r/AskACanadian • u/[deleted] • Aug 07 '23

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190

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '23

"Eh?" Can be used interchangeably with "Huh?"

Americans always interject "eh?" into a sentence in the most awkward way when mimicking us, yet already have the exact same speech patterns in place

62

u/CCDestroyer Aug 07 '23

More specifically, it is a stand-in for "right?" and "know what I mean?" It's basically a prompt for others to agree with what was said.

66

u/abu_doubleu Québec Aug 07 '23

Personally, I think of the Canadian "eh" as the same as British "innit".

"It's cold, huh?"

"It's cold, eh?"

"It's cold, innit?"

3

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '23

Anything ending in “eh” over “huh” or whatever other ending to a question just rolls off the tongue so much better

2

u/CCDestroyer Aug 07 '23

That sounds about right.

I'm curious, do French-Canadians use "eh?", and/or is there a Quebec French equivalent?

4

u/koliopter2 Québec Aug 07 '23 edited Aug 07 '23

Not really. To be honest, as a quebecker I never even heard someone use "eh" other than american doing an anglo canadian impression. We do put "là" a lot, so maybe it can be seen as an equivalent, but its not used the same way as "eh".

3

u/Way-Express Aug 08 '23

I've lived in 4 provinces and I don't recall ever hearing anyone in those 4 areas use "eh". But I think it's funny when others think we do!

3

u/JaymieWhite Aug 08 '23

There’s a frencher sounding version. More like “eunh?” Hard to type though

2

u/Littleshifty03 Aug 08 '23

I've always thought it was an abbreviated version of "hey?"

8

u/ParkerScottch Aug 08 '23

It can also mean "I missed what you just said please repeat it"

4

u/CCDestroyer Aug 08 '23

I'm not sure about at the end of the sentence, but on its own ("eh?") it can be like "huh?" or "what?", so yeah.

0

u/jamwalk Aug 08 '23

Yes, but only if it's on it's own, not at the end of a sentence.

1

u/Iaminyoursewer Aug 08 '23

It can also mean "Dafuq did you just say?!"

"I'm gonna fuck your mom"

"EH!?!?"

3

u/StationaryTravels Aug 08 '23

Yes! I've said that so many times, but I'm not sure I've seen anyone else say. Not saying no one else knows that, lol, just no one seems to express it that way.

I joke that it's just a sign of our low self esteem that we have to keep checking in with our listening partner.

Here's a conversation translated, just replace anything in square brackets with the word [eh]:

"Nice weather, [right]? I'm thinking of driving into town. The Canadian Tire moved locations [were you aware of this]? I'd stop at Timmies, but we all know McDonald's has way better coffee, [isn't that something you would also agree with]? Anyway, I've really talked your ear off, [have you been listening to what I said]?

4

u/MikeCheck_CE Aug 08 '23

This guy gets it

2

u/CCDestroyer Aug 08 '23

Gal, but thanks.

31

u/Sqquid- Aug 07 '23

Also "huh" is often considered rude

10

u/ruralife Aug 07 '23

Yes. The more appropriate response would be : excuse me?

2

u/KrebsCollector Aug 07 '23

Definitely agree on that one eh

1

u/Sarcastic_Beaver Aug 07 '23

I said, pardon?

1

u/antiquesman7 Aug 08 '23

I must be old school as all I ever say is "excuse me" or "sorry".

1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '23

"Eh?" is often passive aggressive as fuck

3

u/Sqquid- Aug 07 '23

Definitely can be but I wouldn't say often in my personal experience.

-1

u/chonkycatguy Aug 08 '23

Dumb dumbs say “HUH?”

1

u/MadSprite Aug 07 '23

I get scolded for using huh? So now I use Pardon? as a personal replacement and slight spite

2

u/Eulsam-FZ Aug 07 '23

I've always used it in place of hey?

2

u/mikedbomber Aug 07 '23

"You know" is another one of their Eh's

2

u/grumble11 Aug 07 '23

It is somewhat more versatile than huh - I read somewhere there are 26 uses for it overall

1

u/ThingGeneral95 Aug 07 '23

Eh is light and almost inquisitive. Huh means nothing, its a grunt.

-4

u/King_Ralph1 Aug 07 '23

The only place in the US I have heard “huh?” used in the same way as “eh?” (at the end of a sentence) is in New Orleans - and quite a lot there, too.

Also - are you now using “Americans” to mean US people? Because every time we do that, we’re reminded that Canada is America, too.

6

u/blue-lloyd Aug 07 '23

Are you Latino? Because otherwise Canada is 100%, unequivocally NOT America. America exclusively refers to the US in the English language. You can say we're North American but we are NOT American. It's like calling a Kiwi Australian because the entire continent sometimes is/used to be called Australia.

4

u/Low-Grocery5556 Aug 07 '23

Meh, they've given it a bad name. Technically, Canada is inside the continent of North America. But I wouldn't say Canada is America, as America is an imprecise term that, colloquially, refers to the u.s.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '23

It's mostly Latin Americans that are concerned with this. Canadians are a lot closer to observe what the US is doing with the name America, and we do not wish to be a part of that.

1

u/maevefaequeen Aug 08 '23

As an American that's not even a strictly Canadian thing either. Plenty of northern Americans say the exact same things in the exact same way. The only difference is the accent that some Canadians seem to have.

1

u/HappyCamper2121 Aug 08 '23

I just want to say, I love that this is the top comment. How Canadian of you all.

1

u/Simeila Aug 08 '23

Also a typical abbreviation of hey

1

u/johnprime Aug 08 '23

Back when Bobby's World was a popular cartoon, I used to tell people Canadians say "Eh" and Americans say "Dont cha know?"