A Brief Bob & Doug Glossary

Bob & Doug McKenzie - a pair of backwoods Canadian brothers who have their own TV show; Bob McKenzie is played by Rick Moranis (Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Ghostbusters) and Doug McKenzie is played by Dave Thomas (Grace Under Fire); the two characters first appeared on a television show called SCTV (Second City TV) in the late 1970s and early '80s beside other comedians such as John Candy, Martin Short and Eugene Levy; the two characters would be reprised in the 1983 film Strange Brew and on two record albums, from which "The 12 Beers of Christmas" skit originates; rumors of a sequel to Strange Brew have floated around for over a decade.

Great White North - the name of Bob & Doug McKenzie's television show, prominently featured on the huge wall map of Canada which represented almost the entirety of their set; also, another name for Canda (see "snow").

snow - 50% of northern Canada's annual precipitation falls as snow, those northern reaches near the 70th parallel permanently frozen and snow-covered; all of Canada sees snow during the winter, with an average temperature in some areas of -25 Celsius (-13 Farenheit).

hosehead, hoser - loser, moron, idiot, dick, dickhead; probably derived from a reference to the male member as a "hose."

Boxing Day - the day after Christmas (December 26); named as such because it is either: a)traditionally the day in which alms boxes placed in churches over the Christmas season are opened, or b)the day Christmas presents were traditionally given in England, but nowadays as commercialized as Christmas itself, more associated with: a)the custom of giving gift boxes to employees the day after Christmas or b)the tradition of "boxing" up unwanted gifts and returning them to the store for a refund so you can get something you really wanted.

aw, geez - oh boy, boy howdy, oy vey; (see "sheesh").

beer - despite folklore, Canadian beer is only slightly higher in alcohol content than American beer (Canadian beer falling just above 5% alcohol content, American beer just below), much of the difference having to do with the way beer's alcohol content is determined in each country (in America, as a percentage of weight, in Canada and most of the world as a percentage of volume); the most well-known brands of Canadian beer are Labatt's and Molson (the latter more recently well-known for its series of "I am Canadian" commercials).

two turtlenecks - long-sleeved sweater or sweatshirt with a long neck which can be rolled down for double thickness around the neck or pulled up over the mouth and nose during exceptionally cold weather (see "snow"); so named because of its resemblance to a turtle's wrinkled neck.

three French toast - French toast is neither French nor Canadian (it's actually American in origin), but this treat of bread soaked in eggs and milk (and then fried in a pan) goes great with maple syrup on a cold winter morning (see "snow").

eh? - general catch-all statement, means "Whattya say?", "Don't you agree?", "Yes?"; pronounced "ay," like Fonzie on Happy Days used to say, although not quite so protracted; often tacked on the end of a sentence for no particular reason, and often sounds like a question when it's not.

four pounds of backbacon - better known as "Canadian bacon," it's actually closer to ham than bacon, and comes from pork loins; usually has a hickory and hardwood smoked flavor; Americans will best recognize this as the meat that comes in a McDonald's Egg McMuffin sandwich.

five golden touques, thinking touque - a hat; specifically, a knitted winter cap or ski hat (see "snow").

six packs of two-four - a "two-four" is a 24-pack of beer; ie, a case of 24 bottles (see "beer"); 6 packs of two-four is a gross (144 bottles).

seven packs of smokes - cigarettes; Canadian cigarettes are quite different from those sold in the United States--American cigarettes are made of a combination of burley, oriental and Virginia tobaccos blended with flavourings and casings, whereas almost all Canadian cigarettes are made from a single variety of Virginia tobacco grown in Ontario, with additives only added to paper and filter (not the tobacco).

eight comic books - Canadian super heroes include the members of Alpha Flight and the X-Men's Wolverine

beauty - great, nice job, wonderful; usually accompanied by "eh?", as in "beauty, eh?"

sheesh - equivalent of an exasperating sigh. Geez, Oh boy, Oy vey!

donuts - the quintissential Canadian donut shop is Tim Hortons, which opened its first location in 1964 and just celebrated the opening of its 2000th location this year; to give you some idea of its' Canada-centrism, of 2000 stores worldwide, 1885 are in Canada; Tim Hortons is now owned by the Wendy's corporation, which amusingly was founded by another Dave Thomas (no relation).

take off! - get lost, go away, get outta here.