Fellow Canadians…. I.. as your Prime Minister.. eh? stand before you today to talk about distinction and identity, to give you a few thoughts about a little word … a commonly used little word,…. especially in Canada by Canadians.
It’s the tiny little word … ‘Eh’!!!!!!
Not the cool greeting …’.hey’….that we all like or dislike to use,…. but the little word.. that, for many Canadians must follow every statement.
‘Eh’… in its Canadian sense is really used as a question…but … it has also become a word of distinction, a word that identifies us around the world as Canadians.……not in a derogatory way, but more in a frivolous, affectionate way……
It identifies us because of the sense in which we use it, a sense that we; as Canadians, are a modest people, a thoughtful people without arrogance, with a strong sense of decency, of never being absolute! Of always considering that whatever we say may always have an element of incorrectness…. of doubt!!!!
In fact, in its Canadian sense, it’s a word of uncertainty, of asking for approval, A sense that the user, might….!! at the end of the day…….. be completely wrong???
And yet the irony in the use of the word by Canadians, is its disuse by those others that live in North America.
Amongst them!!!… it could never be used. It would be completely out of character. And why?…… You might ask!
Well !!!!…. with them… down there, when they make a statement, it could never and would never be followed by ‘eh’……because the statement would always be …..without any shadow of a doubt…….definitively right !
And maybe it’s a good thing….!! that the little word has distinguished us as a nation,……it has identified us….. from those others that live on our continent, because it has given us….. the reputation of a sense of modesty that Canadians have in the eyes of the rest of the world.
But ‘Eh ‘ !!.. is not exclusive to Canadian diction….!
Its a common word in several post colonial English speaking countries….. but used in a different sense.
…….for instance
In England the English use ‘eh’ in a very course sense,…. distinctly different to the way we use it.
Someone there using the word in a typical way, would immediately reveal their social background, and if…. in the company of a group of the upper echelons of English society, they might very well extinguish themselves from the group,……. if they used it !!
There,…. in England ….. in place of ‘Pardon Me’ or excuse me, someone of a less polite and lower upbringing might say …‘Eh’ ????? What did you say ……eh !!!!!
In Australia the Australians use it, in place of ‘what’!!!! but unlike the English, it might have a softer, less course tone and not as intimidating…..and sometimes they might even use it like we do…….to qualify a statement.
Not to be confused with ‘Hey’!
‘Hey’ is now the cool form of greeting, but with a different meaning to eh !!
‘Hey’ in many circles has replaced ‘Hi’. For instance I sometimes write to my wife and begin my email with ‘Hey Sophi, but sometimes I simply write… Hi Soph.!!!
You might ask what is the point of defining this insignificant little word of Canadian diction?
Well the point is ‘Eh’ is not an insignificant little word. It is definitively Canadian; in the sense that we use it, and if there is any doubt in distinguishing us from those others that live on our continent, it’s the use of that word.
I…..!!! As your Prime Minister eh ?… stand before you today to tell you that I….!!! will be making a proposal to the house in Parliament next week to change our red and white Maple Leaf, that Iconic Canadian emblem that graces the buildings of many great cities around the world, to embellish the very center of that even greater Canadian symbol…. the red mapleleaf… with our distinctive little word…‘eh’!!!!!
JT – PM