The Canadian Experience: Talking Canadian (2004)

Why do English-speaking Canadians talk the way we do? Why do we say couch instead of chesterfield, and windshield instead of windscreen? How did French words like portage and prairie become part of the vocabulary, and native words like beaver and tobacco part of everyday speech? Few of us are aware that the language we speak has less to do with conscious choice than it does with our past: when and why we came to Canada, where we settled, and the tug of war between British and American influences that has been part of our lives for centuries. Talking Canadian is a light-hearted exploration of the way we spoke in the past, how we speak today, and how we will likely talk in the future.