Spinvox Reveals the 15 Most Popular Canadian Slang Words

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SpinVox, leader in voice-to-text conversion technology, has revealed the 15 most popular Canadian slang words. Thanks to SpinVox’s D2 system, the multilingual system behind the pioneering voice-to-text conversion service which is constantly learning new words and expressions, it is possible to analyse the words that people use on a day-to-day basis. These new words are added to the SpinVox system to build the largest dictionary of spoken language, denominated the “Voxgeist.”

In other words, when someone says words such as “Mickey” (bottle of booze carried by winos) or “Nanaimo” (chocolate bar from British Columbia), the system learns the expression and adds it to the dictionaries contained in the SpinVox Message Conversion System (VMCS) or D2, so that the next time it is used, it can be instantly recognised and correctly converted into text. In fact, only 30 percent of D2’s vast vocabulary can be found in standard Canadian language dictionaries. SpinVox then converts your voice into text and sends that text either as SMS text messages, emails, memos, blog posts, or even social network sites.

With a formidable combination of artificial intelligence, voice recognition and natural linguistics, the system has the capacity to learn new words at an average of 150 words a week.

D2’s Canadian regional dictionary currently includes words such as:

1. Allophone –Someone whose first language is neither English nor French.

2. Ble d’Inde –corn on the cob

3. Bourassa – Robert Bourassa a former premier of Quebec

4. Cabot – Famous explorer of North America

5. Coulee – means to flow

6. Keener: A brown-noser whose excessive keen-ness for the unpleasant task at hand makes the rest of us look bad.

7. Loonie: the nic name for the Canadian $1 coin

8. Mickey: A mickey is one of those curved, flat, 13-ounce bottles of booze that winos carry.

9. Nanaimo - A type of chocolate bar, originally produced in the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. It consists of a crumb-based layer, topped by a layer of light custard or vanilla butter icing, which is covered in soft chocolate.

10. Nunavut – newest Canadian territory , next to the North West Territories

11. Oolochan – small ocean fish

12. Poutine: Poutine is a cholesterol-rich Canadian "delicacy" consisting of French fries covered in cheese curds and gravy. When prepared badly, it congeals in your guts like concrete.

13. Toonie: the nick name for the Canadian $2 coin

14. Tourtiere – French meat pie

15. Sniggler: Someone who takes the parking spot you wanted, or is generally annoying

Voxgeist

Former Cambridge University speech expert and director of SpinVox’s Advanced Speech Group, Dr. Tony Robinson, said: “The convergence of voice and screen is a thoroughly fascinating moment in the progression of the way we communicate and what we choose to say. Language is an ever changing beast and at SpinVox we witness this on a daily basis, whether it’s French, Spanish, German or English. D2 is learning new words and expressions every day. In fact only 30 percent of D2’s vast vocabulary can be found in standard English language dictionaries. The rest have been collated as a result of its amazing ability to learn new words at an average of 150 words a week. D2 is constantly updating the SpinVox system to build the world’s largest dictionary of spoken language in the messages that we convert, right now. We call this the ‘Voxgeist’.”

The SpinVox voicemail-to-text service allows users to receive their voicemails as SMS text messages, e-mails or both, offering time savings, efficiency and convenience over calling-in to retrieve voicemails. In addition, SpinVox provides other groundbreaking and innovative voice-to-screen services, such as:

• SpinVox Social Networks– Update your Facebook, Twitter or Jaiku page by speaking into your phone.
• SpinVox Blog– Speak into your phone and SpinVox will convert it to text and post it right to your blog.
• SpinVox Memo– Dictate memos and reminders into your phone and SpinVox will convert them to text and e-mail them to your inbox.
• SpinVox Text– Dictate a message that SpinVox converts to text and sends to one or multiple mobile phones as SMS text messages.

Notes to the editor

About the SpinVox Voxgeist: For SpinVox, becoming the global leader in a new way of communicating has not happened overnight. But in less than two years, SpinVox has converted automatically from voice to text over 50 million messages in four languages, delivering them as SMS texts, emails, blogs or posts on social network walls and spaces.

To achieve these conversions , we use dictionaries that we have built from the ever-changing local language and vernacular that people use every day when leaving messages. This we call the `Voxgeist`.

The dictionaries are contained in the SpinVox Voice Message Conversion System (VMCS), known as `D2`. The system is the most advanced of its kind, having already been selected by 12 telecommunications carriers worldwide and millions of users

VMCS works by combining state-of-the-art speech technologies with human intelligence and learning. A fully automated system, it `knows what it doesn't know` and is able to call for assistance when required. VMCS is continually evolving and currently converts messages in English, French, Spanish and German. In compiling Voxgeist lists, no individual user's information is available or accessible to us. What they reveal is a cumulative snapshot of new language that VMCS is learning over time, that perhaps tell us something of the human condition as we go about our daily lives.

This information is free for your use, with the appropriate attribution to SpinVox.

About SpinVox:

SpinVox® brought together the two most popular methods of communication – voice and text – and created a new category of messaging called Voice-to-Screen™. Its award-winning service is now making everyday communication simpler and more powerful, creating new recurring revenues for wireless, landline, cable and VOIP carriers as well as service providers and web partners. SpinVox has already launched its service with Alltel, Cincinnati Bell, Rogers Wireless, Sasktel, Telus, Telstra, Vodacom South Africa, Vodafone Spain and LiveJournal and announced a deal with Skype. As a managed service provider any network or service can rapidly and cost-effectively implement SpinVox.

At the heart of SpinVox is its Voice Message Conversion System™ (VMCS), which works by combining state-of-the-art speech technologies with a live-learning language process. VMCS is being rolled-out across four continents in four languages - English, French, Spanish and German.

www.spinvox.com