The “ou” sound isn’t a bad sign, but it’s more subtle than people think. Canadians don’t say “hoose” instead of “house”, but some Scottish people might. Canadians are somewhere in between.
The most foolproof method is to casually drop a reference to Timbits in conversation. If they don’t miss a beat, then they’re Canadian.
But not always rhetorical; sometimes we turn a statement into an actual question; “We should go visit your parents this weekend, eh?”
Well, if the Timbits reference is to your testicles, we might.
Sorey, I’ve been aboot the hoose cleaning up old bags of homo milk and trying not to trip on serviettes. Please don’t touch my broon toque, I paid four toonies for it and it has almost no poutine stains on it yet, eh. Nu let me go to the washroom for a minute, eh.
LOL. Sure enough, it might be confusing to talk about my brass Timbits. (“Oh, are they giving those away with coffee?”)
Don’t forget to clean up under your Chesterfield.
Vacuuming in an evening gown? :eek:
I’ve seen chocolate glazed, jelly filled, dutchie, honey dip, sour cream glazed, old-fashioned plain, old fashion glazed, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, lemon, apple cider, orange-tangerine, creamy caramel, cherry cake, honey cruller, pumpkin spice, and apple fritter but no Canadian Mountain Oysters. 
Adding a day late & a dollar short: I’d say I’m so very sorry to hear of the shootings in Ottowa. I’d express sympathy, offer condolences, and possibly alcohol while letting them talk out whatever they need to.
Its a shitty mindset to be in (we know) and you and yours were really cool to me and mine when we had dumb-asses trying to get into the news back in the day.
I’m not just saying this because I’d like to visit again some day. Its because its the Right thing to do. My name and my line is more than worthless dust, so I do what’s right.
And I keep my word.
Ft. Gratiot. It used to use Port Huron’s ZIP code, so close enough.
Hey brother, I grew up in Sarnia and spent lots of time in Port Huron.
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] 
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.”) In the summer we might keep our flip-flops on if we don’t want to walk around the house barefoot, but still say “Can I keep my shoes on? They’re clean” and then make a big deal about wiping them on the doormat anyway. But even then sometimes we take them off at the door.
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”.
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.
It used to be so easy to go back and forth. Now it’s like entering a foreign country for both of us. I drove from Germany to France via the Netherlands (about 500 meters!) and Belgium, and didn’t have to stop once. We suck now.
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?
Seriously! Everyone I know takes off their shoes unless instructed otherwise, winter or summer. Never seen otherwise, in any part of Canada, in over 50 yrs.
(I’m a little suspect of Spoons, now too. I can’t help wondering if anyone has actually SEEN him eating pontine? :D)
I’ve found just one thing that ALWAYS gives away a Canadian, and it’s NOT the accent. Yes, there ARE Canadians who say “aboot” and “broon” and “eh,” but most of them sound pretty much like Americans.
But…
Canadians just CAN’T help telling us how much better their health care nsystem is than ours. They can TRY to clam up about it, but eventually, they WILL start talking about it! That’s one of the very few significant differences between the two countries, and Canadians take inordinate pride in that difference. Eventually, they always bring it up!
Pfft! That’s clearly an exaggeration, I was just telling my wife that people tend to think this when we were sitting at the hospital waiting for our free flu shot…
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?
Very true. Canadians are completely unaware of how our health system works or how it’s funded.
Many thanks for your help.
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?