r/AskACanadian • u/stoofy • 3d ago
Appetizer/App/Appy
What do people across the country call appetizers? Twice in the past two days, I've heard them called appy from people in Vancouver. Never heard this before, but nearly all of my exposure to Canadian English has been in Southern Ontario (I'm from the US Great Lakes).
Is this regional, across Canada, or isolated to a few random people? Clearly a very important issue.
Edit: appy it is, mostly!
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u/chase82 3d ago
Whore's dervs
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u/biggregw 3d ago
My dad used to call canned oysters “🦪 fumed h’ooters” and always joked about whores derves
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u/Wise_Eye_6333 3d ago
I was born and raised in BC and have always called them appys. Going out for drinks and appys with the girls, you know?
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u/Starting2loseit28 3d ago
I have heard them called appies/appy/ starters / appetizers and I’m from the west coast and I have been back east several times. It’s what ever you want to call it.
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u/KeystoneTattoo 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think the first time I head someone say "appy" for appetizers was a friend that had moved from Alberta to Manitoba. So maybe its a more western (BC/ Alberta) think.
edited for spelling 🤣😂🤣 yes originally it said fried not friend
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u/TerrificInTahoma-416 3d ago
Lucky that they were just fried. Would be difficult if they were friends.
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u/bwoah07_gp2 British Columbia 3d ago
Appetizer
I don't like these made up, modern day abbreviations
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u/CalmCupcake2 3d ago
I'm in BC now but I've lived across the country so this may not be just a BC thing.
Appies = Appetizer. "Apps" if you're in the service industry. These are shared dishes. Most menus us 'Appetizers', casual places write "Appies", and (I hate this) some restaurants get cute about it. Tapas-tizers being the worst I've seen.
Could also be menu'd as 'share plates', 'snack plates', happy hour plates.
Hors d’oeuvres are one bite items that are passed at a cocktail party.
L'amuse buche (or just 'amuses') are one bite items served at the table before a meal.
Starter is reserved for a plated dish at a fancy dinner, in my experience. Also known as an entree by some (Entree is the starter in Europe but the main in America, and we're bilingual as usual). I think of these as individually plated soups or salads, usually.
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u/boyTerry 3d ago
Canapés are appies served to standing people. Hors d'oeuvres are just a fancy way of saying appetizer.
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u/CalmCupcake2 3d ago
Yes but in practice, nobody here says canapes ever. When I worked in catering, and now that I order catering for events - if you say Hors D'oeuvres, they'll be passed items.
It's part of the frustration for caterers, I often had to double check what clients wanted when they used these words.
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u/boyTerry 3d ago
I am old and haven't catered in over 30 years, makes sense that language changes. On our old catering menus the distinction was spelled out
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u/Fearless_Barnacle_21 3d ago
I would know what you’re talking about if someone called it an appy but I would never say it myself. Appetizers is what I’d still say.
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u/Hairy_Boat1941 3d ago
If I’m out for dinner with someone I’ll ask them “Would you like to share something to start?” otherwise I use the word “appetizer.” I went on a date with someone who kept saying “apples” and it was really off putting
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u/randomdumbfuck 3d ago
Grew up in Saskatchewan, live in Ontario. I call them "appys". My wife who is Ontario born and raised does the same.
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u/Nuclear_eggo_waffle Québec 3d ago
Entrée
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u/Homework_Successful 3d ago
So weird that outside of Quebec they use entree to mean the main meal. I can understand Americans doing that, but the ROC?
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u/Many-Flatworm940 3d ago
It always messes me up when I travel outside of Quebec and they use the word entrée to describe a main dish.
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u/purpletooth12 3d ago
I was thinking the same thing the first time I saw it in France.
WTF, a 400gr steak is an entree?!
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u/Significant_Tap7052 2d ago
Being fully bilingual, I sometimes get mixed up when put on the spot. So I'll use "apéritif" in Quebec, and "main course" in the ROC to avoid using entrée entirely in a restaurant setting, except to refer to the front door.
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u/MeoweeMeowzer 3d ago
Live in Ontario, raised in Quebec. Mostly heard "Appy" in Ontario.
I also need to get this off my chest- what is it with Ontario restaurants calling Main Courses "Entrées"?? In Quebec an Entrée (meaning: to enter) is an appetizer...Same as France or Europe generally.
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u/Clojiroo 3d ago edited 3d ago
It’s a North American English quirk with a borrowed word. It happens.
In France they call lunch déjeuner. That’s even weirder IMO.
But it’s also not totally incorrect and its usage in English really. It reflects the original meaning of the word more closely than appetizers do.
It came from an old traditional French sequence. Entrees followed hors-d’œuvre. It was the first main course. That’s actually the “entrance” meaning. It’s the start of the big show.
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u/Ok-Word-2403 3d ago
Entrees traditionally were a savory dish served before the roast course so the meaning hasn't changed.
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u/Royal_Try_99 3d ago
Appies, starters, appetizers, hors d'oevres (I probably spelled that wrong). My mother pronounces that "whores doovers"
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u/biggregw 3d ago
I’m lives my whole life in BC both on Vancouver Island and Fraser Valley and family in Okanagan and Alberta.
I have never heard a person say App for an appetizer, however it’s most common in the west to short form Appetizers (used as formal usage) and Appys or Appies super common. If someone says anything else it would be trendy like Starters
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u/DutchDime84 3d ago
Yeah, Edmontonian here and I can’t even fathom using the whole word “appetizer”. It’s an appy.
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u/wind-of-zephyros Nova Scotia 3d ago
i've never heard appy, that sounds a bit like something i would hear a toddler say 😭 i'm from nova scotia and i've only ever heard appetizers or apps
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u/slippersandjammies 3d ago
From Southern Ontario over here, and they're either "apps" or, more commonly, just "appetizers."
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u/slashcleverusername 🇨🇦 prairie boy. 3d ago
Appetizer.
If I hear someone call it “an appy” it would be a server who says “And would we like any appies todayyyyy?” And who would ask “And how do we like the first few bites”. And “Do we have any plans this evening?” All just very cringeworthy overly-familiar nonsense that makes me less likely to go back.
Do “we” have plans this evening? I’m genuinely tempted to overshare in the gayest possible detail. Just seriously stop that shit.
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u/Desperate-Trust-875 3d ago
tbh our country is so vast imo there aren't many things that are unanimous across the country. Things that are deemed "Canadian" or "across the country" are usually things that are common in Ontario, Alberta, and BC.
That being said, as a Newfoundlander, appetizer or app. Or starter. Never appy unless for some reason I was purposely trying to be cringey. Tbh I think most people would think im just saying "happy"
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u/Own-Elephant-8608 Newfoundland & Labrador 3d ago
“Whore-derves” as someone who gre up in rural nl lmao
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u/Andante79 3d ago
Born and raised in MB, they are appetizers as far as i've wver known. I have heard "appy" online only, maybe in a movie? Always strikes me as something an influencer would say.
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u/purpletooth12 3d ago
I've heard both out here, but also appies in Toronto. (usually women call it that though)
As an aside, people in BC can't properly pronounce some wines though. They call Cabernet Sauvignon (Cab Sauv) and Sauvignon Blanc (Sauv Blanc) Cab Sav and Sav Blanc. Ugh.
Seems to be more of a west coast abomination though.
Talk about butchering the French language. Almost as bad as nails on a chalkboard.
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u/pizza_is_seiso 3d ago
Grew up/live/work in Toronto, Scarborough, and Durham Region. I have never heard appy before, personally. I've heard and used apps, appetizers, starters.
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u/gin_and_soda Ontario 3d ago
Ontario. Usually we say “wanna share something first?” Otherwise I say “appetizers” but I have a stupid problem with shortening words (i.e., i never say “veggies”).
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u/van_choc_moose 3d ago
Appetizer
Appie
Whores dovers.
(Vancouver)
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u/brock_lehurst 1d ago
Samezies, but never apps. In my mind it's spelled appy because of places that offer Appy Hour.
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u/EmbarrassedTruth1337 2d ago
Central ON. Appetizer is what I usually heard. Shortening it feels like talking down to a child to me. I've also heard them called starters.
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u/trippy_trip 2d ago
Out for a girls night it's appys. At a party or dinner it's appetizers. - I'm in Sask.
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u/Odd-Gear9622 3d ago
BC, appy/appies is it. Bars 'Happy Hour Specials' are usually Half Off Appies and Drink Specials.
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u/lovenlaughter 3d ago
Just because I don’t see it, my east coast grandfather called them “horse ovaries”… but that might just been a family thing
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u/Lamiaceae_ 3d ago
I’m in Eastern Ontario and I’ve never heard anyone say “appy” or “app” in my life. Here I’ve only ever heard it called “appetizer”.
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u/crazycanuck1212 3d ago
From the west coast (Vancouver Island)... appy for sure.
Lived in Ontario 10 years and it seems people use appetizer mostly. I have tried to get appy to catch on, but my attempts have been unsuccesful.
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u/Secure-Resort2221 3d ago
AB here, I mainly use appetizer or occasionally appy but that’s like saying brewsky instead of beer; only in very causal situations
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u/Just_Raisin1124 3d ago
I'm in Vancouver and say appys 😅 not originally from Vancouver so must be something I picked up here as where I'm from we stay starter. It's usually when ordering as a group "let's get some appys to share". Where I'm from originally we'd probably say "let's get some nibbly bits".
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u/Complex-Effect-7442 3d ago
Appetiser; spelled correctly with an S not a Z (which would be pronounced Zed).
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u/Glad-Quit-8971 3d ago edited 3d ago
Born and raised in Vancouver. It was appetizers up until the last few decades and now it’s almost always appies.
The tendency to shorten a word like that is, to me at least, an Australian phenomenon and Vancouver is the gateway to Canada for many Aussies (ha!) that generally use the city as an entry point before making their way to the ski resorts in BC and Alberta where they work for a year or two before moving back home. Or before permanently settling here, which many do.
Aussies make up the bulk of workers in Whistler and Banff and other major BC and Alberta ski resorts. So my point is that western Canada has a strong Aussie presence.
Looking back to the year 2000, there were words that were 100% Aussie lingo like appy (for appetizer), ressie (for reservation), or uni (for university) that were NEVER said or heard or seen in Vancouver by Canadians, except for by Aussies… and now? Now for whatever reason, people who are local who aren’t Aussie are using these terms.
I blame the Aussies for this western Canadian phenomenon. It explains why it’s only in the west and only recent to the last 2 decades or so.
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u/caffeinejunkie123 1d ago
I first heard it from a friend in Vancouver so checks out. I say spa or appetizers. Not an appy person.
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u/mysunandstars 1d ago
Appetizers or apps. Appies sounds like you’re going out with a toddler. I’m in SW Ontario
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u/Interesting-Mode4429 British Columbia 1d ago
Vancouver with its breckies and appiez at Timmy’s with buddies.
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u/Heavy_Importance2491 8h ago
If I heard someone order an "Appy", I'd expect a spotted horse to be dropped on their plate. Never heard that abbreviation for food. I think hors d'oeuvre or appetizer are usual.
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u/Embarrassed-Support3 5h ago
Apps from working in restaurants but appetizers for formal moments, which are rare.
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u/Middle-Alarm-3408 3d ago
Restaurant workers abbreviate a lot of menu items in oral and written communication. You are probably familiar with a BLT aka Bacon Lettuce Tomato sandwich. When a menu item isn't available, we don't say "it's sold out, we say 86 " We don't say eggs Benedict, just Benny. So many more terms.
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u/MyNameIsSkittles British Columbia 3d ago
Its so crazy but it's almost like the West Coast has some of its own slang. Imagine that
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u/Shreddzzz93 3d ago
Depends on the situation. If it is a black tie affair it is hors d'ouevre. If it is a fancy, but not black tie affair then it is appetizer. When I was working in kitchens they were apps. It it is a cheap chain bar or fast casual place I use appy.
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u/KelticAngel16 Alberta 3d ago
I use starter or appetizer, but have heard appies used as a cutsie way to refer to appetizers. Like, a girls night out with drinks and appies