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Canajan, Eh?
Book by Mark M. Orkin
- GenresNonfictionHumor
138 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 15, 2026
Published in 1973, I first encountered Mark M. Orkin's book of examples of how the English language is "supposedly" being pronounced in Canada in the mid 1980s when I found a copy of Canajan, Eh? at the Mount Allison University Bookstore (and which I purchased for a bit of light reading during my Christmas exams, as I had something like a two week wait between the two courses for which Christmas exams were scheduled but it did not make sense to go home for those two weeks and then return for the last exam).
However, while some of Orkin's presented and alphabetised sections (his A to Z examples of specifically Canadian pronunciations of English words) are certainly humorous and to a point also linguistically informative (and that I do recall quite enjoying Canajan, Eh? in December 1987), upon rereading in 2026, I will have to say that Canajan, Eh? is for older and more critical adult I really not all encompassingly humorous and not all that interesting and linguistically enlightening either. For yes indeed and in my humble opinion, over 130 pages of one example of phonetically spelled specifically Canadian English words after another sure does get repetitive and tedious rather quickly, and not to mention that far too many of the featured words and expressions Mark M. Orkin presents in Canajan, Eh? are often annoyingly frustrating in written form and sometimes nigh impossible to understand and figure out (with their strange phonetic spellings) and indeed likely even for those of who have lived their entire lives in Canada, and that younger readers or ESL students encountering Canajan, Eh? might perhaps even consider the pronunciation oriented spellings of the featured examples as acceptable and to be imitated and learned for standard and official written English (something that for me as a language instructor really should be avoided, and that frankly, Mark M. Orkin thus should in Canajan, Eh? be at least pointing out that his presented examples are NOT how one should be spelling and only meant to be used and considered orally).
But even more of an issue for me in 2026 (and after having taken multiple both German and English linguistics courses for my MA and PhD), sorry, but in my not so humble opinion, the majority of Canadians actually do NOT tend to speak like is presented in Canajan, Eh? (and frankly, considering that Mark M. Orkin is a trained professional linguist, he should not be spreading what are basically for me pronunciation themed falsehoods regarding how Canadians in general and unilaterally seemingly pronounce English). For while a number of the words and expressions shown in Canajan, Eh? are indeed how we all generally talk in Canada (like for example replacing t with d sounds, which is called a flap in linguistic terms, but is also something that is not so much Canadian but in fact North American, as the same thing also happens in much of the USA), the majority of the examples of Canajan, Eh? are either very much regional in nature (like how in the Maritimes film often sounds like filum) or are not really used at all (or might have been used historically but not today), leaving me with regard to Canajan, Eh? feeling that what Mark M. Orkin has provided is both too tedious and equally so with not enough actual linguistic authenticity and evidence for me to consider more than two stars for Canajan, Eh? (and to also have serious doubts regarding the sequel which is of course titled French Canajan, hé?).
However, while some of Orkin's presented and alphabetised sections (his A to Z examples of specifically Canadian pronunciations of English words) are certainly humorous and to a point also linguistically informative (and that I do recall quite enjoying Canajan, Eh? in December 1987), upon rereading in 2026, I will have to say that Canajan, Eh? is for older and more critical adult I really not all encompassingly humorous and not all that interesting and linguistically enlightening either. For yes indeed and in my humble opinion, over 130 pages of one example of phonetically spelled specifically Canadian English words after another sure does get repetitive and tedious rather quickly, and not to mention that far too many of the featured words and expressions Mark M. Orkin presents in Canajan, Eh? are often annoyingly frustrating in written form and sometimes nigh impossible to understand and figure out (with their strange phonetic spellings) and indeed likely even for those of who have lived their entire lives in Canada, and that younger readers or ESL students encountering Canajan, Eh? might perhaps even consider the pronunciation oriented spellings of the featured examples as acceptable and to be imitated and learned for standard and official written English (something that for me as a language instructor really should be avoided, and that frankly, Mark M. Orkin thus should in Canajan, Eh? be at least pointing out that his presented examples are NOT how one should be spelling and only meant to be used and considered orally).
But even more of an issue for me in 2026 (and after having taken multiple both German and English linguistics courses for my MA and PhD), sorry, but in my not so humble opinion, the majority of Canadians actually do NOT tend to speak like is presented in Canajan, Eh? (and frankly, considering that Mark M. Orkin is a trained professional linguist, he should not be spreading what are basically for me pronunciation themed falsehoods regarding how Canadians in general and unilaterally seemingly pronounce English). For while a number of the words and expressions shown in Canajan, Eh? are indeed how we all generally talk in Canada (like for example replacing t with d sounds, which is called a flap in linguistic terms, but is also something that is not so much Canadian but in fact North American, as the same thing also happens in much of the USA), the majority of the examples of Canajan, Eh? are either very much regional in nature (like how in the Maritimes film often sounds like filum) or are not really used at all (or might have been used historically but not today), leaving me with regard to Canajan, Eh? feeling that what Mark M. Orkin has provided is both too tedious and equally so with not enough actual linguistic authenticity and evidence for me to consider more than two stars for Canajan, Eh? (and to also have serious doubts regarding the sequel which is of course titled French Canajan, hé?).
September 28, 2010
This is one of those ethnic humor books that can only really be appreciated (and understood for that matter) if you’ve lived in Canada for years and years or if you’re Canadian. You have to be able to “hear” how the people talk to make sense of what’s written on the paper otherwise you’ll be having non-stop “what the*bleep* *bleep*?” moments.
Presented in dictionary form, “Canajan, Eh?” is a compilation of Canadian English pronunciations of everyday words as well as a few idiomatic expressions and their various meanings. There’s often a sentence to show the word/expression in context which makes it a lot easier to understand and have a good laugh. Some of the funnier ones I thought were:
Jock Car Chay (aka Jacques Cartier –this was the best in terms of pronunciation especially if you’ve been through the Canadian education system you can practically hear all those Anglophone teachers trying to pronounce his name in a “French” way)
John Kabit/Kabott/Kabow (aka John Cabot and the 200 different ways Canadians massacre this poor guy’s last name)
the Mare Cans (Americans, also pronounced as the Knighted States and the Hugh Es)
Kwee Beck (Quebec)
Sir John Eh (Sir John A MacDonald)
quorpus (quarter past as in “it’s a quarter past two” said really fast. That was too funny!)
The absolute best and funniest piece is on the little word “eh” that can mean a ton of different things depending on when and how the speaker uses it. The author shows how to use it in just about every kind of sentence imaginable and it’s hilarious to boot. It’s the clincher really to tell if the speaker is a true blue Canadian ;)
The problem however, with the book I think is in its presentation that gets tiresome after awhile. You really feel like you’re reading a bunch of definitions so it becomes boring until you stumble on something funny like the ones listed above. Another thing is that there’s a bit too much focus on the province of Ontario with very brief mention of the rest of the country and virtually nothing about the Yukon or the Northwest Territories. There’s the odd typo which may have been intentional or not and some of the things said aren’t really pronounced that way. “Toronto” for example sounds like “Tronno” not Tronna” to people in Ontario and especially to Torontonians but maybe in other parts of the country they do say “Tronna”. The book does have a dated feel reading it now which isn’t the author’s fault of course but it did highlight issues of the day like acid rain, Quebec separatism, American domination as well as political style cartoons of the period.
Overall though it’s got its funny moments even if some may be a bit out there, overly-exaggerated or just plain weird eh ;-)
Presented in dictionary form, “Canajan, Eh?” is a compilation of Canadian English pronunciations of everyday words as well as a few idiomatic expressions and their various meanings. There’s often a sentence to show the word/expression in context which makes it a lot easier to understand and have a good laugh. Some of the funnier ones I thought were:
Jock Car Chay (aka Jacques Cartier –this was the best in terms of pronunciation especially if you’ve been through the Canadian education system you can practically hear all those Anglophone teachers trying to pronounce his name in a “French” way)
John Kabit/Kabott/Kabow (aka John Cabot and the 200 different ways Canadians massacre this poor guy’s last name)
the Mare Cans (Americans, also pronounced as the Knighted States and the Hugh Es)
Kwee Beck (Quebec)
Sir John Eh (Sir John A MacDonald)
quorpus (quarter past as in “it’s a quarter past two” said really fast. That was too funny!)
The absolute best and funniest piece is on the little word “eh” that can mean a ton of different things depending on when and how the speaker uses it. The author shows how to use it in just about every kind of sentence imaginable and it’s hilarious to boot. It’s the clincher really to tell if the speaker is a true blue Canadian ;)
The problem however, with the book I think is in its presentation that gets tiresome after awhile. You really feel like you’re reading a bunch of definitions so it becomes boring until you stumble on something funny like the ones listed above. Another thing is that there’s a bit too much focus on the province of Ontario with very brief mention of the rest of the country and virtually nothing about the Yukon or the Northwest Territories. There’s the odd typo which may have been intentional or not and some of the things said aren’t really pronounced that way. “Toronto” for example sounds like “Tronno” not Tronna” to people in Ontario and especially to Torontonians but maybe in other parts of the country they do say “Tronna”. The book does have a dated feel reading it now which isn’t the author’s fault of course but it did highlight issues of the day like acid rain, Quebec separatism, American domination as well as political style cartoons of the period.
Overall though it’s got its funny moments even if some may be a bit out there, overly-exaggerated or just plain weird eh ;-)
February 22, 2016
One star for the drawings. Supposed to be funny but it's just stupid.
December 6, 2016
Purchased this book while in Canada in 1976.
Found it enjoyable then.
Not sure how it would go now.
Found it enjoyable then.
Not sure how it would go now.
April 14, 2017
wow , this book is the most hard to read i ever read .
it a caricature of Canadian language , joual . difforme word like we pronounce it it like reading a new language you don,t know
it a caricature of Canadian language , joual . difforme word like we pronounce it it like reading a new language you don,t know
October 2, 2015
My Dad (an American who loved living in Canada) has owned this book for a number of years and always wanted me (a Canadian-American hybrid) to read it, so I finally have. There are some genuine linguistic treasures, particularly in the longer, more encyclopedia-like entries that joke about Canadian history. The shorter, slang dictionary-like entries are less amusing and even boring. On the other hand, I'm certain the author had too much fun writing this.
August 4, 2012
Fairly whimsical.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews