Autumn versus Fall ~ Caterwauling on Canadian English

merrrrrrRRROWWW!!!

It  seems my long lolligags in the the sun in lieu of my Wiley Weekly Words have been to the detriment of the English language, in Canada at least.  So I am once again stretching my claws, tapping away on this keyboard in an attempt to stretch the minds of the two-leggers that surround me!  We really can’t have them becoming too dull witted, after all, as heaven forbid (yes, I know I am already a deity, but I can’t control all at the lift of a paw) that that will end in them thinking it is okay to feed me anything less than the best feline culinary delights.

So being a proudly Canadian cat, I feel it my duty to remind Canadian two-leggers of Canadian English (not that there is anything wrong with American English, but just as American cats should paw some sense into their two-leggers, if they begin speaking Canadian English, Canadian cats meow their indignation at Canadian two-leggers  if they start speaking American English).  We do love our -isms and differences between our two great nations after all.

… So for the love of catnip, two-leggers … it is ‘Autumn’ in Canada, not ‘Fall’!!!  Just as for the American two-leggers, it is ‘Fall’, not ‘Autumn’!!!

Now, I know you all being two-leggers and a bit of a simpler witted species, you may need more of an explanation to remember this.  So … Why ‘Autumn’ in Canada?   Back in the 16th Century, in the Old World (Europe), the name for the Season between Summer and Winter was replaced from simply being called ‘Harvest’ to ‘Autumn’ by the British, derived from the French word l’Autumne, which of course was originally derived from the Latin word Autumnus, used by the Romans to describe this Season. At the same time, others in Europe began to use the Germanic word ‘Fall’ (from the German verb ‘fallen’ – to literally ‘fall’, as leaves do from trees in the Autumn).  Both of these words came across to the New World (North America) in the 17th Century, and as at that time the predominant Old World settlers in Canada were the French and British, and as the Americans wanted to distinguish themselves from the Old World, ‘Autumn’ became the more popular (or at least more formal term) in Canada and the Americans predominantly adopted the word ‘Fall’ for the Season.

Well … I may have taken a few catastic liberties there, as ‘Fall’ is still accepted in Canada, as the less formal term, but as a Canadian cat, I am prepared to caterwaul after Canadian two-leggers to voice their Canadiana, and in this case, ‘Autumn’, as it rather purrs off the tongue!

~ FFR