15 November 2009

T-Dot

I am in Toronto for the next few days for the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) Research Conference and the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE). I came on the train with my Board President and amused myself along the way updating my Facebook status with my progress (I had to add back in the accents on the French ones, as FB stripped them away!):

- is headed to T-Dot on the T-rain today.
- est à Dorval...en route vers T-point. Est-ce que ça se dit?
- empiète sur le térritoire canadien...et personne n'a demandé de passeport!
- Cornwall! (Hi Shendah's mother!)
- Kingston, et le train sera complêt pour le reste du voyage, on annonce.
- Farmland...and no sudoku in the VIA Destinations magazine.
- Guildwood.
- 29e étage! (Oui, le monsieur est arrivé a T-point.)

Only 8 updates, which I consider rather restrained. ;-)

Now for the lexical translation… T-Dot being a hopelessly inane name for Toronto. I believe it started with T.O., and then they just dropped the O (did it sound too much like BO?). This is probably all quite passé as well, as I think they are calling it « Metro » since their own municipal mergers, but that will always designate for me a train on rubber tires wending its way through underground Montréal.

To make things worse, I have attempted my own translation of the archaic inane expression, making it T-point in French. All of my FB friends are most confused.

I will attempt some photos of my fabulous view, looking north over Osgoode Hall and the Toronto City Hall, from the 29th floor of the hotel, but that will have to wait until there’s a little light tomorrow.

For now, in a nod to Bob, let me offer you a look at my hotel room. I wonder if his will be looking similar this week?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sounds like it's time to get an iPhone and update status with pics and accents :-p

Ken Monteith said...

You're right. Now do I need that more than some other stuff I've been coveting, or can it wait?

Bob said...

Hey Ken.

I stumble on here (finding you through Brian's blog) - and what do I find? A ruralrob tribute! I'm tickled pink. Pretty soon you'll be posting puppy pics! :-)Anyway, a picture very much like yours of today will, of course, be appearing on my own blog momentarily.


Keep well!

Bob