Canadians Saying "Mate"

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20 Nov 2015, 5:59 pm

British males call each other "mate", as did (or still do) Australians.

But American guys call each other "buddy", "bub", or even "cous'", or "cousin". And since the late Sixties "dude" has joined the mix, and is maybe supplanting the other expressions.

British males are called "blokes", American males are called "guys".

My theory is that Americans are retaining an archaic Britishism: "guy" is probably a reference to Guy Fawkes- the...GUY...who tried to blow up Parliament in the 1600's. Brits still 'honor' him (so to speak) on Guy fawkes day by burning him in effigy. So effigies (stuffed images of people) came to be called "guys", and then any old male person would be called a "guy". That was probably the standard lingo in England when most of the 13 colonies were being founded on our eastern seaboard between 16 and 1700 hundred. But then after 1700 there were many sudden shifts in the speech of the mother country that the American colonists missed out on. One of them was probably the supplanting of "guy" with "bloke" in England. So here in the states we dont know from Guy Fawkes, but we still refer to any old stuffed shirt as a "guy".

nick007
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20 Nov 2015, 10:29 pm

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21 Nov 2015, 12:52 am

naturalplastic wrote:

My theory is that Americans are retaining an archaic Britishism: "guy" is probably a reference to Guy Fawkes- the...GUY...who tried to blow up Parliament in the 1600's. Brits still 'honor' him (so to speak) on Guy fawkes day by burning him in effigy. So effigies (stuffed images of people) came to be called "guys", and then any old male person would be called a "guy". That was probably the standard lingo in England when most of the 13 colonies were being founded on our eastern seaboard between 16 and 1700 hundred. But then after 1700 there were many sudden shifts in the speech of the mother country that the American colonists missed out on. One of them was probably the supplanting of "guy" with "bloke" in England. So here in the states we dont know from Guy Fawkes, but we still refer to any old stuffed shirt as a "guy".

huh, interesting. thanks :idea:

all the canadians i've met have lived here for some years, but none of 'em say "mate" or "eh" any more often than others.

i first read "bloke" on a comment directed towards me online, in 6th grade.

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17 Dec 2015, 11:17 am

In Nova Scotia everyone here supposedly speaks with a quaint Irish or Scottish accent, but I've never heard anyone call someone else "mate". Traditionally Nova Scotians call other people "buddy", usually a male whose real name you don't know or can't remember, or "cousin", even if that person isn't even related to you.

I've been told my accent is pretty "neutral". Don't know if that's from being an aspie or from being younger and heavily influenced by American culture as a kid. My brother doesn't have much of an accent either. I don't usually call anyone "buddy" or "cousin". Males are "guys", women are "ladies".

Also not everyone in NS is of Irish or Scottish heritage. Apparently I'm part French and part English.

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23 Dec 2015, 4:44 am

BirdInFlight wrote:

they're not going to think "friend" like they would for sure in, say Britain, they'll think it's an odd way of saying she's your lover.

Nope. Really not. Me mates is just me mates, nothing funny going on between us. "Guys" and "blokes" is generational and regional, though I'd say the borderline is about 30-35 years old; if you're 40, I think you're more likely to say bloke, depending on region of course. I tend to associate "bloke" with East London: Or no this bloke, roi', oo sez eez mates wi'zis geezer oo can ge y'z a pack o fags on the sloy, if loik yor missus ain' wonnin yoo oo smok or summink.
Also, Australia.

"Mate" is big in Scouseland- sorry, I mean Liverpool.

I've never come accross someone saying "buddy", "bud", or "feller", though "dude" is still used sometimes.

Vomelche
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23 Dec 2015, 12:42 pm

its probably because of this:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/u-wot-m8

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23 Dec 2015, 2:22 pm

Eh?!

(Yes - I am Canadian )

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