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Hotel Victoria - Talk like a Torontonian: An Introduction to Common Canadian Phrases

You land in Toronto and expect to hear your first “eh” immediately.

Yes, it’s probably the most well-known Canadian idiom, which is a shame because Canada-talk — and Toronto-talk specifically — is full of better ones. Here are some of our favourites.

“6ix”

We have to thank rapper Drake for this one. He’s the first unabashedly proud Torontonian to make it super nova, and he came up with “the 6ix” from the last digit of Toronto’s primary 416 area code. Now when you see a hipster walking down the street with #6ix on her shirt, you know what it means.

“Tdot”

This is another nickname for the city that you might hear rolling off the tongue of the slightly older (+30) Toronto locals. Coined a few years prior to the 6ix, it’s a variation of T.O. — itself a short form for Toronto.

“Trana”

Ok, it’s a pronunciation of Toronto— but it might as well be a word because it’s how we all refer to our city. Sounding the first “O” and the second “T” is a dead giveaway that you’re not from around here.

“Nahhh”

Instead of saying no in Toronto, you say ”nahhhh“ with a bit of a humming ripple at the end sounding similar to the call of a sheep or goat.

Toque

This is a winter hat with a pom-pom on the top. You’ll see them all over Toronto in the winter. Pronounced “tuke,” this fancy word for winter hat is derived from the Arabic language and found its way into the Medieval French lingo in the 15th century.

Stag/Stagette

This is what we call bachelor and bachelorette parties. We’re not sure where the term came from or why it caught on, but anything else sounds weird. We get a fair number of stags and stagettes coming through here. They’re always fun groups to host.

Klicks

A quintessential Canadian unit of measurement, klicks is short for “kilometres.” If you’re getting around the city by car, you’ll likely hear the distance travelled measured in “klicks.”

Loonie and Toonie

These are the Canadian one-dollar and two-dollar coins, respectively. The former gets its name from Canadian loon on the tail side. The latter got its name because it rhymed with loonie.

Timmies

This is short-hand for Tim Hortons, the much-loved fast-food coffee chain. Timmie’s is so Canadian that it pretty much failed in the US outside of border towns. When you go (and you should), try a Timbit (donut holes), the perfect counterpart to the popular double-double (see below).

And finally…Double-double

This is a coffee with two creams and two sugars and the most popular way to enjoy a java in Canada. The term was popularized by Tim Horton’s (see above), but it’s become ubiquitous.

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