Double

The NBA expanded to Toronto in 1995. The Raptors won their first league championship, six-bouncing their way into the hearts of basketball fans and everyday Canadians from coast-to-coast in 2019.

And yet, utter "double-double" anywhere in this grand land of ours and the conversation will shift to caffeine and cream, not points and rebounds as it would in the south.

The saying is so steeped in Canadian parlance it appears in lists of common slang for visitors (contiki.com/six-two) and potential newcomers (immigrant-education.ca). Virtual French-language B.C. school College Educacentre published a blog in 2023 that compared "double-double" to "secret agent code," and suggested that Tim Hortons outlets present ESL students with "a chance to practice English in a friendly, warm environment.

"And the best part? Canadians are so polite, they'll probably compliment you on your accent!"

After guiding readers through the whole regular versus single-single thing for FoodRepublic.com, Tim Forster somewhat breathlessly makes reference to "anecdotal evidence" that a four-by-four order is possible.

(Should we tell them about the six-by-six? Definitely no one say "two-four.")

The 2023 article for the Indiana-based outlet also muses that if in Quebec, it may be more productive to ask for a "deux-deux". Chapeau.

"The Filipino and Thai arms of the company list the double-double as its own distinct menu item while online menus for American and British Tim Hortons locations don't mention them," Forster wrote.

It only took Cottage Life 20 years to place the phrase among "seven words you'll only hear in Canada" once "double double" was added to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary in 2004.

"A cup of coffee with a double amount of both cream and sugar," the definition reads, with the helpful example sentence: "I cannot start the day without my double-double."

If you're looking for a summer read, Double Double is actually the title of a book about the Tim Hortons chain's origins, its purchase by an American fast food chain and eventual repatriation by award-winning business scribe Douglas Hunter, who elevates the boozeless pub founded by a hockey player to "a Canadian way of life."

Now for the piece de resistance, you should make sure the kids are seated on or behind the Chesterfield with noise cancelling headphones on.

There's a double-double cocktail.

Thank nation-trotting couple Victoria Walsh and Scott McCallum for concocting a libation that looks like it could run through the veins of Bob & Doug McKenzie and sharing it with Canadian Living Magazine.

As it should, it starts with 1.5 oz of Canadian whisky (no E, double-double word score) soundly suggesting Forty Creek Barrel Select.

Also coming to the party, 3/4 oz each of Kahlua and a cream liqueur and a hit of bitters. Mix all in a glass with ice, and garnish with finely ground espresso.

For bonus points, enjoy it wrapped in a six-stripe blanket sitting in a Muskoka chair, as one imagines Mordecai Richler would have.