# Do Canadians get offended if they are mistaken for Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734 "2019-04-18T18:08:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/101 "2019-04-23T18:05:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 47 years a Canadian, never heard a Canadian pronounce it that way unless they were from Britain. > > Only if you were in the army or something and taught to say it that way. Most people who don’t have that experience pronounce it “loo-tenn-ent” > I just don’t know what country you people are talking about. Are bilingual traffic signs really that ubiquitous? I can’t remember the last one I saw. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Ottawa, I’m sure there are some there. > > I did a Google Image search on “Vancouver traffic signs,” they’re all in English. Windsor? English. St. John’s, English. Shed-youl, leftenant, and I know where to find signs that read STOP in Quebec. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/102 "2019-04-23T19:51:22Z")
I am not offended to be mistaken for an American, but I am REALLY proud to be a Canadian, so I would correct them. 🙂 ---
**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:** [April 23, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/103 "2019-04-23T20:14:09Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I am not offended to be mistaken for an American, but I am REALLY proud to be a Canadian, so I would correct them. 🙂 That sums it up, really. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/104 "2019-04-23T20:49:44Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > …when I went to university A-ha! A Canadian! ---
**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:** [April 23, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/105 "2019-04-23T21:09:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > A-ha! A Canadian! ? Huh ? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/106 "2019-04-23T21:27:59Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > ? Huh ? The language in the US is “I went to college”, or \. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/107 "2019-04-23T22:06:33Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > 1. Quebec is also the sole French speaking majority province of Canada and Quebec cultivates their society to serve the francophone majority; not to evoke anglophone frustration/anger. Regardless of one’s political beliefs, you must agree that it is essential that Quebeckers are allowed to endure as a francophone society, no? I have no problem with a francophone society within Canada. In fact I think it adds to our cultural richness. I **do** have a problem with an _ **anglophone-hating** _ society within Canada, the kind that bans English signs, or legislates the maximum size of English print on them, forces businesses to change names that have English connotations, tries to legislate French as the mandatory language of private businesses, forces restaurants to remove English-sounding items from menus, etc. etc. _ad nauseum_, and takes huge amounts of federal transfer payments and federal contract money all while shitting on the rest of Canada. Many years ago, long before things became as extreme as they are today, the CBS show _60 Minutes_ did a segment on the absurdity of the Quebec “language police”, first doing a mini-documentary of the whole pathetically absurd situation, and then letting Quebec officials pontificate their justifications while the American reporters could barely conceal their snickering at the stupidity of it all. And that was years ago. It’s worse today. > [@RickJay](#): > > I just don’t know what country you people are talking about. Are bilingual traffic signs really that ubiquitous? I can’t remember the last one I saw. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Ottawa, I’m sure there are some there. So you never drive on the 401? Or any provincial highway in Ontario? The irony of it all is that it wasn’t all that many years ago when most Quebec highway signs were, quite appropriately, bilingual. Signs do need to be replaced after some number of years, but I’m willing to bet that millions were spent unnecessarily just to expedite the removal of the bilingual ones. Regardless, they are pretty much all unilingually French now. What exactly is this stupidity accomplishing other than inconveniencing tourists? My brother, who now lives in the US, recently needed a new birth certificate for official government purposes because of some fuck-up with the old one, so he ordered one from Quebec. And guess what single language it’s in? No English whatsoever, and this caused him no end of grief in the US. He had to get an official translation at his own expense in order for the document to be legal. I’m pretty sure that some poor schmuck with a Quebec driver’s license would have the same sort of issue in the US. I can just imagine a state trooper looking at it – especially in a state far removed from the border – and going “WTF is this thing?”. All from Quebec – a province in an officially _ **bilingual** _ country. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/108 "2019-04-23T22:44:19Z")
Michael Moore advised us about [the Canadian Language Police](https://youtu.be/dDGkQiwh_qg). ---
**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:** [April 24, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/109 "2019-04-24T02:28:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > What “French-speaking country” did either of you think you were you in? > [@wolfpup](#): > > No, Canada is an officially _ **bilingual** _ country. Not the same thing at all. The specific comment I was responding to was “a postal clerk told me that most Quebecois would happily speak English to tourists, so long as you made some acknowledgement that you were in a French-speaking country”. So how about the postal clerk make some acknowledgement that he was in an English-speaking country, instead of making our English-speaking visitor jump through hoops to prove that he was worthy of even being spoken to? > > That was a rhetorical question, because we know the answer, don’t we? The real reason is the same reason that Canada’s official bilingualism has many traffic signs in both English and French even in provinces where virtually no one speaks French, and even in places where no one at all is unilingually French. **Except in Quebec, of course.** There, the traffic signs are exclusively in French only, despite the alleged bilingualism of the country, despite the number of foreign English-speaking (mostly American) tourists who are likely to genuinely not understand what the signs are saying, in some cases potentially jeopardizing their safety. But it’s worth it, n’est pas? It’s the same reason the Quebec legislature is called (in French) the “_ **National** _ Assembly”, or that they’ve humorously tried several times (and failed) to join country-level international organizations. Okay, fine, I tried to acknowledge that I was in a French-speaking _province_ within an officially-bilingual-but-majority-Anglophone-with-pockets-of-Ukrainian-out-west-oh-and-let’s-not-forget-the-First-Nations-country. Does that satisfy your _amour propre_? I’m an American; I have no position on the question of Québécois sovereignty or Canadian bilingualism. The point is, I was trying not to be a dick. And for the record, the postal clerk didn’t make me “jump through hoops to prove that \* was worthy of even being spoken to”; he greeted me in English, I responded in French, and he assured me that he could help me in my language. I was the one who said that I liked to acknowledge that I was in a francophone community, and he agreed that the locals appreciated that. But he was in no way arrogant or dismissive; nor was any Québécois I encountered in Montreal or Quebec City, even the monoglot francophones. Sheesh. > [@Sparky](#): > > Nope. > > I spend a lot of time down south, in fact I just got back from a family trip to North Carolina. We spent a couple days in Chapel Hill, then the weekend in Carolina Beach with a short stop in Gettysburg, PA on the way home. Most people don’t notice we are Canadian… but my wife likes to let everyone know anyway! > > I used to have a pretty heavy Ottawa Valley accent(way heavier than the guy in the clip, I sounded a lot like Bob McKenzie) but it has faded over the 30 years since I moved into the city when I went to university … I can still turn it on when I want though! > > At dinner last night, the waiter struck up a long conversation with me about the UNC Tarheels and how big a fan he was. I didn’t have the heart to tell him the shirt was a gift and I prefer Duke. 😉 Should have gone to the Outer Banks; there’s a cove on Hatteras Island called “Canadian Cove”, for its popularity with snowbird windsurfers. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/110 "2019-04-24T04:09:44Z")
This seems to a as good of a thread as any to ask this question. I teach English to a family who will be moving to Montreal in the summer. They will be taking French lessons there, but currently they speak more English. How much of the population there is bilingual? They are Taiwanese so will they be given more slack for not knowing French really got away? ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/111 "2019-04-24T12:23:42Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > This seems to a as good of a thread as any to ask this question. > > I teach English to a family who will be moving to Montreal in the summer. They will be taking French lessons there, but currently they speak more English. How much of the population there is bilingual? > > They are Taiwanese so will they be given more slack for not knowing French really got away? It really depends on what area of Montreal. Traditionally, the west end is much more anglophone while east of St. Laurent Blvd is mostly francophone. In most areas, they could manage quite well only speaking English. That said, Montreal is an amazing multicultural city. Most people are bilingual french/english but there is also a mix of many cultures and languages. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/112 "2019-04-24T12:40:15Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Should have gone to the Outer Banks; there’s a cove on Hatteras Island called “Canadian Cove”, for its popularity with snowbird windsurfers. The Outer Banks were just too far for this particular trip, maybe next time. … BUT, why would I want to go hang out with more Canadians? Interestingly, people (Americans?) do this all the time. At my place in Florida, neighbours have asked why I don’t live in the community up the road with all the Canadians. Or in Mexico, people will recommend hotels, bars, restaurants, etc… that ALL the Canadians frequent. I’m more interested in visiting different places, eating different food, meeting new people, etc… I don’t really give a shit about what other people, Canadian or not, are doing. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/113 "2019-04-24T13:02:46Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > The Outer Banks were just too far for this particular trip, maybe next time. > > … BUT, why would I want to go hang out with more Canadians? Interestingly, people (Americans?) do this all the time. At my place in Florida, neighbours have asked why I don’t live in the community up the road with all the Canadians. Or in Mexico, people will recommend hotels, bars, restaurants, etc… that ALL the Canadians frequent. > > I’m more interested in visiting different places, eating different food, meeting new people, etc… I don’t really give a shit about what other people, Canadian or not, are doing. Well, we like all y’all to stay together; easier to keep an eye on you, that way. Don’t want you sneaking in your filthy foreign habits, like cheese curds and gravy on french fries, or universal healthcare. 😛 Seriously, though; you should get to the OBX, if you have a chance. Best beaches in the U.S., as long as you stay south of Nag’s Head. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/114 "2019-04-24T13:52:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The language in the US is “I went to college”, or \. Yes. In US English, you don’t hear “I went to university” or "I’m in university."It sounds a bit odd to our ears, in the way “He’s in hospital” does. But, for whatever reason, it sounds fine with “college.” Such is language. And (US) Americans don’t make the same distinction between college and university it seems the rest of the world does. For us, it’s perfectly fine (and standard) to say “she’s off to college,” when she is, in fact, attending university. I had this issue on this board, actually, when i had been living abroad and Britishisms crept unknowingly into my speech and I claimed that “I went to university” was a perfectly acceptable (US) American phrasing and was quickly corrected that it was unidiomatic/non-standard in US English. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/115 "2019-04-24T14:17:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes. In US English, you don’t hear “I went to university” or "I’m in university."It sounds a bit odd to our ears, in the way “He’s in hospital” does. But, for whatever reason, it sounds fine with “college.” Such is language. And (US) Americans don’t make the same distinction between college and university it seems the rest of the world does. For us, it’s perfectly fine (and standard) to say “she’s off to college,” when she is, in fact, attending university. > > I had this issue on this board, actually, when i had been living abroad and Britishisms crept unknowingly into my speech and I claimed that “I went to university” was a perfectly acceptable (US) American phrasing and was quickly corrected that it was unidiomatic/non-standard in US English. Also, in Canada there is a definite distinction between a university and a college, while in the US the terms seem to be interchangeable. > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Well, we like all y’all to stay together; easier to keep an eye on you, that way. Don’t want you sneaking in your filthy foreign habits, like cheese curds and gravy on french fries, or universal healthcare. 😛 > > Seriously, though; you should get to the OBX, if you have a chance. Best beaches in the U.S., as long as you stay south of Nag’s Head. Ha ha, we are a very sneaky people! Yes, I really want to get out there, we are looking at something for Easter next year! Probably OBX then a stop in Virginia Beach then through the tunnel to Delaware on the way back North. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/116 "2019-04-24T15:14:47Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Also, in Canada there is a definite distinction between a university and a college, while in the US the terms seem to be interchangeable. The words are used interchangeably but technically, they are not the same in the USA. A college is a school that grants (usually undergraduate) degrees; a university is an institution with more than one school. Harvard University includes Harvard College, a school that grants undergraduate degrees. Harvard University also includes, in addition to Harvard College, the Harvard Medical School, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and many other schools. Taken together, all those are Harvard University. This distinction exists in Canada, too. My alma mater is Queen’s University, which still has a number of “Schools” - the School of Medicine, for instance. Some schools call themselves “Faculties” but it’s just a styling. However, that distinction is largely ignored in common English because the distinction between a “university” as a largely independent institution that grants four-year and graduate degrees, and a “college” that grants associate diplomas and is much more beholden to the province, is more important to make. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/117 "2019-04-24T15:27:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > …the distinction between a “university” as a largely independent institution that grants four-year and graduate degrees, and a “college” that grants associate diplomas and is much more beholden to the province, is more important to make. Yes, this is what I was getting at, but couldn’t be arsed enough to explain it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/118 "2019-04-24T23:48:00Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > This seems to a as good of a thread as any to ask this question. > > I teach English to a family who will be moving to Montreal in the summer. They will be taking French lessons there, but currently they speak more English. How much of the population there is bilingual? > > They are Taiwanese so will they be given more slack for not knowing French really got away? Aside from the occasional asshat, Quebecois are like people everywhere, including most of the USA: namely, they are individually great, friendly, generous people, but for some reason when they get together politically, they sometimes lose their collective minds and elect ridiculously inept and stupid governments. > [@Sparky812](#): > > It really depends on what area of Montreal. Traditionally, the west end is much more anglophone while east of St. Laurent Blvd is mostly francophone. In most areas, they could manage quite well only speaking English. > > That said, Montreal is an amazing multicultural city. Most people are bilingual french/english but there is also a mix of many cultures and languages. Montreal is a truly beautiful city – architecturally and naturally beautiful, culturally rich, and wonderfully diverse. It deserves better than the political crap the hardline francophones are dumping on it. During the separation referendum in Quebec many years ago, there was semi-serious talk that if Quebec seceded from Canada, Montreal would secede from Quebec and re-attach itself to Canada. That’s the kind of city it is. 🙂 ---
**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:** [April 25, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/119 "2019-04-25T01:55:31Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Everyone has an accent, but here’s a few I personally have been most exposed to. > > Newfoundland - [Professional broadcaster Anthony Germain interviews N.L. Premier Dwight Ball](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCu32JtXg_c) > Cape Breton - [Humorous video on the Cape Breton dialect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkamp46eZI) > Ottawa Valley - [A roommate teasing his friend’s Ottawa valley pronunciation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D-LJXYNuG8) That last link reminded me of another strong Canadian tell: the word “so”. Hearing it pronounced a little farther forward in the mouth than I would, and with more lip-rounding, tells me the speaker is from the Great White North. Speaking of which, what’s the deal with “hoser”? I read that Thomas and Moranis made it up as an innocuous profanity, but is there something intrinsically Canadian about it? Maybe because it’s got that same rounded “o” vowel that’s characteristic of Canadian English? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734/120 "2019-04-25T02:43:52Z")
I’ve never heard the word ‘hoser’ in any context other than Bob & Doug bits, or references to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-canadians-get-offended-if-they-are-mistaken-for-americans/832734.md?page=7)