Americans and Canadians culture Q&A Thread.

[bcla]

What's with the common use of the word "washroom". I never really though much of that until I came across something that my child has taken interest in a particular (highly toxic) vegan zealot from Quebec.

 

[fab1976]

Never heard of lunch kit here in Ontario either, always lunch box or bag. And I supervise lunch at school .

One difference within Canada is something called a “gym strip”. We just call it gym clothes or change of clothes, apparently gym strip is in BC and maybe Alberta?

 

[bcla]

One funny recent story lately is I’ve been chatting with our new neighbour. She had a strange accent that was almost a Southern drawl. I just couldn’t place it.
About 2 weeks ago she friended me on Facebook and she’s a Newfie!
I should have recognized a Newfie accent! Sure reminds me of a southern one. Anyone notice a similarity between the 2 accents before?

A former coworker was from there. To me he just sounded Canadian, but when I mentioned his manner of speaking to another Canadian expat at work, he said that his accent was far milder than typical.

 

[bcwife76]

Never heard of lunch kit here in Ontario either, always lunch box or bag. And I supervise lunch at school .

One difference within Canada is something called a “gym strip”. We just call it gym clothes or change of clothes, apparently gym strip is in BC and maybe Alberta?

Definitely gym strip here in BC, that's what it was called when I was in school and it's still called that with my own kids in school. Never heard of lunch kit, we call it lunch box or lunch bag

 

[Frozen Canuck]

One difference within Canada is something called a “gym strip”. We just call it gym clothes or change of clothes, apparently gym strip is in BC and maybe Alberta?

It was gym clothes by the time it reached Saskatchewan...ha ha!

If we are going to get into words that are used in particular areas, I always find this video amusing. I can understand every single word spoken. I love that it has to have sub-titles.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Supposedly I hate America,

 

[prairie_girl]

Lunch box here.
Mine was bionic woman.

I had Fraggle Rock!

What exactly do you want to know? My life has been split pretty close to 50/50, with the first half, including working, spent in Canada, and the second half, living and traveling within the US.

I'm not exactly sure where you get the impression (if I am reading this right), that you feel like Canadians are hurt by the fact that Americans take little to no interest in them. I'm going to step out on a limb and attempt to speak on behalf of ALL CANADIANS and say, "We really and truly don't care that you don't care!" Making comments like this just feeds into the American stereotype. If we (Canadians) talk about how we learn about the US, but then you hear us bemoan the fact that Americans don't learn about their northern neighbours, it is NOT because our feelings are hurt. It is more so that we are incredulous that a country could be so self-absorbed, that they give little thought to any place outside of their own borders, even for places that directly impact their lives. The fact that Americans know very little about Canada is actually the basis for much comedy amongst Canadians. We often follow things going on in the US, such as politics and healthcare, simply because they seem absolutely bonkers from our point of view (and trust me when I say that we have our own brand of crazy politics at times). We probe and ask questions to gain understanding because it is like exploring an exotic zoo exhibit. The responses we receive will then become the subject of coffee row talk and legend, like, "My brother-in-law works at the border and he said they had Americans driving up to Canada with skis on the top of their car in July expecting to go skiing because Canada is a snowy wonderland year round."

Now, I will walk this back a bit and say that I can remember ONE time where Canadians that I spoke to felt hurt that America forgot or failed to mention them, and that was after 9/11, when more than 30,000 travelers were routed to and cared for in Canada. President Bush, in his speech on Sept. 20, thanked nations from all over the world, listing a number of them off specifically, like Japan and Iran, while completely neglecting to mention Canada's aid. He later thanked Canada in 2004!!! I have since read an article on the National Post, "Why Bush didn't mention Canada in his 9/20 speech?" The reason given? “We just … forgot.” The response to that oversight was...harsh.

This, This, THIS. I want to like all of this times a million. Very well said.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The fact that Americans know very little about Canada is actually the basis for much comedy amongst Canadians.

IDK there's been enough talk about what Canadians don't know about Americans (and a wide variety of topics). I don't really see it as a way to make fun of Canadians. It's all something to just pass along knowledge and converse.

Dare I say using lack of knowledge for comedic purposes (and even outside of comedic purposes) sounds downright un-Canadian given how kind and gentle the stereotype Canadians have; a bit hard to reconcile this image I must say.

 

[bcla]

IDK there's been enough talk about what Canadians don't know about Americans (and a wide variety of topics). I don't really see it as a way to make fun of Canadians. It's all something to just pass along knowledge and converse.

Dare I say using lack of knowledge for comedic purposes (and even outside of comedic purposes) sounds downright un-Canadian given how kind and gentle the stereotype Canadians have; a bit hard to reconcile this image I must say.

Canadians are not kind and gentle. They're polite, which is a social norm. Like many polite cultures, being polite may be from a sense of obligation where they may not mean it.

When I was in Canada back around 2015, I was listening to some sort of comedic debate on the radio, although I'm not sure what it was exactly. Something about debates about native vs European Canadian culture I think. But one guy was of native ancestry but absolutely laid into it that part of his ancestry was Swedish.

 

[CdnCarrie]

The other accent that threw me is that people I know in Toronto talked about the Fargo accent on the show Fargo. I’ve never watched the show.

I’m like people in Fargo have an accent? And they claim they do.
But we live 3-4 hours away and weekend getaway to Grand Forks/Fargo is extremely common. I never hear an accent.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Canadians are not kind and gentle. They're polite, which is a social norm.

So no Canadian is kind?
Yet supposedly there are posters who are snarky about America? Got it.

 

[bcla]

So no Canadian is kind?
Yet supposedly there are posters who are snarky about America? Got it.

Some are. Some aren't. I should have said "not necessarily kind". But I certainly wouldn't mistake politeness with kindness.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Some are. Some aren't. I should have said "not necessarily kind". But I certainly wouldn't mistake politeness with kindness.

What a odd comment.

 

[ronandannette]

Now, I will walk this back a bit and say that I can remember ONE time where Canadians that I spoke to felt hurt that America forgot or failed to mention them, and that was after 9/11, when more than 30,000 travelers were routed to and cared for in Canada. President Bush, in his speech on Sept. 20, thanked nations from all over the world, listing a number of them off specifically, like Japan and Iran, while completely neglecting to mention Canada's aid. He later thanked Canada in 2004!!! I have since read an article on the National Post, "Why Bush didn't mention Canada in his 9/20 speech?" The reason given? “We just … forgot.” The response to that oversight was...harsh.

On another note:

I'm from Saskatachewan and we used the term "lunch kit" as well.

For those 6 bittersweet days, in our hearts we were all Newfoundlanders and SO PROUD of how they offered safe haven to misfortuned travellers from all over the world. I wept on-and-off all through "Come From Away" and I never, ever expected it to be so emotionally evocative.

As for the video, I don't even have to play it. I'm guffawing just thinking about Rick Mercer's Talking to Americans. My personal all-time favourite was the number of people that knew "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" as compared to the number that knew "Who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?".

Lunch kit is this sort of thing, with a matching thermos inside.

 

[Disneylover99]

One funny recent story lately is I’ve been chatting with our new neighbour. She had a strange accent that was almost a Southern drawl. I just couldn’t place it.
About 2 weeks ago she friended me on Facebook and she’s a Newfie!
I should have recognized a Newfie accent! Sure reminds me of a southern one. Anyone notice a similarity between the 2 accents before?

All of my extended family live in Nflld, so I’m used to a Newfie accent. Maybe that’s why Southern/Newfie sound completely different to me.

Another difference is, I can understand Southerners, but I can’t understand half my relatives. Lol.

 

[E&Cmom]

Was Lunch Box growing up in Quebec.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Canadians, do you have great folk or campfire songs? I recently came across this American one.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Canadians, do you have great folk or campfire songs? I recently came across this American one.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Canadians, do you have great folk or campfire songs? I recently came across this American one.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Some are. Some aren't. I should have said "not necessarily kind". But I certainly wouldn't mistake politeness with kindness.

Are Americans kind or just polite?