There’s a new Netflix movie coming up and I have to see it. It’s called “The Man from Toronto” and the trailer has me hooked.
What’s the appeal?
Hearing all the many ways the movie stars pronounce my home-town.
Is it To-RON-TO, Tah-rawhn-toe or T’rawhnta?
I’ve watched the clip so many times that now, I’m not sure I know how I say it.
Have a look and tell me if you can hear the difference.
In case you’re interested … the name Toronto is derived from the Mohawk word tkaronto, which means “where there are trees standing in the water.”
In 1793, Toronto was renamed York by Lieutenant Governor John Simcoe who’d then made the town the capital of Upper Canada. In order to distinguish our York from England’s York and the New(er) York in America, our York became known as Little York. Except when it was called Muddy York due to its clay soil and poor drainage conditions … something that the Mohawks hinted at when they called it “where there are trees standing in water.”
By 1837 Little York outgrew its moniker and the townspeople voted to rename it back to Toronto. Ever since, Toronto has had many and varying nicknames. The Big Smoke. Hogtown. TO. Tdot Odot. The 6ix.
None of which, by the way, real Torontonians use.
We call our city Toronto.
The Sandy Chronicles 
LOL! Worth watching the movie just to hear all those Torontos! Thanks for the heads-up, Sandy 🙂
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I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the movie is as good as the trailer 🙂
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Wow … a James Bondian swagger to ‘Toronto’. Saw the trailer & will watch the film.
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Me too 🙂
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So many names. I guess all residents have pet names for their town. We have Brisbane, Brissy, Brisvegas (go figure), Brisburbs and I am sure there are others I don’t know. Nicknames – It’s a thing. Lol
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When I first came to Toronto, I remember having conversations on the right way to pronounce the name. It’s the type of thing new immigrants do. Nowadays, I don’t even think about … unless I hear some say it slightly different.
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Similarly, any foreigner stands out when they pronounce MelBOURNE, not Melbin, or BrisBANE not Brisbin. Even when I was in Oslo, Norway, I quickly began to say Oshlo in their dialect, as opposed to Oslo.
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Noted for the next time I visit .. although I’ll still stand out for all the other words I’ll say 🙂
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All good, Sandy. We will still love having you visit!
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