After nine seasons of streaming glory, Letterkenny has built itself an incredible cult following and a loyal group of fans. But as any of those fans will admit, watching the show for the first time can be a little difficult. Letterkenny has its own language, one that people unfamiliar with the region the show is set in might find a little daunting when meeting Wayne and the gang. But it's a language that's more than worth learning.
The series is set in the fictional rural Ontario community of Letterkenny. It's loosely based on the hometown of Jared Keeso, the creator of the series and the actor who plays Wayne. His experiences in Listowel, Ontario, which is two hours outside of Toronto, gave him all of the fodder he needed to develop the location, as well as the characters and various social groups fans have become familiar with.
But the surprisingly intricate social structure between hicks, skids, hockey players and more play out on a number of levels. One of them is the language that is spoken throughout the series. A good portion of the colloquialisms used in Letterkenny are legit and used commonly throughout the region Keeso grew up in. That being said, it has been amped up a bit with the dial turned all the way up to 11.
There's a rhythm to the show's language that no one is going to find anywhere else. While many regional idioms are accurate, they are exaggerated and used even more frequently than anyone would actually experience in rural Ontario. The reality is that English is the official language of most of Canada, but it sometimes doesn't seem like it on Letterkenny. Ostensibly, the show has created its own language.
Honestly, this can be a little daunting for first-time viewers. Even people who are familiar with the unique lingo of this part of rural Ontario have commented that it took them an episode or two to get into it. But once a viewer is immersed in the series, they start picking up the language's rhythm, as well as the meaning of the specific words. As it turns out, context is everything, and comedy follows it.
Letterkenny actually mocked this a little bit in Season 8, Episode 1. As Jonesy and Reilly continued their quest for hockey glory, they ran into a team from Newfoundland and Labrador. These Maritimers have their own distinct level of colloquialisms and accent that puts the typical Letterkenny patois to shame. Their chirps completely flustered Jonesy and Reilly. Well, the ones they could understand, at least.
Anyone who watches Letterkenny on a regular basis now knows an unofficial language that few people outside of this region are familiar with. But anyone who has been put off by it should give the series a chance. After a few episodes, viewers are fully immersed -- and once that happens, they are rewarded with some of the funniest dialogue of any sitcom on TV today.