That's what people in Canada call Toronto. It's Toronto Ontario, or T.O., so people shorten it even further and affectionally call Toronto the "T Dot." Other popular and each-more-ridiculous-than-the-last variations on the theme are for Guelph Ontario (G Dot), Nelson B.C. (N Dot). Yeah, it's a bit like the post-Watergate phenomenon of adding "gate" to anything scandalous. I fondly remember the scandalous 'Casinogate' happening somewhere around Vancouver as a youth. My younger brother Scott once told me how he'd heard a story somewhere about some scandal that somehow involved an actual gate. 'Gategate'. I thought that was pretty funny. I still do. Well, not as funny as this picture of Scott, but still a real knee slapper. Feel free to add a comment to this post about any 'dot' or 'gate' related stories you might want to share....to post links to embarasssing pictures of your siblings. Like this, for example.
Anyhow, what was I getting at? Yes, right, Toronto. Dom and I are rolling down to Toronto today to spend some time in the studio with Brendan and Jody. Jody's coming up from Phoenix to lay down some tracks at Metalworks. Yes, this week we'll be in the studio where all "the magic happens", as they say. It's going to be great to actually be there to see Jody's part of the trade come to fruition. Stay tuned for vids and pics.
Oh, and due to popular demand, one red paperclip merchandise is now availble thru cafepress.
I'll personally give a high five to anyone who shows up in Kipling wearing one red paperclip gear. A high ten if your dog wears some.
The design available has nothing to do with the t-shirt contest and will be available indefinitely thru CafePress. As for the five future winning t-shirt contest designs, well, we still haven't figured out how we're going to produce or distribute them long term, but I can assure you there will be a healthy assortment of each of the five available over the Labor Day long weekend in Kipling. We're still accepting design submissions right up to Aug 1st, and will announce the winners soon thereafter.
Kyle
No one on the west coast calls Toronto - T Dot, only those from Toronto living on the west coast.
ReplyDeleteYes, and similarily, nobody actually from Vancouver calls Vancouver "Van."...only those who moved there or live elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI've heard similar things about 'Frisco'.
Man, this is turning into quite the specific-names geography lesson.
kyle
no one in kipling calls it "K-dot" either...but i've heard it in regina!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I love the story. Keep taking it to the next level.
ReplyDeleteChris
http://thesuperdad.blogspot.com
Dot-gate..... the Dot scandal, I have to agree no one in Regina calls Toronto, T Dot..... well maybe the crazy guy that yells at people driving in their cars does, who knows?
ReplyDeleteWow, the Cafe Press merch looks fantastic. I love how minimal your logo makes everything look. The 'clip really stands out. Hope you sell a ton of stuff.
ReplyDelete-- Tod from VT
Hi Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI just moved to T Dot. Working by the DVP (Don Valley Parkway), right across the street from BMO (Bank Of Montreal). My girlfriend and I visited NOTL (Niagra On The Lake) last week. People here are all about abbreviations. I guess too busy to say the whole thing. lol. Boy do I miss Montreal. Can't wait to eat at PDC's (Pied de Cochon) again. Always will be a Habs (Les Habitants) and Als (Alouettes) fan. Do any abbreviations exist for Montreal? Monty or M Dot??? Maybe we should start one, how about LBVM (La Belle Ville de Montreal). Love what you've done with your ORP Clip. Congrats.
You know who Alex Rodriguez is well I guess people call him A-Rod...well I know alot of people who are now adding Rod to their first initial...like I have been called V-Rod and I have 2 friends who are A-Rod and D-Rod LOL...not really related to the T-DOt naming scheme...but I thought I would mention it.
ReplyDeleteits me granny, i liv in tennessee, we have tenn. dept. of transportation, tdot, our local newscaster did not know for the longest time what it meant, he would read the news tdot & not know.
ReplyDeleteBecause saying "W Dot" would be too much of a mouthful, friends of mine around here in Kitchener-Waterloo aka KW sometimes call it the K-Dub... just for fun.
ReplyDeleteYou know, for kicks?
I once heard someone refer to Vancouver as "the Couve". I had no idea what they were referring to, and I grew up there. That's as lame as Tdot!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh! I was born in V Dot, and moved to R Dot and then moved to C Dale aka Clova, and then to M Ville. Those short forms remind me of all of the funny saying and jokes my sisters and I used to do when we were little. I was born in Vancouver, and I have never heard of the "the Couve". You learn something new everyday!
ReplyDeleteLOL...Just brought back some memories when I was young. My friends and I used to shorten everything.
ReplyDelete"Hey wanna go to K.P...then we can go grab a bite at B.K...check out some H.C...before we H.H..."
LOL
P.S. Kyle, I have your image linked to your blog on the first spot on my site for blogs only. If you want it removed just give me a shout.
Never mind about all that T Dot stuff, your brother is going to get his own back on you for posting those pictures. I hope he doesn't try to trade up on his revenge and try to get you a little bit better than you just got him.
ReplyDeleteFunny story. It made me laugh during a dead boring day. Thanks alot!
ReplyDeleteIn Vancouver, we call Toronto, just T.O. or Tranna. People outside of Vancouver lke to call it Vancity, but nobody in Vancouver does as it is a bank.
ReplyDeleteT-Dot REPRESENT!
ReplyDeleteCongrats by the way! :-)
As I was born in Etobicoke (a suburb of T-Dot) moved to "the Big HL" (Holland Landing), then on to "the Market" (Newmarket) then onto B-Dot (Barrie) - All in Ontario BTW, north of the T-Dot.
ReplyDeleteAnd how I go to WLU (Wlifrid Laurier University) in "The Loo" (Waterloo). It is obvious that here in "the Big O" (Ontario) we lead such busy lives that we need to shorten everything.
Following this trend, I know one of my co-workers has contacted you regarding speaking at our E-week (Entrepreneur Week) event here in the Loo. It's an excellent event and I highly recommend coming!
BTW- congrats on your final trade!! I'm very impressed!
The concept of adding "Gate" in almost all scandals since Nixon's infamous Watergate really got me into thinking: How about Bill Gates? :) (this is just to humor you). Good observation, Kyle. :)
ReplyDeletea bunch of my friends who went to Guelph U actually call Guelph "G Spot" not "G Dot"...
ReplyDeleteSo I'm super late posting this but as a Canadian transplant to Galway Ireland I had no idea about this 'trade-up' until a few weeks ago when Today FM in Dublin held their own 'One Red Paperclip' trade show. I believe the end result was 2 weeks in a cottage on the Dublin Peninsula...And then today I saw a reference about this blog in an article on Sympatico and haven't been able to stop reading it! I love it! I am actually going to put a link from my own blog here so all my friends can enjoy it too!
ReplyDeleteThis idea is Genius and I'm just sad I'll miss the house warming party! But if you make it an annual thing I will SO be there next year!
Thanks for bringing a smile to this far-away Canadian!
PS I went to U of Guelph and we do refere to it as the G-Spot, not dot. And I lived in Burlington for 10 years and we call that B-town...not as funny but it does lead me to believe that as Canadians we are too lazy to actually say the full name of places/things...2-4 of beer...need I say more?