Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tater]

Eh?

It seems like a harmless little postscript to a sentence.

�That was the best beer ever, eh?�

�It's warm out, eh?�

But, have you ever thought about those two little letters and the question mark that follows them? My fiance is Canadian, and she periodically pops out the old �Eh?� when she needs a response from me. I've come to a conclusion about those two little letters.

To me, those two letters and the question mark show a distinct and inherent sense of insecurity. Before you Canadians jump on the hyper-national bandwagon and scream �hate, hate hate,� listen to my reasoning.

An Australian feel that the pizza he and you just shared was delicious. That Australian might say, �That pizza was great.� An American might say, �That pizza was insanely good.� A British person might say, �That pizza was outstanding.�

A Canadian might say, �That pizza was delicious, eh?�

Why add that syllable? To me, it shows that Canadians need someone else to agree with their opinion before they will rightly hold it as their own. It's as if it is instilled in their DNA to demand some sort of external validity for their own opinions.

Why is that? Why do Canadians need to make sure the person they are with feels the same as they do before they will make a simple statement without turning it into a question? Why can't Canadians be confident in their own opinions without needing others to feel the same way? �Eh?� is a vocalization of some internal subconscious insecurity that has spread throughout the entirety of the Great White North. Why is that?

[ajgeddes]

Please don't marry your fiancee. She can do better.

[sharkey]

very compelling arguments, i think your findings here are good enough to be published in mensa's monthly prints.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[mekku]

i've always assumed it didn't really mean anything- that it is just a rhetorical add-on to the sentence and doesn't require an answer.....

if this is bothering you now and those are your assumptions about canadians...you may be in some trouble not so far down the road

[SeoulFinn]

I have some difficulties seeing "That pizza was outstanding" coming from a Britons mouth. OP, did you not know that the highest compliment a proper British chap can give is:

"That was not too bad." In this case, "That pizza was not too bad."

[RACETRAITOR]

I'm a Canadian and I never, ever say "eh?"

I hate Canadians who come over here and suddenly start dropping the eh bomb.

[Tiger Beer]

I'm an American and have always said 'eh'

I've never liked the fact that Canadians claim it as a unique feature thats stops at the border line. It's actually a 'Great Lakes' thing.

Fortunately I left the Great Lakes region of the States years ago, and my usage of 'eh' has dropped off considerably since then.

[oldtactics]

So you're saying that "Eh?" is just a short form of "don't you agree?" and somehow that's a bad thing? God forbid someone be polite instead of talking about themselves non-stop.

I agree with ajgeddes.

[Underwaterbob]

Wikipedia has a pretty insightful blurb about eh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eh

[caniff]

In the neck of the woods where I hail from (Boston) a lot of people substitute the "..., eh?" with "..., huh?".

"That chick over there has a great ass, huh?"

[Tater]

Interesting, at least you guys who are willing to discuss this.

I have noticed some South Africans saying "Eh?" but they seem to use it with a different inflection. It's more like "You're listening, right?"

I've just seen quite a few Canadians fold when you don't validate their opinion, and it seems odd to me.

[caniff]

[RACETRAITOR]

[ajgeddes]