# Dead giveaways in a post that a person is from country X **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534 "2007-10-30T03:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/1 "2007-10-30T03:49:23Z")
Yeah I know you can see the country tag underneath a poster’s name, but let’s play along anyway. For example, if I see the word “rubbish”, it’s quite likely that the person is from the British Isles. Style might also go here maybe. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/2 "2007-10-30T13:03:08Z")
How do you see the Country tag under someone’s name? StG ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/3 "2007-10-30T13:06:24Z")
Use of two-letter abbreviations of US states usually indicates the poster is American (they’re pretty incomprehensible to anyone else). ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/4 "2007-10-30T13:09:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Use of two-letter abbreviations of US states usually indicates the poster is American (they’re pretty incomprehensible to anyone else). [/QUOTE] Not postal workers. 😃 You can lay a middle sized Canadian town on me or an obscure provincial abbreviation from a small country, and I’ve got you. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/5 "2007-10-30T13:20:19Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Use of two-letter abbreviations of US states usually indicates the poster is American (they’re pretty incomprehensible to anyone else). [/QUOTE] Just be careful if someone says they are from “Perth WA”. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/6 "2007-10-30T14:27:14Z")
The use of color/colour or check/cheque pretty much gives it away that they aren’t from the US. Also, most people from the US don’t refer to it as “the states”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/7 "2007-10-30T14:40:20Z")
If they speak favourably about the consumption of organ meats… ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/8 "2007-10-30T14:43:26Z")
If they’re excited about a chain restaurant opening up near them they’re either American or Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/9 "2007-10-30T15:15:08Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] If they speak favourably about the consumption of organ meats… [/QUOTE] …they have British grandparents. (Still miss my mom’s steak-and-kidney pie…) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/10 "2007-10-30T15:21:38Z")
If “Asian” means from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, they are probably from the UK. If “Asian” means from China, Japan or Korea, they are probably from the US. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Ice\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Machine)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/11 "2007-10-30T15:25:25Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] The use of color/colour or check/cheque pretty much gives it away that they aren’t from the US. Also, most people from the US don’t refer to it as “the states”. [/QUOTE] Spelling and slang would be the two big ones. In some cases pop culture, historical and geographical references would give the location away as well. Since I use colour, cheque and “the states” it’s a dead giveaway I’m not originally from Houston. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/12 "2007-10-30T15:39:23Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Use of two-letter abbreviations of US states usually indicates the poster is American (they’re pretty incomprehensible to anyone else). [/QUOTE] Americans often seem to refer to their home as a state, either by its full name or by its two-letter abbreviation. Understandable, since the US a big country and it’s easier to locate an American poster’s place within it by state. It’s less usual for those of us from other places to refer to an American’s home by his or her state, but not unheard of. But things get interesting when we look at the coutry as a whole. If a non-American poster refers to that American poster’s home country as “the United States,” “the US,” “the USA,” or simply “the States,” then it often means the writer is Canadian. Many Canadians don’t like calling the nation south of theirs “America.” Referring to that poster’s home as “America” often means the writer comes from somewhere other than Canada. If a poster uses a dollar sign in their post, watch its placement. Folks from English-speaking places will put the dollar sign before the number: 25. Folks from Quebec tend to put it after the number: 25. Not an infallible guide, but I’ve seen Quebec Dopers do this many times. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/13 "2007-10-30T16:06:56Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] …they have British grandparents. (Still miss my mom’s steak-and-kidney pie…) [/QUOTE] \*\*Sunspace, \*\* I have my mum’s recipe. If you want it, send me an e-mail. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/14 "2007-10-30T16:10:58Z")
Funny, I call it “the States” all the time. I never noticed how much I dislike calling it “America”, cause you know, it ain’t. But I have no problem with “American”. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/15 "2007-10-30T16:17:21Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Funny, I call it “the States” all the time. I never noticed how much I dislike calling it “America”, cause you know, it ain’t. But I have no problem with “American”. [/QUOTE] I argued once with a Chilean cause I said I was American. It’s not ego, it’s grammar, what am I supposed to call myself, a ‘United Statsian’? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/16 "2007-10-30T16:23:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] I argued once with a Chilean cause I said I was American. It’s not ego, it’s grammar, what am I supposed to call myself, a ‘United Statsian’? [/QUOTE] Isn’t that the actual term in Spanish: the equivalent of ‘Ünited Statesian’? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/17 "2007-10-30T16:24:07Z")
One that immediately flags a person as an American is the construction “write me”, instead of “write to me”. To my British eyes, this is quite jarring. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/18 "2007-10-30T16:24:58Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] \*\*Sunspace, \*\* I have my mum’s recipe. If you want it, send me an e-mail. [/QUOTE] _snif_ Thank you. I’ll send a message tonight when I get home. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/19 "2007-10-30T16:26:19Z")
If a poster says, “When I went to university”, I can probably assume he/she is Canadian. “When I went to college” is what an American would say. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/20 "2007-10-30T16:26:21Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] But things get interesting when we look at the coutry as a whole. If a non-American poster refers to that American poster’s home country as “the United States,” “the US,” “the USA,” or simply “the States,” then it often means the writer is Canadian. Many Canadians don’t like calling the nation south of theirs “America.” Referring to that poster’s home as “America” often means the writer comes from somewhere other than Canada. [/QUOTE] I’ll often use ‘US’ or ‘States’, especially when the precision is helpful, such as when there’s a particular distinction to be made between that country and Canada, or less often with elsewhere in the Americas. [QUOTE=John DiFool] If a poster says, “When I went to university”, I can probably assume he/she is Canadian. [/QUOTE] Or British. Or (I think) Australian. In fact, pretty much just ‘not American’ 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534.md?page=2)