Why do we say or do ... ??

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HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY... ???

These are questions we've asked ourselves from time to time. To make it easier on
your eyes -- and your mouse -- I've broken down the list into four pages (instead
of just one very long page). Just follow the links and enjoy!

Please let me know if you have another question of your own. I want to include it
here too! Just e-mail me at info@bitesizecanada.org!

The name Canada dates back to the year 1535. It was used by two Amerindians who were travelling
with Jacques Cartier to describe Stadacona -- which is now known as Quebec City. Actually, the
word they used was "Kanata", which is the Huron-Iroquois word for "village" or "settlement", and
Cartier simply repeated the word as Canada. The name stuck.

Have you ever wondered why Canadians write "honour" and the Americans write "honor"? It seems
as though Canadians enjoy ending their words with "our".

The person responsible for this is Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. On June 12,
1890 he said, and I quote, "... therefore recommends the issue of instructions to the effect that in all
official documents ... the English practise be uniformly followed ... what is the mode now accepted by
the best authorities in England and the best dictionaries and encyclopedias now in use in England ..."

All that to say, "If England uses "our" instead of "or", then so does Canada.

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