# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/101 "2014-10-24T17:50:52Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Where the hell does this idea that “Canadians take their shoes off” come from? > > I’m Canadian, and unless your shoes are muddy or snowy or otherwise wet, you keep them on. This isn’t Japan; I wear my shoes into my house every day. So do my friends. > > [sub]I blame Cat Whisperer for perpetuating this rumour.[/sub] 😉 A place where my parents vacationed every summer when I was very small also drew many Canadian tourists. The kids who I played with there all took off their shoes before coming in (and would remind you if you didn’t). > [@swampspruce](#): > > As noted above, unless specifically told to leave my shoes on, they come off when I enter a house, and that’s been the case for pretty much every place in Canada I’ve been to from coast to coast, to coast. > Sorry, **Spoons** , you’re the odd man out, as it were. > > **Cat** , do you think **Spoons** **might be an American infiltrator?🆒** It’d take an Yank to point this out, but he _almost_ seemed…_looks left_ _looks right_ less-than-polite? :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/102 "2014-10-24T17:54:15Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > You’re welcome. I didn’t say that Canadians are unaware of how their healthcare system works. > > Maybe you could explain to **swampspruce** how his free flu shots are funded? First, you are reacting to a joke … 😉 Second, Canadians know very well that they ultimately pay for their socialized medicare through their tax dollars. What Canadians also know, is that somehow, paying for socialized medicare through tax dollars actually costs them considerably less, per person, than the same medicare costs south of the border - while most analysts state that it provides overall superior care. > **[Comparison of the healthcare systems in Canada and the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_health_care_systems_in_Canada_and_the_United_States)** > > A comparison of the healthcare systems in Canada and the United States is often made by government, public health and public policy analysts. The two countries had similar healthcare systems before Canada changed its system in the 1960s and 1970s. The United States spends much more money on healthcare than Canada, on both a per-capita basis and as a percentage of GDP. In 2006, per-capita spending for health care in Canada was US$3,678; in the U.S., US$6,714. The U.S. spent 15.3% Studies have co... ---
**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 24, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/103 "2014-10-24T19:52:56Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > A place where my parents vacationed every summer when I was very small also drew many Canadian tourists. > The kids who I played with there all took off their shoes before coming in (and would remind you if you didn’t). It’s pretty common in my American neighborhood, too, where there is (or was) a large Polish influence. To this day, my instinct is to generally take off my shoes when entering someone’s home. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/104 "2014-10-24T19:56:59Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Also when faced with soft drinks see if they say “pop” (Canadian) or “soda” (American). I understand that some states say “pop” too though, so that might not be foolproof. “Some states” is an understatement – [see this map](http://www.dula.tv/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/popvssodamap.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/105 "2014-10-24T20:57:43Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I can pick out in Ontario accent 99% of the time (note: not an accurate percentage, but c’mon, Ontario is easy if they’re not immigrants). > > [ul] > [li]Cutlery instead of silverware (I’ve started to adopt this habit, too).[/li][li]Older Ontarians will have a Chesterfield instead of a couch or sofa.[/li][li]Hoover has been kleenexed and aspirined. Except Aspirin is still trademarked (but you can’t hear that in their voice).[/li][li]They usually ask for a restaurant bill instead of a \*\*cheque \*\*(although I adopt this, too).[/li][li]Bread is white or brown (not wheat, although it may be written such on the package).[/li][li]They always have to pay Hydro bills (and Ontario Hydro hasn’t even exist since sometime in the 90s)[/li][li]Not a word, exactly, but sentences very often sound like questions with a rising tone at the end.[/li][/ul] > > Source: grew up across the river when Sarnia was as easy to get to as Marysville. And having lived there for a year (Ontario, not Sarnia). Spelling it _cheque_ instead of _check_ is also something a giveaway, old boy. Gone native a bit, have we? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/106 "2014-10-24T21:02:22Z")
Being on [Secretly Canadian Records](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretly_Canadian) might be a big clue. > [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Around here (mid-Ontario) we automatically take our shoes off when entering someone’s home, unless specifically told not to (“Oh keep your shoes on, honey.”) I find that Americans wear their shoes inside. They also take them off before going inside. Or maybe it depends! The point is, I don’t think that there is any big trend to make any generalizations. Entering another’s house usually involves asking or at least observing what other guests are doing. At best, it is regional (isn’t it just necessary to take them off in snow country?), but all expressions exist in the US. > [@](#): > > Another way to spot a Canadian is to wait until they need to pee and see if they ask for the “washroom” or “bathroom” rather than “restroom”. Most Americans I’ve known say bathroom. Restroom is only used if you are asking the waiter or other professional stranger where it is and thus is somewhat euphemistic. > [@](#): > > Also when faced with soft drinks see if they say “pop” (Canadian) or “soda” (American). I understand that some states say “pop” too though, so that might not be foolproof. What? Doesn’t British Colum… [Googles]… :eek: no kidding! [Adds all of Canada to places to nuke] I always knew that Minnesotans were secretly Canadian. Oregon, how could you? I’m pronouncing it “Ori-gone” from now on out of spite! ---
**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 24, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/107 "2014-10-24T21:45:34Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > \ > [sub]I blame Cat Whisperer for perpetuating this rumour.[/sub] 😉 Hey now! I resemble that remark! > [@swampspruce](#): > > \ > **Cat** , do you think **Spoons** **might be an American infiltrator?🆒** Hmmm. Going to have to keep an eye on him. > [@elbows](#): > > \ > (I’m a little suspect of Spoons, now too. I can’t help wondering if anyone has actually SEEN him eating pontine? :D) I _have_ never seen him eat poutine - I think you guys are onto something! ---
**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 24, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/108 "2014-10-24T21:45:34Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Only Canadians don’t understand that their free flu shot isn’t free. They just don’t realize that they have already paid for it. Or maybe they forgot how their healthcare system is funded? That’s laughable. Of course we know how our health care system is funded. ---
**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 24, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/109 "2014-10-24T21:47:17Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > That’s laughable. Of course we know how our health care system is funded. That’s right - the Queen sends us a bunch of money, it’s matched by the Tommy Douglas Foundation, and hey presto! Healthcare funding! ---
**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 24, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/110 "2014-10-24T22:01:55Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > First, you are reacting to a joke … 😉 > > Second, Canadians know very well that they ultimately pay for their socialized medicare through their tax dollars. > > What Canadians also know, is that somehow, paying for socialized medicare through tax dollars actually costs them considerably less, per person, than the same medicare costs south of the border - while most analysts state that it provides overall superior care. > > [Comparison of the healthcare systems in Canada and the United States - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_health_care_systems_in_Canada_and_the_United_States) [Better health, longer life, less out people’s pockets, and less out of the government purse.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5456070&postcount=10) ---
**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 25, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/111 "2014-10-25T01:03:11Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Also when faced with soft drinks see if they say “pop” (Canadian) or “soda” (American). I understand that some states say “pop” too though, so that might not be foolproof. Where I grew up in West Texas, they said neither “soda” nor “pop.” It seems to be a regional practice. I would hear it on TV or in movies or read it in comic books, but no one ever said them where I was. I doubt the terms were used anywhere in the state. I don’t recall ever hearing anyone in my mother’s family in Arkansas using “soda” or “pop,” nor in my father’s family in California. What _we_ said was Coke regardless of whether it was a non-Coke drink. “Let’s go get a Coke.” “Okay.” But it could very well be Pepsi or Dr. Pepper you’d be thinking of. For a more formal term, it was “soft drink.” ---
**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 25, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/112 "2014-10-25T01:08:42Z")
Coke is the corn of your beverages. Those are words that would never had made sense to me if it wasn’t for reading SDMBs. I fear we’ve all become odder. Edit: wait, I think I used that wrong. Never mind. How bout them Canadians? Taking shoes off when entering a house. I guess if someone isists on taking their pants off when entering a home they aren’t real Canadians. Probably. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/113 "2014-10-25T16:44:26Z")
There’s actually a joke I use to figure out how many Canadians are in a crowd. Just stand on your table and yell “The world will end at ten o’clock. Ten thirty in Newfoundland.” Those laughing are Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/114 "2014-10-25T17:44:18Z")
> [@Mithrander](#): > > There’s actually a joke I use to figure out how many Canadians are in a crowd. > > Just stand on your table and yell “The world will end at ten o’clock. Ten thirty in Newfoundland.” Those laughing are Canadians. Or Indians. If any Nepalese are around, they’re [laughing at **you**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal_Standard_Time). ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/115 "2014-10-25T21:17:27Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Where the hell does this idea that “Canadians take their shoes off” come from? > > I’m Canadian, and unless your shoes are muddy or snowy or otherwise wet, you keep them on. This isn’t Japan; I wear my shoes into my house every day. So do my friends. > > [sub]I blame Cat Whisperer for perpetuating this rumour.[/sub] 😉 Well, Alberta does try to be USA-Lite, so that only makes sense 🙂 In Manitoba, the only person I know who insists that shoes stay on does so because she wishes she was living in New York city. ---
**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 25, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/116 "2014-10-25T22:09:00Z")
Shoes come off first, then socks, then pants, and so on and so on. Isn’t it that way in the USA too? ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/117 "2014-10-25T22:29:45Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > Well, Alberta does try to be USA-Lite, so that only makes sense 🙂 In Manitoba, the only person I know who insists that shoes stay on does so because she wishes she was living in New York city. To add my perspective as someone who has lived most of his life in northern Canada, including northern Alberta, this seems to be a rural/urban split. I’ve known people who lived all their life in large cities who wear their shoes inside, but in the smaller towns and in the country you absolutely would remove your shoes/boots. Part of it could be that the six to eight months of snow every year gets you in the habit of removing outside footwear. Part of it could be that mud is a much more common part of life if you live somewhere that has mostly unpaved roads. Wet pavement is pretty clean to walk on compared to wet gravel or packed dirt. Also, storm drains whisk the water away, while I’ve seen mud puddles take weeks to dry out. So, IME, rural Canadians almost always remove their shoes, in cities it varies more. ---
**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 25, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/118 "2014-10-25T22:44:34Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Shoes come off first, then socks, then pants, and so on and so on. Isn’t it that way in the USA too? Oh, oh. I remove my pants before my socks. Now what? ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/119 "2014-10-25T22:50:01Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Oh, oh. I remove my pants before my socks. Now what? Now you’re just a naked guy in socks. ETA: after typing that, I figured I better look up the quote, and I was remembering it wrong. Quoted from the IMDB listing of “Coupling” "My advice is to get them off right after your shoes and before your trousers… that’s the sock gap. Miss it and **suddenly you’re a naked man in socks.** No self-respecting woman with let a naked man in socks do the squelchy with her. " ---
**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 25, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072/120 "2014-10-25T22:52:59Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > Now you’re just a naked guy in socks. How Canadian is that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-if-someone-is-canadian/702072.md?page=7)