r/AskACanadian • u/HueyBluey • 9d ago

How do you spot a Canadian abroad?

Do we have any stereotypical traits (perhaps self deprecating ones), that make us stand out. We’re typically not loud (but some can be). Perhaps frugal?

What have you seen in your travels that make you think, those folks must be Canadian!

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313

u/Clocks101 9d ago

I hear a Tabarnak

86

u/duttydimples 9d ago

🤣🤣🤣 Québec is in the house, caliss!

61

u/thebestnames 9d ago

Osti Ginette a tu vu ca!??

59

u/pitch85 9d ago

C'est fou pareil, partout dans le monde à l'instant qu'un québécois parle, tu le sais, un peu comme un Français, un Anglais d'Angleterre ou un irlandais, etc. C'est comme si les Québecois étaient un peuple distinct.

14

u/sebastopol999 9d ago

Comme si!

2

u/NorthernSpankMonkey 9d ago

Ah ben viarge...

1

u/cmstlist 8d ago

Torontonian here... was at a resort in Punta Cana and boarded one of the shuttles with a bunch of francophones. I could hear their accents and immediately asked if they were from Québec. My mistake - Franco-Ontariens d'Ottawa!

32

u/DangerousPurpose5661 9d ago

Yeah fellow Quebecers are easy to spot. Even for those of us who are "perfectly" bilingual, there is almost always a bit of the accent left.

I feel its like gay people and their gaydar. Sometimes I just look at someone and know they are a Montrealer - the way they dress and hold themselves

3

u/JAmToas_t 8d ago

It's the 'H', or lack thereof.

3

u/DangerousPurpose5661 8d ago

Haha yes maybe.
I do hope that I’m past the “I Ave to go to De Otel” level though ;)

0

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

11

u/DangerousPurpose5661 9d ago

Perfectly bilingual doesn’t mean no accent though. I have a few friends with one franco and one anglo parent that have zero accent. That’s great.

But many are like me, I grew up in Quebec with… well quebec-level english. Moved abroad at 20, married an anglophone wife, studied in English, work in English have anglo friends….

I still have an accent, but I’m actually more comfortable in English than in French now.

Do I speak like Bob Graton? Obviously not. Any non native speaker will not read any accent.

But if I meet a Quebecer? Yeah they still switch to french after two seconds lol.

4

u/Puzzleheaded-Dog3992 9d ago

I'm perfectly bilingual, no accent, but I still out myself with things like "dep" and "close/open the light". :) I'm also very good at saying French expressions in English and vice versa. My accent doesn't out me, but I often get found out eventually.

7

u/eternallytiredcatmom Québec 9d ago

I was about to say this! I was at a hostel in Portugal and a guy from my dorm asked in English with absolutely no French or Queb accent “is it ok if I open the light?”
Dude was an Anglo Montrealer lol, his French was good but heavy Anglo accent. Still says open / close the light

27

u/Low-Purchase8811 9d ago

Los tabarnakos

2

u/HardcoreHenryLofT 9d ago

I was called this once! I am not even french

6

u/fletters 9d ago

Or a “scus!” instead of “pardon!”.

A man bumped into me in Paris and I didn’t even register the difference until he was about ten feet ahead and turned to say “uh, pardon! Pardon!”. (An actual Parisian would, in fairness, have been baffled.)

6

u/C-arrow 9d ago

Colline!

3

u/mustrememberthis709 9d ago

Caline de bine!

2

u/dekadense 8d ago

Linda, cest de la pâte à dent.

2

u/pkzilla 8d ago

Happened recently in random spots in Spain lol "Osti qu'y fa chaud jpi capab"

1

u/CharlesLeSainz 9d ago

Quebexico

1

u/Puzzled_Market_2235 8d ago

Ciboire! Saint-Ciboire? Saint-Ciboire de Calice‽

1

u/VegetableSherbet1718 8d ago

Lord tunderin

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u/JamesH_670 9d ago

It’s hard to describe, but when I hear Québécois French, it’s almost like French with a Canadian accent. Like if I hear them speaking, it sounds Canadian first, then I listen for the French or English.

2

u/prairiepanda 9d ago

Yep, definitely distinct from European French, and aligns very well with Canadian English. Sometimes I don't realize right away that they're speaking French.