How would pass themselves off as a Canadian?

Question

I totally don't mean this as a put down. It's a cultural question that could just as easily be one for Americans. I'm wondering what are things one would learn of history, pop culture, sports (obviously hockey), sayings, current events, etc... that would be things you could learn to convince somebody you are from Canada? (And no, I'm not trying to get a girl. This question came to me watching Due South)

Answer 1

You say sorry lots.If someone bumps into you,you say sorry.You say it any time you think you may have offended someone..You need to know how to drink.On a hot day you make references to how good a cold beer would be.If you see someone looking at you ,smile and give a nod.When you buy something at a store and they give your change say" thank you".Do not say "eh" unless you know how to use it. That would take me forever to try to explain and it is not used often.American beer is  p iss water  and complain about it if someone offers you one.

Answer 2

My experience is that people from outside of North America normally cannot tell the difference between Canadians and Americans on the basis of mannerisms or accents.

This was driven home one time when I was waiting in the "Visitors" line at U.S. Customs in the Los Angeles airport. First, an Australian I was chatting with asked why I wasn't in the U.S. Citizens line. When I told her I was Canadian, she blushed and said, "Oh, I forgot about Canada. I knew from your accent that you weren't Aussie, you weren't Kiwi and you weren't Brit, so I figured you must be American!"

A few minutes later, a U.S. Customs officer who overheard me talking came up and asked, "Are you American?!" When I held up my passport, he said, "Oh... Canadian." So, I can say that even an American mistook me for an American.

Answer 3

Apologize a lot. I actually saw someone apologize to a lightstand they accidentally bumped into.

Emphasize that you're not American, as in, "Hello, nice to meet you. My name's Ryan and I'm not American."

The highways in Canada are called "highway" and not "route".

Otherwise, there isn't too much different.

Answer 4

Uhmm...be friendly. Know some hockey teams. Be all proud of famous canadian artists, enjoy watching "Corner Gas", watch Breakfast Television to get the news and weather and yeah, you could throw in the occasional "eh?" but I mean, I don't say it all that much. Oh! And say "zed" not "zee". Try looking up some french!

Oh!! And If someone says "thankyou" you say "you're welcome" or "no problem"...not just "yep"

Answer 5

Wear a Kiss Me I'm Canadian t-shirt and say "Ay?" a lot.

Answer 6

To add to what others have said ...

Spell some words differently - colour, neighbour, travelling, theatre, centre, etc.

Canadians say "sem-ee" not "sem-eye" and "Ur-rag" not "Eye-raq".

We have highways and roads and the TCH, not freeways and interstates.

We are all very familiar with out national police force - the RCMP.

We don't say that we have "socialized" health care or "socialized" medicine.  We just have health care or MCP.

Generally Canadians are a little more subdued, and careful about not causing offence.  As another poster indicated, this is not meant as a put down, just a statement of how things are - Canadians tend to be quite courteous, often overly so.

Canadians do not wear their politics or their patriotism on their sleeves.   When they travel, they may display a tiny maple leaf flag crest somewhere on their luggage or clothing, but it will be discrete.  We don't tend to ever be overly critical of our prime minister, especially in a public forum that will be heard outside our own country.  George W. Bush probably gets at least 1000 times as many mentions on here as does Stephen Harper - maybe more, and the USA has only 10 times our population.

Canadians can talk about Terry Fox, Ann Murray, Terry Waite, Ken Dryden, Wayne Gretzky, Rita MacNeil, Leonard Cohen, Tom Thompson, Pierre Trudeau, Rick Mercer, Lester Pearson, Adrienne Clarkson, Pierre Berton, the Dionne quintuplets, and Peter Gzowski.  We like the Queen.

Many of us know about poutine, rapee pie and fish and brewis.

Canadians learn a lot of history - world history.  We tend to be well informed about the rest of the world.  We tend to look outward rather than inward, and strangely enough, we sometimes know more about the rest of the world than we do about some parts of our own country.

I hope these thoughts are of some help.

Answer 7

If you are American, I guess the easiest way to try and pass yourself off as a Canadian is by changing some of the words you use and the way you talk. Canadians are know for using the term "eh" after some sentences or when asking a question. However, don't overuse the term or else you will blow it. Also you could try interchanging some Canadian words for some common everyday items, for example use the word...

serviette instead of napkin

tuque instead of winter hat

back-bacon or peameal bacon instead of Canadian bacon

pop instead of soda

double-double when ordering coffee with if 2 creams & 2 sugars

loonie for the Canadian $1 coin

twoonie for the Canadian $2 coin

Answer 8

OK - give us some ideas what the answers would be for Americans, to get us started.

Answer 9

It's the same as asking: How would pass themselves off as American?

All you have to look (should I say check for) is their passport and/or their Identification card.

Not all Canadians say "Eh" at every end of their sentence. Canada, like America, is a country homed by different cultures. You wont hear Chinese, nor Italians nor Hindu nor Jamaican nor Filipino nor Spanish nor Greeks nor other cultures what have you in Canada saying "Eh". Actually Canadians might ask you if you're an Inuit descent if you say "Eh", because it was originally came from them.

So if you're scanning people's looks, you wont figure them out unless you check their identification.

Answer 10

Don't look shocked when people say the weather is "minus" whatever .... because minus 2 really isn't that cold in Celsius.

Estimate things in kilometres.

Throw in French words every now and then (don't be afraid to pronounce them badly, we all do).

Roll your eyes and look embarrassed whenever anyone mentions Celine Dion.

Talk less.  

Think about group interests, not individual interests.

Learn to skate.  Trust me.  This is a huge cultural difference.

Don't wear your politics on your sleeve (or shirt, or bumper).

Stare blankly when people mention presidents.  No offense people, it's just that nobody outside of your country can name your old presidents.

Pronounce the "t" in words like "entertainment centre" which, for Americans, is pronounced "ennertainmen cenner."  (this is not an insult, just a cultural difference.)

Get rid of the y-glide in the front of any words with an 'a' sound.  Like "canada," not "cyanada."  

Dress properly for the weather.

Learn how to walk and drive on snowy and icy roads.  This is also a big, big difference I have noticed.  

I agree with the guy who said you should learn the Canadian words for things.  Cutlery, serviette, Chesterfield, toque, mittens, Skidoo, etc.

Don't ***** too much about taxes. A little, but not too much.

Don't look at things from the paradigm "competition is always necessary and a good thing." This is somethign I've had to get my head around.

Never, ever throw away anything that's recyclable.  A beer bottle in a garbage can is a DEAD giveaway that you are not Canadian.

These are sort of stereotypes but I have also noticed them to be insanely true.

And by the way -- we do say "eh" sometimes, but it's a class marker.  You are less likely to hear it when I'm talking to my professors than when I'm talking to my dad's mechanic buddies.

Answer 11

you would not want to pass as a canadian.but if you want put some feathers on and start clucking like a chicken.that will work.lol

Answer 12

You can just say you are Canadian and people wont question if you are or not.