Is it true Canadian people say: "One beer, two beer, three beer..."?
(As opposed to "one beer, two beers, three beers...")
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Hi, welcome to ELL! This could you please explain a bit more about what you are asking for in this question? – ʇolɐǝz ǝɥʇ qoq Mar 29 '15 at 23:20
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"one beer, two beer, three... Ah, take off, ya hoser! Eh? – Brian Hitchcock Mar 30 '15 at 00:10
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I didn't know the answer so I just said it the way Bob & Doug McKenzie http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_and_Doug_McKenzie would say it. Sorry I didn't initially cite a reference for my little joke. – Brian Hitchcock Mar 30 '15 at 01:47
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1It seems there is a saying "One Beer, Two Beer, Three Beer, Floor". If you search on Google you can find some references. Can't tell if its Canadian, or if it is a real saying or another one of those internet nonsenses. – user3169 Mar 30 '15 at 01:48
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3@user3169 - And it might be worth noting how that phrase (found on t-shirts and the like), is a pun off of "One potato, two potato, three potato, four," which is a children's counting chant. – J.R. Mar 30 '15 at 09:29
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@J.R. I think that is a good enough answer? – Tim Mar 30 '15 at 10:30
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One potato? It reminded me of six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch but that is hardly Canadian. – oerkelens Mar 30 '15 at 13:51
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Are you sure this isn't intended to be a joke? It may be suggesting that by the second beer, the speaker is drunk enough that they can no longer properly use plurals. – Nate Eldredge Mar 30 '15 at 16:58
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Or stand up after the third beer... – user3169 Mar 30 '15 at 17:11
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According to several of my Canadian co-workers, the answer to this question is: yes, some Canadian people use that form of the phrase.
As far as we could figure out, it refers to the amount of drunkenness, hence the lack of pluralization. Three beer drunk is one more beer than two beer drunk, and one less than four beer drunk. It may also help that as one gets more inebriated, small grammar errors have a tendency to slip in.
Note: this may or may not be an accurate representative sample of Canadians, but it's the best I could quickly marshall.
Omnidisciplinarianist
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If this is the case, it's singular in the same way that "foot" in a three-foot hole is singular. It's being used as a counting term. – Catija Apr 11 '15 at 04:17