# Determining If Someone Is Canadian... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072 "2014-10-21T21:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/1 "2014-10-21T21:16:11Z")
I live near the the Windsor-Detroit border of Canada. So I have had contact with Canadians from time to time. They usually try to blend in with the rest of the population when the visit America (they are a very discrete and law-abiding people–not at all like Americans, contrary to the popular notion). But there is one thing that always gives them away, I’ve noticed. Their accent. And there is one sound that is the clincher. “Ou”. Just have them say “How now brown cow” and you’ll know at once. Has anyone else ever noticed what I am talking about? Because it is truly astounding. Never fails. BTW, I think there also is a difference between the various provinces in Canada too. I used to get Canadian tv. And I think the Nova Scotia accent is somewhat like a Scottish accent. But that is all I can add to what I already said. Again, what have the rest of you noticed? :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/2 "2014-10-21T21:25:47Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Again, what have the rest of you noticed? That there are an awful lot of accents in Canada, some of which sound nothing like the Bob and Doug MacKenzie stereotype you mentioned. In other words, your test fails all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/3 "2014-10-21T21:40:04Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > That there are an awful lot of accents in Canada, some of which sound nothing like the Bob and Doug MacKenzie stereotype you mentioned. > > In other words, your test fails all the time. Works every time where I live. Recently, my father was in the hospital. And the medical technician was letting slip an occasional stray “ou” here and there. I asked her if she was Canadian, and she said, yes. Works every time:). ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/4 "2014-10-21T21:47:01Z")
Oh, finding out if someone is Canadian is easy, you just ask them if they’re an American…😃 Seriously, that isn’t always a giveaway. BC residents have more of a California thing than Ontario for example. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/5 "2014-10-21T22:14:20Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Works every time where I live. That’s like saying “I’m world famous in parts of Michigan.” Nearly all people with that accent are Canadian, but not all Canadians have that accent. How do you know how many Canadians you’ve met? Do you ask everyone you encounter? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/6 "2014-10-21T22:22:11Z")
Judging by all of the HGTV programming that is filmed in Ontario, washroom/bathroom and cupboards/cabinets are two useful shibboleths. For that region, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/7 "2014-10-21T22:37:47Z")
Ask them if they know who Miles Gilbert Horton is? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/8 "2014-10-21T22:41:59Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Has anyone else ever noticed what I am talking about? I have no idea what you’re talking aboowt. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/9 "2014-10-21T22:56:23Z")
You all know, I did also say > [@](#): > > BTW, I think there also is a difference between the various provinces in Canada too. I used to get Canadian tv. And I think the Nova Scotia accent is somewhat like a Scottish accent. But that is all I can add to what I already said. So my original question was largely confined to Ontario to begin with. It was only later posters who claimed (and criticized) that I was referring to all of Canada. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/10 "2014-10-21T23:06:15Z")
My wife grew up in southern Ontario, she left when she was 11, over 30 years later she is still mocking us Manitobans for not saying How now brown cow correctly. As well as silly things like Crayons only having one syllable, “Crans” how is that a thing? ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/11 "2014-10-21T23:21:30Z")
Ask them: who is the Secretary of Agriculture for the United States? If they know they are probably Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/12 "2014-10-21T23:26:16Z")
Force them to write the word “colo(u)r”. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/13 "2014-10-21T23:33:17Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Force them to write the word “colo(u)r”. Or to say the word “process.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/14 "2014-10-22T00:39:34Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Judging by all of the HGTV programming that is filmed in Ontario, washroom/bathroom and cupboards/cabinets are two useful shibboleths. For that region, anyway. It’s “Restroom” in the US, but not usually in Canada (my parts of it, anyway). We can tell when we’ve hit the US (other than having to stop for the border crossing) once we start seeing “restroom” signs. 🙂 Another giveaway word for Canadians - the way we say “other.” It ends up being closer to “ether” (with a short e sound). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/15 "2014-10-22T00:54:35Z")
Just ask them how tall they are. If they answer in meters, they ain’t American. (Do Canadians even use the word “ain’t”?) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/16 "2014-10-22T01:12:18Z")
Jim B. writes: \> . . . they are a very discrete . . . people . . . As opposed to Americans, who are mushed together into a single continuum. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/17 "2014-10-22T01:56:08Z")
Amazingly, I still cannot tell. Canadians seem to know instantly that I am American, but even after living here for 46 years I still cannot detect the Canadian accent. Oh, there are a few tells. They pronounce “either” as Ither, while I say EEther, and sometimes say “aboot” for “about”, but even that is not consistent. Oh, here’s one: they invariably say the t in “often” where it is silent to most Americans. My American Heritage dictionary gives only one pronunciation: silent t. It is not as though I am insensitive to accent. I heard a guy this morning with what I call a mid-Atlantic accent. He would have started out in Britain, but has spent most of his life here. But i recognized after about three words. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/18 "2014-10-22T02:00:16Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Just ask them how tall they are. If they answer in meters, they ain’t American. They aren’t Canadian, either. They’d be German or something. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/19 "2014-10-22T02:56:14Z")
In my experience, the about/aboot thing rarely works. But Canadians saying “sorry” as sorey instead of sarry works pretty well. Also other non-pronunciation things that make sense in American but just seem different. Like saying Grade 7 instead of 7th Grade. > [@kunilou](#): > > Just ask them how tall they are. If they answer in meters, they ain’t American. Or if British, they use bizarro words like “stones.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/20 "2014-10-22T02:58:38Z")
Sure way to tell who’s Canadian when you’re in a supermarket: The Canadians are the ones with twelve gallons of milk in their carts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072.md?page=2)