'Eh? Happy Turkey Day to you and yours, janet, and all
the Canadians that are part of this ListFamily. Say
hello to Tom for me.       Carole H.

--- janet paterson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> g'day from the mississippi/ottawa valleys
>
> it's turkey day in canada!
> [we get to say thanks for the harvest 5 or 6 weeks
> earlier
> than the yanks down south cause it's colder sooner
> up here dontcha know]
>
> i'm giving thanks today for harvests of all kinds
>
> the re-discovery of the people and the land of my
> birth
>
> the cyber-siblings [and a certain cyber-parent]
> who share joy and pain with me here on a daily
> [pretty much] basis
>
> the re-found progeny
> of a long lost and since passed on sanguine-sibling
>
> the re-found progeny
> of a bittersweet time of innocence in my own life
>
> new pathways to follow with relatives and friends
> long held dear
>
> all layers and shades of meanings of the word
> family
>
> i have been blessed
>
> i am only starting to realize how much [abundantly,
> pretty much]
> and how often [continuously, pretty much]
>
> so,
> in the interests of furthering global understanding
> and communication
> through the useage of this miraculous mythereal
> medium,
> i present the definitive answer to the
> profound Canadian question:
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Eh?
>
> Rhymes with hay. The great Canajan monosyllable and
> shibboleth, 'eh?', is all things to all men. Other
> nations may boast their interjections and
> interrogative expletives - such as the Mare Can
> 'Huh?', the Briddish 'what?', the French 'hein?' -
> but none of them can claim the range and scope of
> meaning that are encompassed by the simple Canajan
> 'eh?'. Interrogation, assertion, surprise,
> bewilderment, disbelief, contempt - these are only
> the beginning of 'eh?' and already we have passed
> beyond the limitations of 'huh?', 'what?', 'hein?'
> and their pallid analogues.
>
> To begin with, 'eh?' is an indicator, sure and
> infallible, that one is in the presence of an
> authentic Canajan speaker. Although 'eh?' may be met
> with in Briddish and Mare Can litter choor, no one
> else in the world 'eh?'s  his way through life as a
> Canajan does, nor half so comfortably. By contrast,
> 'huh?' is a grunt; 'what?' foppish and affected; and
> 'hein?' nasal and querulous. Whereas 'eh?' takes you
> instantly into the speaker's confidence. Only 'eh?'
> is frank and open, easy and unaffected, friendly and
> even intimate.
>
> Viewed syntactically, 'eh?' may appear solo or as
> part of a set of words, in which case it may occupy
> either terminal, medial or initial position. We
> shall consider these briefly.
>
> 1.  Its commonest solo use is as a simple
> interrogative calling for the repetition of
> something either not heard because inaudible or, if
> heard, then not clearly understood. In this context
> 'Eh?' equals 'What did you say?", 'How's that?' Or
> in Canajan, 'Wadja say?', 'Howzat?'
>
> According to intonation, the meaning of solo 'Eh?'
> may vary all the way from inquiry [as we have seen]
> through doubt to incredulity. Here are a few
> examples:
>
> 'I'm giving up smoking.' 'Eh?' [A cross between
> what? and oh, yeah?]
>
> 'Could you loan me two bucks?' 'Eh?' [Are you
> kidding?]
>
> 'Here's the two bucks I owe you.' 'Eh?' [I don't
> believe it!]
>
> 2.  'Eh?' in terminal position offers a running
> commentary on the speaker's narrative, not unlike
> vocal footnotes:
>
> 'I'm walking down the street, eh?' [Like this, see?]
>
> 'I'd hadda few beers en I was feeling priddy good,
> eh?' [You know how it is.]
>
> 'When all of a sudden I saw this big guy, eh?' [I'm
> not fooling.]
>
> 'He musta weighed all of 220 pounds, eh?' [Believe
> me.]
>
> 'I could see him from a long ways off en he was a
> real big guy, eh?' [I'm not fooling.]
>
> 'I'm minding my own business, eh?' [You can bet I
> was.]
>
> 'But this guy was taking up the whole sidewalk, eh?'
> [Like I mean he really was.]
>
> 'So when he came up to me, I jess stepped inta the
> gudder, eh?' [I'm not crazy, ya know.]
>
> 'En he went on by, eh?' [Just like that.]
>
> 'I gave up, eh?' [What else could I do?]
>
> 'Whattud you a done, eh?' [I'd like to know since
> you're so smart.]
>
> 3.  'Eh?' in medial position is less common and so
> much prized by collectors:
>
> 'We're driving to Miami, eh?, for our holidays.'
> [Like where else?]
>
> 'There aren't many people, eh?, that can find their
> way around Oddawa like he can.' [You know as well as
> I do.]
>
> 4.  'Eh?' rarely appears in initial position. Thus,
> while one might ask: 'N'est-ce pas qu'il a de la
> chance?', Canajans could only say: 'He's lucky, eh?'
>
> Forners are warned to observe extreme caution with
> 'eh?' since nothing will give them away more quickly
> than its indiscriminate use. Like the pronunciation
> of Skatchwan [only much more so], it is a badge of
> Canajanism which requires half a lifetime to learn
> to use with the proper panache.
>
> A teacher at Arm See suggested recently that 'eh?'
> is not Canajan since it may also be found in the
> Knighted States, the You Kay and Sow Thafrica. In
> the same way sign tists have tried to prove that
> hockey was not invented in Canada, but Canajans
> remain unconvinced, eh?
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Further References Added For Clarification Of The
> Above:
>
> Anglo: A non-French Canajan Canajan.
>
> Arm See:  Royal Military College at Kingston,
> Untario.
>
> Briddish:  of or pertaining to Grade Bridden.
> Sometimes contracted to Brish, as in: Brish
> Commonwealth.
>
> Briddi Shyles: England, Scotland, Wales, and
> Northern Ireland. Commonly called the You Kay.
>
> Canajan:  Four meanings are commonly distinguished.
> 1. Of Canada or its inhabitants. 2. A person of
> Canajan birth or nationality. 3. An Anglo, q.v. 4.
> The nash null language of Anglos.
>
> Forners:  A non-Canajan. The adjective is Forn.
>
> Godda: See Hadda.
>
> Grade Bridden: England, Scotland, and Wales. See
> Briddi Shyles.
>
> Hadda:  To be obliged to do something. Cognate with
> Godda. As in: 'I jiss hadda tellum, Susan, I jiss
> hadda.' 'Well, thass life, Linda, if ya godda ya
> godda.'
>
> Hugh Ess: The Mare Can nation. See Knighted States.
> So convenient has the Hugh Ess been to the
> development of the Canajan ethos that if the Hugh
> Ess did not exist it would be necessary to invent
> it. By the same token, if the Hugh Ess did not
> exist, neither would Canada, much as in physics
> anti-matter requires matter to sustain it. It may
> here be noted that the best, perhaps the only
> generally
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