Americans and Canadians culture Q&A Thread.

[Buzz Rules]

With some people yes. Especially with those that want it to be. But most would understand it’s just how it was in those times. Right or wrong. There is still a lot of slavery in the world today.

This is true.

 

[Buzz Rules]

I'm in northern US bordering Canada and White Cat is right. Nobody here (where I am and where I grew up) really cares about Canada except for the kids under 21 that want to go out and legally drink. No offense to Canada it just isn't something we spend time thinking about. I don't remember learning much about it in school either, but that was a long time ago so I'm sure we covered it at some point but like the pp said it just isn't committed to memory.
I am familiar with the National Anthem but that's because it was on the TV show Cheers. It is played a lot at dd's college because half the hockey team is Canadian students.
I have read it is consistently voted the country with the nicest people and you definitely have produced some of the funniest people ever. I want to especially thank Canada for John Dunsworth.

Well in my high school in the northeast, we learned a lot about the French/British involvement in early (1600/1700’s) Canada. My area views the UK as the ancestral parent, Canada as the little stepbrother, and NZ and Australia as the cool cousins that we see once a year.

 

[Buzz Rules]

How do Canadians view Captain Simcoe? We don’t have positive views on him here in the USA but I believe he is viewed favorably in Canada for his contributions?

 

[CdnCarrie]

How do Canadians view Captain Simcoe? We don’t have positive views on him here in the USA but I believe he is viewed favorably in Canada for his contributions?

I have no idea who that is.??

 

[Buzz Rules]

I have no idea who that is.??

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Graves_Simcoe
YouTube have clips of him on the AMC TV show Turn. He was very brutal in the show, but a gentleman in Canada?

 

[MrBellatrixLestrange]

You're welcome.

And sorry for Justin Bieber and Celine Dion. Really really sorry.

How quickly Canadians are to gloss over Bryan Adams...

As to Biebs, I've never been a fan of his music (what I know is his at least) but I once heard he had granted more wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation than anyone other than John Cena so he's got my respect.

 

[tvguy]

A question for Canadians. When I was a kid visiting my Aunts and Uncles in Canada I was surprised that the mailman made deliveries twice a day, morning and afternoon. However, the mailman would not pickup outgoing mail from your house, you had to go to a drop box or the post office for that. Is that still the case?

 

[CdnCarrie]

A question for Canadians. When I was a kid visiting my Aunts and Uncles in Canada I was surprised that the mailman made deliveries twice a day, morning and afternoon. However, the mailman would not pickup outgoing mail from your house, you had to go to a drop box or the post office for that. Is that still the case?

I'm 50 years old and we have never had twice daily mail delivery in my lifetime. And we don't have delivery on Saturdays.
Mailman does not take out of the house mailbox - only puts in. Maybe different in rural areas.

 

[Karin1984]

I never understood why we pronounce the letter Z as “zee” while Canadians say “zed”. Is it simply due to British influence?

Most European languages say a form of 'zed' probably from the Greek letter Zeta. At least the Germanic, Roman, Scandinavian (incl. Finnish and Icelandic) and some Eastern European languages do. The only one I found that doesn't is Hungarian.

So the question is more... Why did the US needed to be the exception?

I am going with this explanation from Michael McIntyre on the different words between British & American English

 

[OhDannyBoy]

So the question is more... Why did the US needed to be the exception?

The same reason we reject the metric system. It's just what we do.

AMERICAAAAAAAAA!!! WOOOOOO!!!!

In all honesty i had no idea zed was even a thing until i had kids and they were watching Youtube videos.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Most European languages say a form of 'zed' probably from the Greek letter Zeta. At least the Germanic, Roman, Scandinavian (incl. Finnish and Icelandic) and some Eastern European languages do. The only one I found that doesn't is Hungarian.

So the question is more... Why did the US needed to be the exception?

I am going with this explanation from Michael McIntyre on the different words between British & American English

After the Revolution, patriots wanted to create an American English language.
https://time.com/5604227/american-british-english-literature/

 

[declansdad]

I'm 50 years old and we have never had twice daily mail delivery in my lifetime. And we don't have delivery on Saturdays.
Mailman does not take out of the house mailbox - only puts in. Maybe different in rural areas.

Same thing in rural areas. I'm 57 and I don't ever remember twice a day mail delivery.

It hasn't existed since 1951.

 

[NAB]

LOL. Maybe I should dig out photos of my Canadian cousin's weddings.....where they are cutting their traditional Canadian wedding cake, fruit cake.

I remember wrapping little pieces of fruit cake in plastic than a dollie for my brothers wedding when I was younger. The wedding cake on display was fake with fountains and all…lol

Than we moved on to a million Kleenex wedding flower for the cars.

 

[Karin1984]

After the Revolution, patriots wanted to create an American English language.

Like how the Scots invented the kilt? Imagine if the Americans did the same And each 4th of July you see all the Americans jumping around in a multi-coloured skirt!

 

[Buzz Rules]

The same reason we reject the metric system. It's just what we do.

AMERICAAAAAAAAA!!! WOOOOOO!!!!

In all honesty i had no idea zed was even a thing until i had kids and they were watching Youtube videos.

We tried the metric system in the 1960’s. It failed due to the 1st Cold War (we’re currently in the 2nd one?).

 

[declansdad]

I remember wrapping little pieces of fruit cake in plastic than a dollie for my brothers wedding when I was younger. The wedding cake on display was fake with fountains and all…lol

Than we moved on to a million Kleenex wedding flower for the cars.

The only thing I have ever seen fruit cake used for at a wedding was for the groom's cake. It certainly wasn't the main wedding cake, that's always been a traditional cake. The groom's cake was wrapped as you describe it and given out to take home.

 

[dez1978]

I have a recipe for the best fruit cake ever.

The secret is to use lots and lots of good quality brandy.

If you use enough alcohol, it tends to make most things better lol

https://www.saveur.com/new-jersey-disco-fries/
Disco fries are on every menu at NJ diner (open 24/7 365 days of the year) plus many other restaurants. Fries, brown gravy, mozzarella. Since NJ diners are open 24/7, everyone who goes to bars and clubs ends up at a diner at some point. Diners have literally pages of menu items, but disco fries are staples (plus burgers, salads, pancakes, steak, cod, cheese cake, pot roast, omelets, fried chicken - again, pages of items).

Ewwww

Freshman is no longer to be used as it was deemed offensive.
Yes you are correct in how university and college is used in each country.

Wait... Seriously? I have never , ever heard of this.

I think the biggest difference is our Medicare. I get sick, I go to the doctor. I don't think about it. I go. I show my health card anywhere in Canada and I get the service I need without ever having to take out my credit/debit card. Okay, unless they give me a prescription. But even those, I'm told, are cheaper in Canada.

My point is, we think about healthcare as necessary and just do it. We don't think about whether it fits in our household budget. And we don't think about whether that doctor or hospital is in our insurance group.

To be fair, I live in the US and I do exactly the same thing. I get sick, I go to the dr, or urgent care. 90% of my meds are $10 or less. I do pay copays but it's like $25 per visit, or 10% of the cost. My deductible is $1000 per year and no out of pocket max. I pay less than $100 per month for my insurance.

Legit question tho. I seem to remember hearing that while Canada does have universal healthcare, you do have to pay some fees for things that aren't covered by the plan? How does this really work? Because I feel like a lot of people have this misconception that you never have to pay for anything. But from what I've read people still buy private insurance for things.

That's the other interesting thing middle school and junior high. Sometimes junior high is referred to 7th and 8th grade sometimes it's 7th,8th and 9th grade. Middle school is sometimes 6th,7th, and 8th grade and sometimes it's just 7th and 8th grade.

I went to a middle school where it was 7th and 8th grade. Elementary was K-6th with high school 9th-12th. For me personally sadly my elementary school was demolished not long after I left (district was consolidating) followed several years after I left middle school same thing happened (again district was consolidating). My high school still stands though and is about to celebrate it's 100th anniversary next year.

When I went to school elementary was k-5, junior high was 6-8 and high school was 9-12.

My kids school is Early childhood k-2, elementary 3-5, middle school 6-8 and then high school.

 

[Moliphino]

Most European languages say a form of 'zed' probably from the Greek letter Zeta. At least the Germanic, Roman, Scandinavian (incl. Finnish and Icelandic) and some Eastern European languages do. The only one I found that doesn't is Hungarian.

So the question is more... Why did the US needed to be the exception?

I am going with this explanation from Michael McIntyre on the different words between British & American English

Zee actually originated in England, though it seems unclear why it became standard in the US.
Mental Floss story link

 

[bcla]

Have they retained a bit of the South African accent?

In my experience, South Africans can certainly figure out a native accent rather quickly. I had a classmate in high school who moved from South Africa. Her accent was indistinguishable from locals almost immediately.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Do Canadians have absentee voting?