When it comes to Canadian slang, you may have heard of Eh but have you ever heard of Nize it?
A new survey from CanadaCasino has revealed the top 20 most popular Canadian slang words according to votes on Urban Dictionary, and surprisingly, there isn’t as much Toronto slang as you might think.
To determine what terms make the list, CanadaCasino created a seed list of the most common slang words known to Canadians, researched each term on Urban Dictionary and lastly, recorded the number of likes and dislikes each word received. In the end, the slang words with over 20 votes were included in the final ranking.
The terms were given a ‘thumbs up’ (positive) or ‘thumbs down’ (negative) percentage (out of 100 per cent) and ranked in order of most loved to most hated, according to a media release.
Coming out on top as the most popular slang word in the country is Eh. The popular slang word received 100 per cent in thumbs-up votes on Urban Dictionary. It’s used at the end of a sentence to mean ‘right?’ or ‘how about that?’ and though it is used across the country, it remains predominant in more rural areas.
Trailing in second as the most loved word by 97.7 per cent of people is Darts which is used as another word for a cigarette. Fun fact, this term was originally an Australian slang word before it became part of Canadian slang vernacular.
In third place is Jesus Murphy which got a total of 95.3 per cent positive reactions. This term is used as an expletive to replace Jesus Christ and to avoid blasphemous connotations.
Now, when it comes to Toronto slang, only two made the list and those were Nize it at number nine, a term used to tell someone to be quiet, and the 6ix came in at number 15, which is Toronto’s nickname.
Here are the top ten most popular Canadian slang words:
- Eh? – Similar to ‘right’ or ‘how about that’
- Darts – A cigarette
- Jesus Murphy – Used instead of ‘Jesus Christ’
- Two-four – Case of 24 beers
- Out for a rip – Going out for a drive or hanging out with friends
- The Peg – Nickname for the city of Winnipeg
- Molson muscle – Potbelly or beer belly
- Snowbirds – Canadians who head south during winter to escape the cold
- Nize it – A way to tell someone to be quiet or stop talking
- Keener – Nerd or someone who is super keen for something
