara (tar-rah)" which she thought was highly amusing. But then its only down to how we have been brought up to say things. Whose to say who is right - I only felt weird pronouncing it the Canadian way because my brain couldn't get its noodle around pronouncing a word i'd used before in a different manner.