Travis Paterson

Black Press

ItB次元官网网址檚 the most defining word of the Canadian lexicon, a notable utterance that needs no explanation. Eh.

ItB次元官网网址檚 easy to say. It comes mostly at the end of a sentence. And itB次元官网网址檚 mostly a qualifier to find confirmation in a conversation. ItB次元官网网址檚 used often on American television to define the Canadian stereotype. It also appears on billboards, television and internet ads on both sides of the border.

We decided to change our name for . Turn on sound to find out how itB次元官网网址檚 pronounced. 馃嚚馃嚘

B次元官网网址� K'ehFC (@kfc_canada)

Case in point, check out KFCB次元官网网址檚 KehFC move for CanadaB次元官网网址檚 150th. Surprisingly, however, eh doesnB次元官网网址檛 get the play we might think.

A new study by post-doctoral researcher Derek Denis at the University of Victoria (with associate professor of linguistics Alexandra DB次元官网网址橝rcy) shows the word is used far less frequently in Canada than what he expected.

B次元官网网址淲e find all the ehs, rights and you knows, add them up and eh tends to represent about 1 to 5 per cent compared to right and you know,B次元官网网址� Denis said.

So how did eh take off as a defining Canadianism? Bob and Doug, eh.

ItB次元官网网址檚 generally accepted the word eh only became a defining piece of Canadiana when Second City TVB次元官网网址檚 Bob and Doug McKenzie appended it to the end of their sentences in the 1980s, including their trademark defense, B次元官网网址楾ake off eh.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 at that point the wordB次元官网网址檚 reputation took hold as uniquely Canadian, Denis said, adding it lended to the exaggerated caricatures of Canadians, particularly the working class.

B次元官网网址淐anadians enjoyed [seeing eh in the media] so much, that as a nation which likes to identify as not-American, we re-appropriated the word,B次元官网网址� Denis said.

The eh word, as far as we know it, has been used in English since at least the 1770s, though it was probably used much earlier than that in spoken English, Denis said. The first attestation of B次元官网网址榚hB次元官网网址� in Canadian literature shows up in T. C. HaliburtonB次元官网网址檚 novel The Clockmaker from 1836. It first appears in the play She Stoops To Conquer by Irish playwright Oliver Goldsmith in 1773.

B次元官网网址淭his is consistent with the fact that B次元官网网址榚hB次元官网网址� is not uniquely Canadian, but rather is found in Englishes around the world.B次元官网网址�

Denis originally came across the usage of eh during his research while focusing on CanadaB次元官网网址檚 homogenuity, or lack of difference in speech, in the regions from Ontario-Quebec border all the way to Victoria.

B次元官网网址淚n the Maritimes you have a great variety and in the U.S. too, but there is little change in the way people speak from here to Ontario.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 during that research Denis discovered the other pragmatic markers (the term used for those small words that can bring confirmation to a conversation).

Canadians over 60 years of age are far more likely to end a sentence with B次元官网网址榶ou know, and those below 60 are more likely to end a sentence with B次元官网网址榬ight.B次元官网网址� Less than five per cent, are likely to use the word eh.

ItB次元官网网址檚 surprising news, but eh fits better.

Take off, right? Happy Canada Day, you know?