I have been intending on putting out a question like this for a bit. This is for those of you familiar with the differences between Canada and the States. What are some of the anomalies you notice? Things you say or do in Canada that they would have no clue about south of the border? Now some of these listed below might be unique to Ontario; I'm also interested in other parts of the country.
Today I was talking to one of my coworkers; he's a student working for the ministry over the summer. He is taking a class during the summer, and referred to it as "a bird class". I knew exactly what he meant, but laughed because I had not heard the term for twenty years. (A "bird" class is one that is quite easy; a brush off.)
Of course there's "pop", which Americans in the south call "soda". I think that's a northern thing, and there are some states that call it "pop" as well.
And of course the measuring differences. We tend to work in the metric system: or, as I was reminded last week: SI (le Système International d'unités). We do temperature in Celsius rather than Fahrenheit (32° F = 0º C) and distances in kilometres rather than miles (1 mile = 1.6 km). When I jog with an American I can run over 8 km while he runs only 5 miles.
Have you ever seen "bags" of milk? They are usually measured in litres (1 litre = 1.05 1quart). You put a litre bag in a jug, cut off the corners and can pour the milk directly . There are smaller cartons of milk, but I've not seen one of those big plastic milk containers in Ontario for years.
What else can you think of that is particularly Canadian?
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Comments: 56
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aye? and don't tell me you all don't use that because when I went to Sarnia a couple summers ago I got a chuckle hanging with my friends and thought about starting a count on how many times they used it!
Poutin...
Back bacon
Living in Michigan, things are kind of integrated, like we say pop, as well. When I lived in Ann Arbor, around people from all over the country (going to the university), I had to say soda pop because if I used one or the other of the words, half the people wouldn't know what I was talking about.
When I grew up in Texas, we always said pop. I had to adjust to sodam pop, or soda when I went out into the world.
I have a lot but no time right now. A lot of it has to do with the UK usage and spelling that Canada has vs the US usage and spelling that the US has.
Though of course, the UK actually uses MORE UK words than Canada, but I did hear Bonnet and Boot a lot in Canada, as well as Checque, and many others...Just no time right now... But US American English vs. the UK English most Europeans are taught is my specialty in ESL, and I also edited a book, blending the voices of the three UK Oxford writers and the lone US Boston writer to make it one, unified US voice.
There is a site Sporcle.com that has many games on it and one game is British words. Pretty much all those words, or most of them would be in use in Canada, as of the past 40 years or so...
Fairy cake or bun for cupcake I had never heard.
Tortiere. Quebec.
Of course, defence, licence, neighbour, colour, organisation, as UK spelling all over the Commonwealth.
Canadians have culture, as the Russians say, Amerikanskiy ne kultura.
I love the bagged milk. It makes so much more sense than the big polyethylene jugs and take up almost no room in the landfill.
A bird class is referred to as a "bunny class".
Every so often, you will still hear pop in the 'States, but it's usually soda, or Coke in the South.
Canadians also have the ability to laugh at themselves, a talent Americans lost sometime in the mid '40s. "Corner Gas" is absolutely hysterical, but "Red Greene" could have been filmed in Mississippi and nobody would know the difference. And the McKenzie brothers even have a cartoon show now!
I've not noticed the Americans having lost their ability to laugh at themselves. You've been hanging around the wrong people.
I caught Ciorner Gas a couple of times, and it is hilarious. I hadn't laughed that much in a long time, over a show.
You can't embed flash in a comment, unfortunately, but here's the definitive Canadian Culture.
I laugh at myself every day thank you very much, I am quiet comical and not on purpose......it's more physical comedy too!
Oh God. Milk like that. I had forgotten....And margarine used to be WHITE and you had to mix the color. COLOUR.
some came in yellow and you didn't have to mix, now it is white, and white only
French Canadians are particularly Canadian, as are Franco Ontarians....
My sister-in-law's a Newfie, so when I think of Canada, I think of the half-hour time difference in Newfoundland, the village of Dildo...and those delicious dark chocolate/raspberry PMS chocolate bars they don't sell in the U.S.
Yes, one thing that I remember from earliest childhood in Ontario is that our TV programs are always specified as half an hour later "in Newfoundland".
The canadian I see as English, or French!
you have 'regulo' for oven temps too?
my hubby is canadian so we spend quite a bit of time up in Calgary with the in-laws and brother/sister-in-laws.
The twizlers are FAR superior when purchased in Canada, A1 steak sauce is different tasting in Canada & US, The Canadians have HP steak sauce - you can hardly find it here in the US.
Chocolate bars/chocolate is better in Canada ... Smarties are like m&m's instead of the chalky candy here in the US. You can get MacIntosh toffee & Aero bars are available in Canada ... but not in US (unless it's a specialty store).
You can buy Clotted Cream / Devonshire Cream in Canada at the Safeway stores = not here in the US
My hubby says "eh" occasionally as well as pronounces "pasta" and "Mazda" with an a sound like apple instead of the 'awe' sound
My in-laws make 'choke-cherry' jam and syrup ... I'm still not sure what a choke-cherry is but it sure tastes yummy.
My hubby says "canada has an unbiased global political perspective"
And then the obvious = the healthcare!
Canadians have healthcare no matter how poor they are. Americans don't.
What about, 'ey?' My Great Uncles always added that to whatever they were talking about; bless their souls.
I went to a McDonald's as a kid and they offered me Mayo for my fries. I thought that was nasty! (Is that Canadian or a coincidence?)
And, the McDonald's in Victoria, B.C. serves beer. I have yet to see one in America that does that.
That's Canadian, as is Poutine (gravy & cheese curd) with your fries.
No, no, mayo on fries is excellent! (And somewhat Canadian)
You should try poutine on fries (from Quebec: cheese curds)
Mayo on fries is good.
Mayo on French fries is Belgian! That's how they are traditionally sold all over Belgium and France.
Poutine just grossed me out!! I've only been to Canada twice (technically 3 times, but only a couple of hours at Niagra Falls). Both visits were in Montreal, and 2 different places served poutine 2 different ways...equally disgusting! LOL
What about the Simpsons episode where they are trying to cross the border and the Indian store clerk gets in trouble for, 'professing his faith' in Canada? Is that really something you can't do there?
That's something they all do here. Between the Irish and Indians in Ontario, it's hard to find a restaurant that serves Canadian food.
canada is multicultural we have freedom of faith here,
walker come to quebec for french canadian cuisine
Carrie, let me tell you; The Irish up North have no problem expressing their religiong, their mannerisms (or lack thereof), their views, their angst, their, oh-hell, their everything. To prove my point I'm going to go grab my buddy Rory from Bancroft and drag him over here; kicking and screaming no doubt heh?
btw: I think my friend Rory is great.
I grew up in New England, and thus knew many of the French Canadians from Quebec. They migrated here to work in the factories, became assimilated and continue to have an influence on the culture. There is a French Club in the town where I lived in CT that is mainly Canadians. I don't notice that they speak French now but many still carry the accent.
Timmies, you gotta love your timmies!!
I truly would have no clue what phrases Canadians use. I've never been there or heard any phrases as of late. I studied mostly England Regency language for my romance novels and that's about it.
As to the soda reference, I always preferred, the word pop.
Several yrs ago , my wife and I carried one of her patients, a quadraplegic, to Detroit Michigan to see his father. ( We live in Georgia, U.S.)
While there we just went a very small way into Canada, not far at all---but what I remarked about ( and I know had we had more time, and had gone further in it would be different) was how much where we were in Canada looked just like where we'd left in Canada.)
One thing that bothered me, the Southerner , up and back, was after I crossed that Mason/Dixon, and even into Canada--- I couldn't get good old Southern Sweet Tea on Ice !!!!
Now, I'd like to ask you something. And I'm only curious--because it was very frustating, and to me, totally uncalled for:
My wife and I are white . Her patient is black. Also in the car with us was his daughter ( black.)/// Because she is his caretaker, and because he could only get from his wheel-chair to the front seat,--- my wife was in her driver's seat, with her black patient on his side.
That put me, a white man, and his daughter, in the back---with a whole seat between us.
Since no other reason was ever given I can only suppose that that is why we were forced to pull into Customs headquarters, the 3 of us who could walk, being marched into Customs, and rudely asked a million questions before we could even enter what I'm sure is your lovely country of Canada./// One of the most degrading, and humiliating incidences of my life./// Glad I was only trying to visit.
I could just never understand who the customs agents were prejudiced against--- the two whites, or the two blacks. Just wondering. Lonnie Ray Fowler
All that AND no sweet tea. But if it's a sign of something similar on both sides of the border---we found a lovely little Chinese restaurant to eat at.....
they say officially every third car is checked,
but of course you will always get prejudice people regardless of the country they are in
OOPS, typo--- meant to say where we were in Canada looked just like Detroit.//Lonnie
I always wanted to go out and about. Umm- oh- aye. No se e vu. Quebec has some of the prettiest girls. Canadians are far more friendly and the Streets last time I was there you could eat off of from my days with Canadair. Something you don't do in Chicago! But I talk funny too.
well I am a quebec girl lol, montreal is getting dirty now, though, the mayor is trying to clean it up.
poutine, tortiere, cheezies, pogos, submarines, winter tuques, soft drink, hot chicken sandwiches, appetiizers are before the meal not the main meal, the led z as in zed, steamies (steamed hotdogs) hamburger meat is minced meat from the french viande hache, weiners, here is a really old expression" kiss my royal canadian...
our living room is the front room, of course our loonies and toonies, coloured money
here in the US the appetizer is the appetizer but the ENTREE is the main meal...
neither is the main meal here because entre is before, before the main meal as was originally intended for that french work which americans borrowed but do not use it as it was intended.
an entree would be like a soup or salade here, an appetizer would be something small like a dish of calamari or a few muscles etc just enough to whet your appetite lol
That is so true because Americans do not KNOW French...Yeah, entree means BEFORE or an ENTRANCE....
So we call appetitzers like buffalo wings, APPETIZERS, Soup and Salade are either SIDE DISHES or accompaniments that go WITH the Entree, main meal.
Go figure...
When I did data entry years ago, I noticed a striking difference between la francaise du Quebec and la francais du la France. Sorry, I don't know how to insert the "c" with the little mark underneath.
yes very different, in quebec we speak joelle a dialect that is french mixed with english words, and certain quebec words not used in france at all
Vivre le Québec !
More tolerance found in Canada
A DUI is a Felony in Canada, but not in the US so when entering Canada they won't let you in if you have a DUI.
I'm not sure this is entirely correct. I have a close friend who got a DUI in Arkansas, and was not only permitted to visit many times without the subject even coming up, but he was allowed to immigrate as well.
How interesting.
I've read a lot of English books, so frequently I find that I add that "u" that is extra here.
With the generations growing up with TV, it seems like accents are all slowly melting into one Midwestern one. It's good that we have some differences in pronunciations and meanings left.
lots of spelling differences, night or nite we don't use nite,
doughnut or donut
Carrie, let me tell you; The Irish up North have no problem expressing their religiong, their mannerisms (or lack thereof), their views, their angst, their, oh-hell, their everything. To prove my point I'm going to go grab my buddy Rory from Bancroft and drag him over here; kicking and screaming no doubt heh?
I'm still marveling about the milk bags.
Well I've invited you to come visit... I don't think it would work very well to send you one. And they usually do make an impression on Americans. Especially when pitched across a room.
thanks!