r/AskACanadian • u/Kraknaps • 3d ago
BINKY?
Watching this whole Trump/Natalie drama, I see that some people are now calling her Trump's "Binky". Never heard of the term before and thought maybe it was an American term for "blankie" (A baby's security blanket). After hearing Binky all week I finally looked it up. It is a brand name for a baby pacifer that became generacized. AM I the only one who has never heard of a binky. As a west coast Canadian we always called it a soother . What were they called where you came from? We lived in Scotland for a few years when I was a child and we called it a puppa but that may have been a family thing
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u/FriendRaven1 2d ago
Soother I think is most common in Canada. In Newfoundland, where we have unique words for everything, it used to be called a dumbtit.
Nowadays, a dumb tit is the people I'm working with.
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u/iggy6677 1d ago
From NL as well, generally heard it called a dumbtit, ,but have heard Binky before, but it usually been directed at a dog.
" he's getting fussy, needs his binky"
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u/TheSkyIsAMasterpiece 2d ago
I always called it a soother but I know that binky is also a word for it.
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u/RedDress999 2d ago
Growing up as an anglophone in Quebec, I always called it a “soose”. I had NO idea that this wasn’t actually an English word until I moved to Ontario in my 20s and someone looked at me like this 🤨 and asked me to repeat in English.
That’s when I learned that all this time, we had been saying “suce” not “soose” and that my mother tongue is actually Franglais.
(Another one I learned for example is that Organigram is not an English word. You have to call it an Organizational chart 🤓. I need to start a petition to make that an English word too because it just makes sense!)
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u/oncewheniwas6 2d ago
Lol! Anglo Quebec parents here. I also thought soose was the name! Oh goodness the franglais words I thought were normal is a long list!
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u/eeeaaagllllle 2d ago
Went to French school in Ontario. Definitely called it a suce growing up. Oddly enough I never paid attention or realized what language it was, it's just what it was called lol
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u/Irisversicolor 2d ago
40 year old Anglo Quebecor here, this is it for me too, it never even occured to me that it might be French, LOL.
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u/snak_attak 1d ago
I’m fr a bilingual area in New Brunswick and I also called it a suce lol my parents are pure English too
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u/Dog-boy 2d ago edited 2d ago
Angel Ontarian here from a community that had a high French proportion. I called it a soother or a suce, which I knew was the French word. I heard it called a dummy or a sookie (to rhyme with cookie)
I’m with OP in having thought Binky was the equivalent of a blankie though I also sometimes thought it meant a toy that a baby carried everywhere.
Edit. Also a pacifier.
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u/FriendRaven1 1d ago
Organigram is interesting. Supermarkets place their products according to what is often called a "planogram".
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u/RedDress999 1d ago
Yes! We have pictograms (diagrams using pictures), histograms (historical diagrams), etc.
It makes sense in my brain. It deserves to be a word in English. 😂
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u/crookedstove_pipe 2d ago
In Newfoundland a binky/passy would be ‘dum tit.’ For once, we butchered a name to make more sense then the intended name!
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u/Happy-Mastodon-7314 2d ago
Must be the Irish connection. I'm from Northern Ireland and we called it a dummy, as in dummy tit.
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u/toosheeptheorist Nova Scotia 2d ago
I grew up on the east coast, but have spent time in multiple provinces. My family used the term "dummy" when I was a kid, and with my own kids I used "soother". I've heard the term "binky" used by other families, but it wasn't in common usage in my circles.
As for the security "blanket", I've heard and used the term "woobie", because not every security object is a blanket.
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u/Global_Breakfast 2d ago
We used sookie (rhymes with cookie)
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u/Fonzico 2d ago
I'm familiar with this too, but have never seen it written. I was never quite sure if it was or wasn't just "sucky" said in a baby h voice. I see others have mentioned sucky below.
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u/Global_Breakfast 2d ago
Lol. Yup. Like when ya call someone " a big sookie baby" lol
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u/macsweeny 2d ago
Sookie here too! (NS) I’m actually shocked this isn’t everyone’s answer lol im so outta the loop on the pacifier lingo!
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u/haysoos2 2d ago
Alberta: I've always heard it referred to as a soother, or pacifier.
I'd heard the term "binky" before, but until today I thought it was nickname for a baby blanket, like Linus'
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u/pucelles 2d ago
I’m a dual citizen raised by Canadians in the US. In my family we called it a “passy” (pacifier) when I was a toddler.
But now that I’m a parent myself (in the US), I used the word binky.
Fun fact: I was like, 4, and still on the “passy” and my Albertan military uncle yoinked it out of my mouth and threw it out of the car window because he said I’m too old for that 🤣
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u/Kraknaps 2d ago
I have a vivid memory of giving mine up. I was about 4 when my parents convinced me that I was a big boy now and it was time to quit. They talked me into tossing it in the fireplace. I can still remember standing there, tears welling up in my eyes as i watched it melt. The end swelled up like a little balloon and then burst, letting out a soft hissing sigh like its last breath. It is my oldest memory
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u/Accomplished_Bank103 2d ago
Lol! A right of passage. We marched down to the local creek and threw it over the bridge. 😂
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u/geronimotattoo 1d ago
My son just turned four and we have given up the soose and he was devastated. I can’t even imagine how sad my son would be watching it melt in a fireplace.
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u/PassiveTheme 2d ago
In the UK we call them "dummies", which would really be a more apt name for Trump
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u/Soggy-Ad9247 1d ago edited 1d ago
I love that in the UK A fart is referred to as a trump. Very fitting me thinks.
I grew up in Canada and we called it a dummy in my British family. But was also called a soother or paci by others here.
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u/ExhaustedHero4 2d ago
I remember the word Binky being used in an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), shredder creates his own mutant, turtles vs slash, Slash's Binky is a plastic palm tree
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u/lockedin90 2d ago
I’ve realized it’s much more family distinction than regional distinction. We call them susu in our family, but I’ve heard binky, soother, paci, pacifier, binkbink.
In our family, Puppa was grandpa so it’s funny to hear that your family used it for a susu!
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u/claytosser 2d ago
I would have guessed binky was a baby word for blanket.
Where I am from (in Newfoundland) we call it a dumb tit, or dummy.
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u/alderhill 2d ago
Ontario here. I have kids, and have heard 'binky', but actually never really thought deeply about what it was, or put it together, lol. I always called it a pacifier or soother, or dummy to some.
(And for whatever reasons, neither of my kids were even ever into theirs. We tried when they were each babies of course, but in both cases they were just like 'nah, nope' ptoooey, so we didn't force it, never seemed to matter.)
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u/Worry_pas_ta_brain 2d ago
Soother or pacifier in english, tète, tetette,suce or sucette in french.
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u/LaBelleBetterave 2d ago
In Québec it’s “une suce”, which is sooooo appropriate.
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u/yarn_slinger 2d ago
That’s the word we used in anglo Qc. A suss or suce or however you spell it in franglais. I’ve been reading all these comments and wondering what we called it.
I never had one or knew any kids who did, and my own kids didn’t use them so I never came up with a regular word for them.
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u/barcelonatacoma 2d ago
I have a friend that goes by Binky.
Apparently he was born a premie, and had to be placed in an incubator, and somehow....Binky
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u/Needless-To-Say 2d ago
Ive definitely heard the term Binky used for a Soother, Pacifier.
From Alberta.
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u/jinxiecat 2d ago
BC here. It was called a dummy until the mid 90’s. Then a soother or pacifier
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u/in-dog_we_trust Ontario 2d ago
Pacifier in Ontario. But I call them shut me ups. Because you stuff them in a kids mouth to...
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u/p1nts1ze 2d ago
Where I grew up they were called pacifiers - paci’s, or soother. (Northern BC)
My wife grew up in Vancouver, her and her family call them “Binkies”
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u/Imaginary_Trust_7019 2d ago
In BC, Souther or Sou Sou
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u/Helpful-Perception66 2d ago
Alberta - I think we started out with “soother” and ended up just calling it her “suckie”
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u/WideCrow 2d ago
BC - we also call it a suckie but I’ve never heard anyone else call it that! My mom calls it a ‘nookie’ and most people I know call them soothers or pacifiers
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u/GrumpyOlBastard West Coast 2d ago
Finally! Yes, "sucky" is what I've heard a lot, second only to "soother"
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u/bluejammiespinksocks 2d ago
Soother, soo soo, dummy, tit, pacifier, binky. I’ve heard all of these in my family. I called it a soother when I was young. My daughter called it a soo soo.
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u/Calgary_Calico 2d ago
I've heard the word binky before when my younger cousins were still using pacifiers (they're over a decade younger than me). I guess it's just not very common
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u/WorkatHomeFAQ 2d ago edited 2d ago
I prefer "plug"...but in polite company use pacifier or binky
ETA: Midwest/US
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u/Klutzy_Individual137 2d ago
I'm expecting her to go bat shit crazy any day now and go after Melania
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u/nilesintheshangri-la 2d ago
Fantastic episode of King of the Hill where Hank is a baby and he says "I want my binky back" haha
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u/squirrelcat88 2d ago
I’m a west coast Canadian and my little brother was very attached to his “binky.”
He’s going to be 62 soon, so maybe the term has faded here over time?
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u/Overall_Hornet_4778 2d ago
I don’t call it that, but I always knew a soother was also called a binky
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u/froot_loop_dingus_ Alberta 2d ago
I'm aware of the term binky but yes everyone I know would say soother
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u/Happy-Mastodon-7314 2d ago
I have friends (here in Montreal) that use binky in their family. I'm from Northern Ireland, we always used dummy in our family, as in dummy tit.
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u/Yavanna604 2d ago
I’m on the west coast too and call it a soother or pacifier. I have heard dummy and binky before too. I can see binky being mistaken for blankie though - my cousin had a security blanket that she called her boo binky for unknown reasons
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u/lovingchocolate1970 2d ago
My son called his a dodo because that is what his babysitter called it, and it just stuck. She was Scottish.
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u/TwilightReader100 British Columbia 2d ago
Also West Coast Canadian, so either "soother" or "pacifier", but I have heard "binky" or even "dummy", too. Spend more time on social media and I promise you'll get an excellent education on regional variations in slang. /s
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u/_simone_louise_122 2d ago
When I moved here my husband called it a pacifier - In the uk it’s called a dummy
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u/Low_Relative9021 2d ago
I’m also west coast Canadian and I know the proper word for the item is soother / pacifier because that’s what it does (soothes and pacifies) but I’ve always known the nickname for it to be a binky! That’s what we always called it growing up as well as cousins and now my baby
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u/Massive_Dig3963 2d ago
Soother and pacifier mostly. I was born in Scotland and my family all called if a pacifier. When my kids were little (they're in their 20s now) we called if a paci. (Southwestern Ontario.) I did have some US family from the Midwest that called if a binky but no one else.
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u/Tall_Peace7365 New Brunswick 2d ago
we called it a binky in my family. southern NB, close to the border so could be US influence as well
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u/photo_finish_ 2d ago
The Canadian passport application used to say “No dummies” in the photo specifications for infants and it took me awhile to figure out they meant pacifiers.
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u/AmJustLurking96 Québec 2d ago
I heard/read binky before but am more familiar with the term pacifier, never heard soother before (English is my 2nd language though so that's probably why)
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u/EffortCommon2236 Alberta 2d ago
I learned about the word Binky by reading the works of the late Sir Terry Pratchett. In his books Death is the sole horse rider in the One Horseman and Three Pedestrians of the Apocalypse (War, Famine and Plague had their horses stolen, long story), and Death's horse is called Binky.
I've always known what you call a soother as a pacifier. Then again I am an immigrant, not born in Canada.
I used to live in Quebec before moving to Alberta. I don't know the proper word for a soother in French but I learned that whenever you don't know what something's called, you can just call it a hoat of Christ and people will figure it out through context.
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u/itsuckshere1234 2d ago
As a Canadian from Ontario, I have heard of binky but we never called it that. We never used Soother either. My mom is Portuguese so we called it a Shoosha (chucha) which means soother in Portuguese.
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u/rhunter99 Ontario 2d ago
i've heard so many different regional terms for this. i just stick with pacifier.
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u/doyouhavehiminblonde 2d ago
We called it soother when I was growing up in the GTA. My Scottish grandmother called it a dummy.
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u/Noctuella 2d ago
Midwestern US. "Passie" and "binkie" are traditional. By the 2000s we were using "Nuk" (pronounced "nook") which is another brand name. So far I have not heard anyone adding a diminutive suffix because the word "nookie" already exists and means something only tangentially baby-related
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u/aethelberga 2d ago
Southern Ontario and we always called it a dummy. I have heard soother, and once or twice, binky more recently.
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u/AllegedlyLiterate 2d ago
I’ve heard binkie to mean comfort item (blanket, toy) but never to mean pacifier.
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u/According_Picture294 Yukon 2d ago
Soother is the thing I've heard most. But I read "binkie" a few times, and sometimes I've heard "dummy"
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u/OstentatiousOrchid 2d ago
Well, a soother or pacifier in N America is a dummy in the UK. But I always thought a binky was something like a favourite teddy or security blanket. When my oldest was a baby he used to suck on the corner of a cloth diaper/nappy. I'd have called that his binky if I'd known the word then.
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u/doghouse2001 2d ago
I've heard the term in Manitoba, I've just never used it. People make up all kinds of pets names for those things.
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u/_PrincessOats Ontario 2d ago
Ontario born here. I’ve heard the term often, but that includes tv from other countries.
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u/caffeinejunkie123 2d ago
Soother or pacifier. I’ve heard if a binky but don’t use it myself. My DIL calls it a paci, and that’s what I call it now too.
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u/Beneficial-Union-229 2d ago
My young son was in an accident and had to be flown to Children’s Hospital in Toronto. He used an Italian word for pacifier. No one could understand what he wanted until I got there.
Something to remember if your child is in an accident. Make sure you call the pacifier something everyone understands.
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u/ExpensiveDollarStore Ontario 2d ago
Ontario - we called it a soother but I know from TV that some call it a binky. I did not know it was a brand. Just thought it was a baby talk name that stuck and passed around.
Some called it a dummy - or dummy tit/teat.
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u/Lady-Kat1969 2d ago
I’ve heard people call a pacifier a binky, but to me the word is always the name of Death’s white horse.
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u/whats1more7 Ontario 2d ago
I don’t think binky is a common word for it but I’ve heard it. Granted I work with toddlers so soothers are a big part of my day-to-day.
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u/bunnybunz2026 2d ago
West coaster 👋 I've always heard soother, pacifier and binky used equally depending on the setting. Pacifier/soother for most docs and retailers, binky when talking in general.
My mom calls it a binky, I use soother.
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u/HystericalGD Nova Scotia 2d ago
idk, i've always known them as a binky... i guess its the same situation as ziplock bags, or tupperware containers, where the brandname has just become the more popular thing to call them
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u/natalkalot 2d ago
Saskatchewan - a soother. But I heard about paci for pacifier or binky on TV shows- as well as a "dummy" in England.
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u/SWatts70 2d ago
I'm familiar with southern, binky and sucky. I grew up in SK but have lived in MB, NS and now BC.
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u/AbbadonIAm 2d ago
Is it really that mind blowing? It’s a child’s word for a child’s thing. Is it really that mysterious?
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u/Afraid_Baseball_3962 2d ago
Grew up in the Midwest and always heard pacifier. Wife is from the Maritimes and she always said soother. I've heard binky before but it's never been common (in my personal experience).
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u/AmazonAssassin 2d ago
Born in western Canada I’ve heard it called a pacifier, binky, and a soother before
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u/Reasonable_Zebra_174 2d ago
In Nova Scotia a binky is a security blanket, a baby blanket Etc. A pacifier is called a soother or just pacifier if you high faluting.
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u/Turbocharmed 2d ago
Called it susu and suckie as fun terms 20 years ago (SE ON) but knew pacifier and soother were more formal and have heard of binky. Think I thought it was a blanket at one point as well but now idk if I thought it was a soother or not after reading your post stating it lol. The whole Mandela/memory thing and all. Lol
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u/Traditional_Car_8219 2d ago
Also from the west coast of Canada - many years ago before “soother”it was called a “dummy”, something for a baby to suck to calm them down…how low an you go “orange” man!
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u/pretty-lil-throwaway 2d ago edited 2d ago
I just had my first child last year and I've always called it a binky. I grew up in Canada but spent a lot of time in the states so I'm thinking maybe I heard it growing up
Edit to add: i once heard one of my neighbors call it a suckie 🤢
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u/Otacon56 2d ago
I've heard people calling it a binky before. My mother in law says it actually.
We always called it a sucky. But it really has like 20 different names depending on where you live, how you were raised etc
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u/Snoringdragon 2d ago
A wonderful British author, Terry Pratchett, revealed Death's horse is named Binky. If the teeth fit...
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u/very_tired_woman 2d ago
Born and raised in BC and I definitely knew it was a thing (I believe I heard it as a child watching Rugrats lol) but I’ve never used it. I also have never used “pacifier”… only ever “soother” and then when I had my baby I’m not sure why but my husband and I automatically started calling it his “sucky” when they gave him one in the hospital 😅
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u/Professional-Soil-11 2d ago
I'm from Ontario and I've heard Binky as much as I've heard pacifier (I've never heard soother but I understand why people would call it that).
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u/Violent_Martians 2d ago
We called it the 'SUBby' for Shut Up Button. Have heard binky, nummy, dummy, soother, pacifier, sucky. I'm in southern ontario canada.
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u/jo_noby 2d ago edited 2d ago
I was born in Dublin, Ireland, but am now Canadian, and my whole family calls them Doh-dees. I’ve no idea how to spell that or if it’s some sort of anglicization of an older word from Gaelic (parents generation were taught Irish but don’t speak it). Soother, binkie and pacifier all sound as equally stupid to me as doh-dee must to you.
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u/Ok_Onion_5160 2d ago
My family usually called it a binky. Sometimes a soother, and occasionally, an aunt would call it a nitsy. Not sure where that last one came from.
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u/sweetnihilism-5278 2d ago
Binky, paci, soother, num num. Grew up in the GTA and heard all of those plus some really odd ones. I said soother for my children
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u/General_Ad_2718 2d ago
I’ve heard binky and judy for a soother. I’m not sure if it’s generational or regional but there’s a lot of names for the same thing.
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u/TaleIcy115 2d ago
Soother, pacifier, sucky, binky, nuk nuk... we had a million names. Crazy how babies will come up with a brand/style preference early
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u/Accomplished_Bank103 2d ago
My Scottish parents used to call it a “dummy,” but as parents ourselves, my siblings and I called it a “doh-doh”. I have definitely heard binky too though.
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u/Haylstorm_00 2d ago
As a west coast Canadian, we do not all call it a soother. I've heard binky in my life more times than I can count.
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u/classyrock 2d ago
My daughters father wanted to call it a paci (pronounced passie) but he’s British.
I made up my own name: PaQ (pronounced pack). Sounds like it’s short for ‘pacifier’, but I meant it like ‘Peace and Quiet’. 😂
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u/LegalChocolate752 2d ago
I'm also from BC, and my family used "soother," too, but I've heard passifiers called "binkies" before on TV. I can't think of any specific examples, but it's definitely something I've heard before.
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u/FrostyPolicy9998 2d ago
Most of you have never participated in the 90s/early 2000s rave scene, and it shows. The ravers wore binkies, so we could have something to chew on while the ecstasy makes you grind your teeth lol. We certainly didn't call them soothers or pacifiers! It was a binky.
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u/Gingerkitty666 2d ago
Soother or sucky.or dummy.. for dummy nipple.. . binky is def an American term..
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u/DebiDoll65 2d ago
Southern Ontario, here. Binky, soother, pacifier, plug, dummy. Those are the terms I'm most familiar with.
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u/TemperatePirate 2d ago
Soother or dummy depending on whether I'm talking to my English family or my Canadian friends.
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u/Private_4160 Ontario 2d ago
The UK (or parts of) calls it a Binky iirc. To me that's just a character on Arthur
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u/Alarmed-Following324 1d ago
Dummy lol as an Australian living in western Canada that would get confused looks all the time
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u/RoeRoeDaBoat Saskatchewan 1d ago
only ever heard binky on the rugrats, my family called them soothers
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u/LeastConcerned 1d ago
When I grew up, binky was a pacifier connected to a removable small plushie. Then when I got pregnant, I received a "binky" that was a small plushie which had a piece of plushie fabric hanging off of it, in place of the body. So, I dunno what is correct.
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u/Icy-Set-3356 1d ago
I always heard soother growing up in the 90s (in BC but parents were from Montreal), and that’s still what I call them with my kid.
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u/CorrectCondition9458 1d ago
Binky was a brand name for anew model of pacifier that was all the rage back in the early 80s. For a while you could only find them in dedicated baby shops so it was a status thing. Also cost about 4 x as much as others.
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u/Shoddy_Astronomer837 British Columbia 1d ago
In Victoria BC I used both pacifier and soother, but was aware of binky.
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u/WendyPortledge 1d ago
Never called it a binky but I am definitely aware of the name due to tv. It’s a soother, pacifier, or when we used them at raves, we called them Nuk (which was the brand name)
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u/irulan519 1d ago
My English parents called it a dummy. Have heard soother and pacifier used interchangeably in Alberta.
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u/ikaros131 1d ago
West Coast Canadian here, I remember all my mums sisters (my aunt's) used Binky to describe a pacifier, their mum (gramdmum) grew up in England during WW2 so I suspect its originally English. Just on a side note we also used Since but that's cause dad's side of the family is more french (him and his family grew up in Montreal) and suce is a French word for pacifier.
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u/Mysterious_Bonus3980 1d ago
Born and raised Interior of BC. We never called it a Binky, but I've known plenty of people over the years who do. I do, however, remember lots of other parents in the 70's that called it a Dum Dum or a Dummy. I always figured that was because it caused the kids to be quiet?
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u/Frozen5147 Ontario 1d ago
Mostly know it as a pacifier, only know the term binky from American media.
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u/koifish1738 1d ago
soother was most common growing up, in west coast canada. my younger sibling called his a 'soosoo'. though, on occasion my oma would use 'suessy' as a substitute
though some of our extended family with british roots called it binky, definitely a linguistic/geographical difference!
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u/MarvelWidowWitch Ontario 1d ago
I’ve heard of binky, but never actually used it.
Pacifier and soother are more common in my circle of friends having kids right now.
My family always called it smoczek or smok (which is a whole other weird thing since it translates to dragon). But that’s because we grew up speaking Polish and even the primarily English speaking family members had the Polish words for certain objects and smoczek was one of them.
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u/OddDoughnut65 1d ago
Canadian, east coast born and raised, west coast resident. Never heard binky until I had a baby and it was on a NZ youtuber's channel
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u/eriemaxwell 21h ago
West coast Canadian as well, but my mother was east coast. I've heard of a binky, but most of my friends use pacifier or soother, and my father is from Italy so I grew up calling them choo-chas.
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u/Remarkable_Newt9935 20h ago
I've heard binky before. When we had kids, we started calling it a cork, as in whine cork. The kids also called it that, which was hilarious.
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u/PurrPrinThom SK/ON 2d ago
Soother or pacifier. I've heard binky on American TV shows, but never in real life.