In Canada, where did the "...,eh?" come from? Did it originate w/the McKenzie Bros. characters? Is it regional

Question

Is it a regional thing...like "valley girl/surfer" lingo in california or the Bobby Deniro "I'm walking hea!" kind of talk in NY?

Answer 1

It definitely did not originate with the McKenzie Brothers! When they started they were depicting a type of person you could meet in just about any semi-rural region of Canada - granted, with some of the characteristics exaggerated. The usage of "eh" itself (I've always preferred "ey" as the spelling myself, but I think I'm alone in Canada on that score) is very widespread. If a person was raised just about anywhere in Canada, whether he or she's a streetcar driver, a nurse or a CEO, you are likely to hear him or her use it, given a relaxed enough setting.

Answer 2

Historical Context;
While the scholarly debate centers on whether eh is a Canadian expression, critics often gloss over the history of the interjection. The Modern English eh derives from Middle English interjections such as “ey,” “ei,” and “a” (“Eh,” OED). The modern spelling “eh,” could have developed independently from the Middle English variants, however, it was most likely adopted from the French “eh” (“Eh,”OED). The use of eh as a demand for repetition compares with Chaucer’s use of “I” in Troilus and Criseyde (1385): “For love of God, make of this thing an ende, / Or slee us both at ones er that ye wende . . . ‘I, what?’ quod she. ‘By God and by my trouthe, / I noot not what ye wilne that I saye” (III).
By the 18th Century eh was in use as an interjectional interrogative particle and in 1771 Goldsmith writes, “Wasn’t it lucky, eh?” (“Eh,” OED 2).
Eh as a request for repetition such as “Eh? What’s that, Sackville?” appears by the 19th Century (“Eh,” OED 3).
This history reveals that eh has its roots in Middle English and did not originate in Canada.

Answer 3

Wow! thankyou! Exactly what I was looking for. I looked for the answer on the internet but I couldn't find them.

Answer 4

kinda of from france. like eh they say that when they pause. u um no its not that regional but ya...lol

Answer 5

Would like to find out more about this as well