# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/61 "2014-10-23T00:17:41Z")
The weather report on teh interwebs suckered me in yesterday. It said 21, which I recognize as being top down temperature. For the next day it said 22, and going up each day after that for the next week, which I thought was too good to be true for this time of year. I went outside in my shirtsleeves to take off the top for my drive to work, only to find it rather chilly. I scurried back inside to double check the weather report and my thermometer mounted by my window, only to realize that I had mistaken the dates for the temperature. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/62 "2014-10-23T00:19:13Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > When they speak, their head from the mouth up pops off? Or is that just South Park, eh? I love it when Americans try to use “eh” in a sentence. They never quite get it right. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/63 "2014-10-23T00:31:01Z")
> [@Marlonius](#): > > I love it when Americans try to use “eh” in a sentence. They never quite get it right. Au contraire! If an American does it, it is by definition right. Obviously it’s the Canadians screwing it up. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/64 "2014-10-23T00:32:30Z")
Touché! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/65 "2014-10-23T00:34:17Z")
Take off, huh. ---
**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 23, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/66 "2014-10-23T01:20:03Z")
> [@Marlonius](#): > > I love it when Americans try to use “eh” in a sentence. They never quite get it right. Ha! I was just going to bust him on that. You never put “eh” after an actual question! What a n00b, eh? ---
**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 23, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/67 "2014-10-23T01:41:56Z")
> [@](#): > > 48 litres of homo milk > [@Malthus](#): > > … in bags. That’s an Ontarian! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/68 "2014-10-23T02:03:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That’s an Ontarian! Hey, are milk bags only an Ontario thing? Eh? 😉 ---
**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 23, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/69 "2014-10-23T02:49:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hey, are milk bags only an Ontario thing? Eh? 😉 Pretty much. I recall them from my days in Ontario, but I’ve never seen them here in western Canada. My old milk bag jug from Ontario is now being used as a cat kibble scoop. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/70 "2014-10-23T03:31:36Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hey, are milk bags only an Ontario thing? Eh? 😉 Milk is available in bags in the Maritimes too. 3 bags totalling 4 litres. (Per package). ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/71 "2014-10-23T03:34:13Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Ha! I was just going to bust him on that. You never put “eh” after an actual question! What a n00b, eh? Word. As I explain it to my southern friends, the “eh” at the end of a statement turns it into a rhetorical question. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/72 "2014-10-23T03:46:37Z")
> [@kbear](#): > > I’m trying to figure out what “how now brown cow” has to do with OU words. And I can’t figure out why how I say those words marks me as a Canadian.?? Those words shouldn’t (as those are not typically “raised” because they don’t precede an unvoiced consonant). But a word like “about” or “house” would. The idea many people have is that Canadians raise all “ow”-type sounds (it doesn’t really matter how they’re spelled, but I can’t think of any “ow” words off the top of my head followed by an unvoiced consonant), when that is not the case. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/73 "2014-10-23T04:01:25Z")
> [@Marlonius](#): > > Word. > > As I explain it to my southern friends, the “eh” at the end of a statement turns it into a rhetorical question. Yes. Rhetorical question. “That was a good Habs game, eh?” “I’ve got too much maple syrup on my beavertail, eh?” “The large poutine is too much, eh?” “Wayne Gretzky is the greatest player ever, eh?” ---
**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 23, 2014, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/74 "2014-10-23T05:32:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yes. Rhetorical question. “That was a good Habs game, eh?” You’re a Leafs fan. You’d only say such a thing if the Habs lost, eh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/75 "2014-10-23T13:59:04Z")
[quote=“Balthisar, post:35, topic:702072”] [li]Hoover has been kleenexed and aspirined. Except Aspirin is still trademarked (but you can’t hear that in their voice).[/li][/QUOTE] “Hoovering” to mean vacuuming is certainly not very common in Canada. I only hear people from overseas, or maybe their kids, use this term. [QUOTE] [li]They always have to pay Hydro bills (and Ontario Hydro hasn’t even exist since sometime in the 90s)[/li][/QUOTE] There’s still a “Hydro One.” Ontario Hydro was broken into Hydro One and OPG, and the former is the one people still usually deal with, (though I personally absolutely detest the word “hydro” for electricity.) My favourite little Canadianism is the propensity to say the word “during” as if it starts with a J, “juring,” or maybe “djuring.” Most Canadians don’t even realize they’re saying it, but it’s very common. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/76 "2014-10-23T14:23:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > My favourite little Canadianism is the propensity to say the word “during” as if it starts with a J, “juring,” or maybe “djuring.” Most Canadians don’t even realize they’re saying it, but it’s very common. Very Scottish actually. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/77 "2014-10-23T14:41:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Hoovering” to mean vacuuming is certainly not very common in Canada. I only hear people from overseas, or maybe their kids, use this term. In the US, Hoovering as vacuuming survives mostly via the metaphor of vacuuming a lot of food into your mouth–“He really Hoovered that dessert buffet”. If you were to say, “I Hoovered the living room” . . . well, I’d know what you meant, but I’d think of it as a kind of weird and antiquated usage. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/78 "2014-10-23T15:49:27Z")
There are quite a few call centers in Canada that handle customer service calls for US companies. I can usually spot the Canadians after a few sentences. It’s not so much the pronunciation of the phonemes, but the lilt and rhythm of the sentence. Hard to explain, but one clue if often the way the slightly stress the last syllable, not rising, but just stressed a bit. The way the Irish do it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/79 "2014-10-23T16:05:01Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > In the US, Hoovering as vacuuming survives mostly via the metaphor of vacuuming a lot of food into your mouth–“He really Hoovered that dessert buffet”. If you were to say, “I Hoovered the living room” . . . well, I’d know what you meant, but I’d think of it as a kind of weird and antiquated usage. I’m in the US. A few of my friends still occasionally use cocaine, and they talk about hoovering up a line. When I hear “hoover” that’s what comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/80 "2014-10-23T16:12:02Z")
I can’t help but think of J. Edgar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072.md?page=5)