Whenever I'm talking to an American, I seem to always take the proactive attack towards their misconceptions.
Normally, I mention to them how impressed I am with their grasp of ENGLISH. If they start talking about us as hicks, I usually point out some of the better known Canadian inventions (Here and here). They're usually surprised about the common items that they thought were American. I was working with a diabetic American in LA a while back that had a hard time believing that insulin was a Canadian discovery.
When they start talking about "eh", I usually mention the "y'all" and "uh-huh".
Uh-huh seems to be universally used in the US instead of "you're welcome". It used to really bother me when a waitress says uh-huh (because my mother would have swatted me in the head if I said that instead of your welcome), but then I realized that they don't say it to be flippant or rude. It just sounds that way to the overly polite Canadian...
Normally, I mention to them how impressed I am with their grasp of ENGLISH. If they start talking about us as hicks, I usually point out some of the better known Canadian inventions (Here and here). They're usually surprised about the common items that they thought were American. I was working with a diabetic American in LA a while back that had a hard time believing that insulin was a Canadian discovery.
When they start talking about "eh", I usually mention the "y'all" and "uh-huh".
Uh-huh seems to be universally used in the US instead of "you're welcome". It used to really bother me when a waitress says uh-huh (because my mother would have swatted me in the head if I said that instead of your welcome), but then I realized that they don't say it to be flippant or rude. It just sounds that way to the overly polite Canadian...