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Aboot vs About, all in fun, Banksy, beer, Canada, changing seasons, Diana Schwenk, Eh, Hockey, humour, Hump Day Chronicles, laughter, poutine, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Stereotypes, toque
Nobody enjoys Canadian stereotypes more than Canadians.
We can laugh at ourselves.
We don’t have to take ourselves so seriously all the time!
Life is way too short to be offended by every little thing that every little someone says.
Today I would like to go over some of the more common stereotypes I’ve heard about Canadians.
We all wear toques
Um yeah! Nobody rocks a toque like a Canadian! When it’s cold outside they say 90% of our body heat escapes through our heads. Wearing a toque makes sense. If you’re ever somewhere cold, you should try it – it may even save your life!
We say “eh”
To be honest, I have spent a great many years trying not to say Eh. I’ve told people it’s not even said except when we want to entertain tourists. Truth is I say it. We all say it. So what? Americans say Huh and Right. British people say Yeah at the beginning of every sentence. Australians say Aye. So what’s the problem, eh?
We say aboot instead of about
Fiddlesticks! We say ABOUT – the rest of you say it funny!
We drink beer like it’s water
This is simply not true. Well unless we’re vacationing in the States because the beer there…well it tastes like water. Seriously, we also drink wine and spirits and the odd mason jar filled with potato moonshine!
We only care about hockey
Yeah ok. Pretty much. But don’t knock it until you’ve sat in a cold arena with your toque on, eating poutine and drinking beer while watching an exciting sit-at-the-edge-of-your-seat-cussing-like-a-trucker game of hockey!
We all live in igloos, use dog sleds
Puh-lease! Seriously?
All of our police are Mounties
Admit it! You’re just jealous of our totally cool uniforms and musical rides!
The entire country is covered in snow and ice
True – we have a longer winter than some. But we do have 4 seasons and we find ways to enjoy all of them. For example in the winter I enjoy complaining about the cold, but I do it while rocking my toque!
But I draw the line at boring!
The other day I came across this story. An editorial by British street artist Banksy criticizes New York skyscraper One World Trade Center, and disses Canada in the process. In an op-ed meant for the New York Times but rejected by the paper, the anonymous artist slams the “shy skyscraper,” saying it looks Canadian. “That building is a disaster. Well no, disasters are interesting. One World Trade Center is a non-event. It’s vanilla. It looks like something they would build in Canada,” he wrote. – source: Huffington Post. To see the complete article click here.
Canadian Buildings
Oh Banksy.
Canada is a diverse nation whose citizens come from a variety of cultures. This is reflected in its many buildings; everything from skyscrapers, cathedrals, mosques, historical buildings to cultural structures and the aforementioned Igloos. Maybe, before you run around dissing Canada and calling us boring, you might want to come check us out in person.
Let me know if you can make it Banksy. I swear – you won’t be bored!
We’ll show you a good time and we promise not to yank a togue down over your face and tie you to the back of a sled being pulled by running dogs. 😉
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
Oh! I almost forgot! We say sorry a lot
I’m sorry if that bothers you. I’m sorry if this post offends you. I’m sorry about my sweeping generalization regarding truckers and their potty mouths. I’m sorry if I hurt your itty bitty feelings Banksy. Honestly, I didn’t mean it, eh.
markbialczak said:
Oh, no, no, no, no, no Banksy. My Canadian friends don’t make boring buildings. And they were the first to make a baseball dome where the roof came off on sunny days. Take that.
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dianasschwenk said:
thanks for backing us up southern neighbor!
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Pingback: 10 Things Americans Should Know About Canada | THE SCARECROW
artsifrtsy said:
You know – Frank Lloyd Wright called the rise of the skyscraper in New York “the great window-fication of America” – He thought they were all boring and ugly. Canada’s buildings look at least as interesting as those of St Louis 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
haha! Thanks Lorri! China has some funky looking buildings!
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f-stop mama said:
I love this post. It reminded me of our time in Canada this summer. I found myself saying eh after returning to the states after a week in Canada. Love Canadians:-)
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dianasschwenk said:
haha you know whenever I travel somewhere I pick up or mimic their accent for some unknown reason. I don’t why I do it but suddenly I’ll have a southern accent and I’m say y’all….
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Jean said:
What is amazing is just travel over into the U.S. from Canada..30 km. or less…and the American accent is more obvious. This I find interesting: we are more parochial than we realize.
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dianasschwenk said:
I know Jean! A couple of summers ago I went to Waterton Park and then skipped across the border 20 minutes away to visit Glacier National Park and it switched immediately from Canadian to American!
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Jean said:
Very noticeable when we crossed the border from suburb of White Rock outside of Metro Vancouver, BC into Blaine, Washington state.
Downtown Vancouver is only 40 km. north of the international border. There’s a pile of suburbs south of downtown –Richmond, etc. full of people….over 1.5 million people not much rural land for isolation!
Unlike Waterton Park..which is a national park, blending into Glacier National Park, on the U.S. side.
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dianasschwenk said:
So very true Jean and this makes the border crossing you mention even more amazing regarding accents!
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Patty B said:
You are so funny! I love Canadians! And sometimes I think I should have been born a Canadian, I think Mounties are sexy – face it is the uniforms! Your weather is perfect – I like the idea of Canadian seasons, cool, cold, colder and coldest (this came from one of our tour guides)- I love Anne Murray and can listen to her all day long – I love to hear “eh” and love the Canadian attitude. When we were there last year it was like talking to old friends – everyone welcomed us and I think if we were not off the cruise ship we would have been invited home by some of them!! LOL Us Americans can learn plenty from our wonderful neighbors from the north. {hugs} from your neighbor in the south!
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dianasschwenk said:
Hugs back at ya southern neighbour! Thanks for your comment, it made me smile. I am always treated well when I visit my neighbours to south too! All y’all are so nice to me. ❤
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When in New Places said:
I completely agree with this, Diana, and I would also include the Royal Ontario Museum in your lovely list of interesting Canadian architecture; it’s a lovely building. Banksy is a bozo for this comment, although I do like his work a lot; the toque and dogsled route may be our only option on this one :D.
Living abroad really brings forth a lot of perspectives that other cultures have of Canadians. As I was talking to one gentleman (an American – how’d I know? I just did :)) he stopped what he was saying and said “You must be from Canada, right?” and I was like “Why yes, how did you know?” and he said that there was just something about my demeanor, my niceness. So, if that’s what we’ve got going for us, then that’s a pretty good thing.
At an orientation for my work, I could sense who was Canadian, which I thought was interesting. There is just something different in the subtle ways we act and speak (of course). Everyone’s favorite public speakers at that orientation were Canadian; they all had similarities in their sense of humor and confident delivery. I thought that was interesting.
Overall, being abroad has made me more proud of being Canadian. Not because I feel that we’re better than anyone, but because I’ve come to see and love the little Canadian intricacies that we do have.
We definitely do say ‘eh’. I always tell people it’s like we’re usually using it for discussion purposes, like “That crowd was so big, eh?” I think it’s cute, and I’ve embraced the fact that we do it. I used to feel a bit of embarrassment about it, but as you said every culture has their thing, so why deny ours, eh? 😀
Great post as usual, Diana!
~Andrea<3
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dianasschwenk said:
haha why deny it is right! Your perspective and growing appreciation due to travel is awesome! When I was in the Dominican and laying on the beach, there was a constant barrage of locals ringing bells and making noise to draw attention to the fact that they were selling wares. I would smile, say no gracias and they would usually respond with you must be Canadian! Turns out people from elsewhere were annoyed by them but my general happiness, politeness and kindness (their discription, not mine) ratted me out as a Canadian! 😉
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Brigitte said:
D, you are so right. We ALL need to lighten up and laugh at ourselves. I love Canada. And I did not know what a toque was until now. Thank you, my Canadian friend.
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dianasschwenk said:
(smiling) Thanks Brigitte – always glad to share the nuances of my lovely country!
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Jennifer's Journal said:
Way to sport the toque, D! Thanks for making me even prouder to be a Canadian. 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
haha! Thank you my friend! Sometimes I think Canadians aren’t as proud of their country as Americans are of theirs, but anytime I take some time to think about our vast and beautiful country with all its freedoms, I am very proud and feel privileged to be Canadian!
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dianasschwenk said:
haha! Thank you my friend! Sometimes I think Canadians aren’t as proud of their country as Americans are of theirs, but anytime I take some time to think about our vast and beautiful country with all its freedoms, I am very proud and feel privileged to be Canadian!
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joannerambling said:
I loved this post, it is funny how other countries see our country and it is the same everywhere I think, this post gave me a good giggle reading it, yes I giggle…………………lol
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dianasschwenk said:
haha! Glad you giggled and I can totally picture you as a giggler!
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Kristi said:
Loved this post Diana and was chuckling while reading it. Haha, you guys drink beer, we drink vodka….which btw is also generalization about all eastern europeans (but sometimes true). xo
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dianasschwenk said:
I drink vodka too! It comes in lots of flavours here. I like the chocolate vodka – it makes a great shooter!
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Waldo "Wally" Tomosky said:
The Mounties are not boring, to wit; Dudley
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dianasschwenk said:
haha! Love it Waldo!
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RashiedaUncut said:
Amazeballs and loved the picks 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Rashieda!
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elizabeth2560 said:
We Aussies don’t say ‘Aye’. That is Scottish.
I think we are more into the ‘yep’ and ‘uh-huh’
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dianasschwenk said:
are you sure?? no aye mate??? 😉
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elizabeth2560 said:
No its ‘G’day mate’
Although admittedly the drawl does sound like G’daye 😉
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dianasschwenk said:
ahhh Ok – thanks for the clarification!
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elizabeth2560 said:
Of course I don’t talk like that though 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
haha! of course not!
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elizabeth2560 said:
People even write emails starting with ‘G’day’
It really irritates me
(Well it doesn’t actually irritate me, but I could let it irritate me, if I had nothing else to get irritated by).
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dianasschwenk said:
(smiling) I can’t say I’ve ever received and email that says eh!
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bulldog said:
I know a few jokes about Canada….
Q: What do you call a sophisticated American? A: Canadian.
Q: What’s the difference between an American and a Canadian? A: An Canadian not only has a sense of humour but can also spell it.
But then there is this one….
Q: What are the 2 seasons in Canada? A: WINTER AND JULY!
and this one I’ve also heard…
What do urine samples and Canadian beer have in common? The taste.
Canadian comeback: I’ve always found American beer is a bit like having sex in a canoe: It’s f*cking close to water.
We all wear Beenies in winter you call them toques… we say hey?? or umm… we love Rugby… and our police force couldn’t ride a horse let alone a motor bike,, for that matter I think they’d have trouble with a bicycle… I love Canadians, they just talk funny…
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dianasschwenk said:
haha I think the first 2 kinda take jabs at Americans but they’re funny! I love your comments here bulldog and even though you think we talk funny if you heard me talking you would just be mesmerized!
😉
Diana
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bulldog said:
I’m mesmerized by you without hearing you talk…
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dianasschwenk said:
aw shucks…thanks bulldog…
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Sheryl said:
What a fun post! And, I learned a new word–togue. I might not be up on the current slang in the US, but I’d call it a cap.
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Sheryl! I learned something new about this word and its origins as well. (check out the link) I never knew the history of toque and how in Canada we just randomly gave it another meaning!
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mrs fringe said:
Love this post–and I’m quite fond of all types of hats. And beer. And donuts. 😀 Maybe I should move to Canada, eh? –you can have my hockey tickets, I leave that to you natives 😉
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dianasschwenk said:
Glad you enjoyed it mrs F! You are most welcome in Canada. We’d make you an honourary Canadian right away!
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mrs fringe said:
Excellent–pour me a draft, will ya? 😀
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dianasschwenk said:
You betcha!
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billgncs said:
to laugh at one’s self is wisdom, and freedom
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dianasschwenk said:
and healthy! 🙂
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billgncs said:
and healthy
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dianasschwenk said:
and then there’s also the health component.
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