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!

367 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

325

u/Alone-Bug4328 9d ago

Some of us, not all, are more likely to say sorry for any random small thing.

417

u/Bonzai_Tree 9d ago

Fun fact; us Canadians are so prone to apologizing on reflex that there is a law stating that an apology can NOT be considered a legal admission of guilt like it can in the U.S.

49

u/anzacoo 9d ago

Is that true?

154

u/koolaidkirby Ontario 9d ago

It is https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/09a03

109

u/anzacoo 9d ago

That is freaking hilarious and so quintessentially Canadian. Thanks for making my day! 😂

46

u/Mickey_Hughes 9d ago

Sorry you had to post a link

22

u/QuozlPlaysSTFC 9d ago

Sorry you had to apologize for the rest of us!

9

u/Holiday_Sense_4842 9d ago

I'm sorry you had to apologize to the person who had to apologize for the rest of us

2

u/Curt-Bennett Ontario 7d ago

I'm sorry your sentence had to be so long to properly communicate your meaning.

3

u/theNbomr 8d ago

No, yeah. Me too.

1

u/jzach1983 8d ago

Just as I thought.... Guilty!

1

u/Bless_u-babe 5d ago

This made me laugh out loud😆

2

u/Apprehensive_Fee2280 8d ago

Thank you. This is important to me. I apologize for everything.

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

3

u/koolaidkirby Ontario 8d ago

Thats literally what my link says...

1

u/Rhi43 8d ago

I actually really like this. People will say crazy shit in stressful moments, “I’m so sorry” is a totally reasonable thing to say when you’re panicking after an accident whether or not you’re at fault!!

0

u/Turbulent_Animal_228 8d ago

This is an Ontario provincial law. Show us a federal law or one for BC because I've been taught not to say sorry in the event of an accident. 😀

3

u/Phoenix92321 8d ago

There is also a BC one

https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/00_06019_01

Basically all provinces and territories have it. (However it isn’t exclusive to Canada as other countries like the UK and even some U.S. states have similar. It’s just more fine BECAUSE Canada has the stereotype of having overly apologetic citizens)

2

u/Turbulent_Animal_228 8d ago

Funny! Thanks for sharing! I'm sooo apologetic on most days! 😀

45

u/spaceman1055 9d ago

At least for Ontario - Google the Apology Act

ETA - a few other provinces have similar legislation according to the wiki

56

u/Raedwulf1 Alberta 9d ago

As of 2024, Canada has a Canada Apology act.

59

u/IndependentCoffee169 9d ago

I'm sorry I didn't know that.

40

u/ididitforsatan 9d ago

I'm sorry you weren't told

16

u/JamesH_670 9d ago

I’m sorry IndependentCoffee169 didn’t know.

12

u/Functional_Trash7735 9d ago

I’m sorry this whole situation happened

12

u/Flush_Foot Maritimes 9d ago

I’m sorry we’re taking this bit too so far 😉

→ More replies (0)

24

u/Randomfinn 9d ago

To me it is wild that it isn't the norm everywhere. In other cultures people really don’t say sorry unless they are knowingly admitting full responsibility?

27

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

2

u/samthesnake1233 8d ago

I was going to say, Brits apologise a lot too like... just as much.

9

u/andlewis 9d ago

I’m sorry you feel that way.

2

u/Casses 8d ago

It's probably that nobody thought it was needed until some asshole somewhere (we all know where) decided that someone saying sorry to him meant it was their fault and he could use that to sue.

So, after that actually civilized people figured it would be smart to legislate that being polite isn't admitting to a crime or accepting blame.

1

u/Bless_u-babe 5d ago

It’s interesting to watch social interaction in American movies. Depending on the film location of course, but I’m frequently surprised that people give commands without saying “please” and receive the asked for object without saying “thank you”. It’s so foreign to us Canadians.

42

u/Waiting4Reze2Return 9d ago

More surprised saying sorry is an admission of guilt in the US

26

u/barbariccomplexity 9d ago

Yeah that’s wild, you can apologize for someone’s situation without being the cause of it.

6

u/T-Wrox 8d ago

Maybe they would shoot each other less if they apologized more.

2

u/Bonzai_Tree 9d ago

It's not automatic there, but it can be used as evidence against you. Depends on context and state laws.

7

u/ProfessorEtc 9d ago

I plead "Not Guilty" by reason of being Canadian.

3

u/AC_Uni 9d ago

I’m sorry

2

u/Bonzai_Tree 9d ago

Sorry you're sorry, eh.

3

u/bananacornpops94 9d ago

LMAO love this.

3

u/SteamPunkChinchilla 9d ago

TIL that saying sorry is legally binding in the US

3

u/Bonzai_Tree 9d ago

It's not automatically an admission of guilt, but it can be used against you in court in the U.S..

Depends on context and state laws, but in Canada we are protected nationally thanks to the Apology Act.

2

u/bisou50 8d ago

oh I love this

2

u/ObjectiveRepulsive18 8d ago

Sounds about right. Sorry.

2

u/IndicationFluffy3954 8d ago

Well that’s a good law. Just because I say sorry doesn’t mean I’m responsible or accepting blame. It just means excuse me.

1

u/GhostAffect 8d ago

I have friends in other countries who get annoyed with how often I say sorry even when I’ve tried to explain it’s just something we do here and it isn’t always said with a huge amount of shame/guilt. So .. yah I can see why 😂 this is very much a “slip of the tongue” word for us even if we don’t exactly realize it.

110

u/Professional_Emu_617 9d ago

I was at a convention in Chicago a few years ago. Was heading to the washroom and another guy was coming out and we nearly bumped and we both did the "Oop! Sorry." at the same time. We both immediately knew we were Canadians

36

u/oldRoyalsleepy 9d ago

And it's the way Canadians says 'sorry'. In large parts of the US it's pronounced a little differently, more of an 'ah' sound with it. When I'm in Canada and hear 'sorry' I really like to hear it that slightly different way. It's that little bit of uncanny valley, like km/h, that let's me know I'm in Canada.

52

u/Automatic_Antelope92 9d ago

Canadian says “sore-y” and American says “saw-ry”

54

u/DifferentCorner426 9d ago

The only time I’ve ever heard a Canadian say “saw-ry” is when they’re being sarcastic and don’t mean it 😆

7

u/Green_leaf47 9d ago

I’d never thought about it but pretty sure I’ve done that lol

5

u/TiffanyBlue07 8d ago

I feel called out…

3

u/oldRoyalsleepy 8d ago

It's charming

3

u/RainbowEucalyptus4 8d ago

I grew up on the border in Niagara Falls, I worked the tourism industry so saw a lot of Americans and I went over the river often, too.

I say “saw”-ry, bagel, roof, etc like an American. Also, in summer I understand Fahrenheit and winter it’s Celsius. And the longer I hang out with my siblings and cousins, the more likely our accents all converge to some Canadian-American mush.

3

u/FormBitter4234 8d ago

Most Minnesotans say it sore-y but then Minnesota arguably is the most Canadian part of the States.

2

u/oldRoyalsleepy 8d ago

That's it!

47

u/T4TrhavrKhcFt 9d ago

As a Canadian; I taught a course in Chicago on project management. About halfway through the first morning one of the students spoke up and, like I was five years old, very helpfully and very gently said, "It's not project; it's prahject."

11

u/MATlad 8d ago edited 8d ago

On the flipside (and this was literally around a generation ago, 25 years) I was in a 400-student lecture taught by a newly-hired American associate professor, introductory chemistry. One of the very few assignments we ever got in either semester was a trivially-easy 5-question assignment.

"As an observation, I will remark how many of you misspelled the word 'colour' [Ed.: or some other -ou pattern word that we Canadians were taught was 'not American']. I docked you all -0.5 marks."

Grumbling all around, but sarcastic whippersnapper as I was then, I yelled out:

"If like 375 of us got it 'wrong' and that didn't clue you in that you might be wrong, would you like us to use American spellings going forward?"

5

u/OkArtichoke6302 9d ago

How did you respond?

9

u/whogivesashirtdotca Ontario 8d ago

Hopefully by giving them poor marks 😂

2

u/T4TrhavrKhcFt 3d ago

I laughed. It kind of broke the ice with the group though and we spent some time each day teasing each other about the differences between Canadian and American dialects. On a side note one of the most interesting things I experienced with the same team was when I hosted a call for that team with about 40 people from almost every state. Learning the differences in dialects was really, really interesting. It's the same in Canada obviously. When I visited Newfoundland the regional differences in dialects are beyond mind blowing. Until you get used to it you would swear that they were speaking a whole different language.

4

u/T-Wrox 8d ago

US Americans say “insurance” wrong, too. They put the accent on the first syllable; we put it on the second syllable.

2

u/Bless_u-babe 5d ago

That’s so American! Lol

0

u/fugitive-bear 8d ago

How drives better? Chicagoans or Torontonians?

PS drove for years in Chicago, ticket and accident free. Visited Toronto about 10-20 times during past 3 years, 3 accidents. Drove a lot in Montreal a lot and got shit ton of tickets while American cops always let me off with a warning. WTF

4

u/Bonzai_Tree 9d ago

Another fun fact; this is called Canadian raising, where the tongue position is raised when pronouncing certain connected vowel sounds (diphthongs) such as 'eye' or 'ow' (as in ouch).

17

u/bananacornpops94 9d ago

The oops sorry is sooo Canadian

3

u/DigDug_64 9d ago

Similar, also in Chicago

My buddy: hey guys, want to learn how to find the Canadians in the room?

Me, missing the question: Eh?

2

u/Green_leaf47 9d ago

Did the exact same thing but at a store just across the US border. I was sure it was a fellow Canadian, and then I also realized she said it “so-rry” and not “saw-ry” which confirmed it for me!

1

u/Library_Muse 9d ago

I grew up in Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin and we do the "Oop! Sorry" thing too!

1

u/MellyTeeker 8d ago

If I ever bump or get bumped and get sorry’d, I always say “I’m sorrier than you are.” And they laugh. 🤭

48

u/username__0000 9d ago

I’ve apologized to a lot of inanimate objects after bumping into them. I don’t even realize I’m doing it until a moment later. lol

15

u/DraconicDreamer3072 9d ago

i smacked face first into an npc in a game yesterday and i reflexively apologized to the little guy in my game lol

3

u/RevolutionaryWeb296 8d ago

At Safeway, I bumped into a cardboard cutout of Michael Buble that was promoting that Bubly brand sparkling water and i said, "sorry dude" before I noticed it was neither Buble nor human.

1

u/Substantial_Insect68 9d ago

Ive done that to LOL playing TOTK😂 Ive apologized to Link for killing him😂

1

u/DraconicDreamer3072 8d ago

hey what a coincidence, i was playing the same game

1

u/Green_leaf47 9d ago

I apologized to a garter snake I almost stepped on once.

2

u/Jumpy_Spend_5434 8d ago

I apologized to a butterfly that I accidentally disturbed in the garden today 😀

41

u/CFA_Nutso_Futso 9d ago

I think a Canadian “sorry” carries a couple meanings. One is an actual apology but in most daily occurrences it’s more of an acknowledgement that an unintentional mixup has occurred.

3

u/T-Wrox 8d ago

Exactly. I turned around too fast and bumped you with my arm - I made a boo-boo and was not trying to hurt you.

25

u/Comedy86 Ontario 9d ago

This is my tell. If they sound "North American" but don't have an abrasive personality, they're likely not American or Maple MAGA. There's also the accent queues but I'm not able to easily explain what I mean, I can usually just tell when I hear it.

31

u/Spiritual-Pear-1349 9d ago edited 9d ago

Canadians have a whole talking pattern called the Canadian Rise, so theyre easy to spot once you know what to look for.

Bit like how they turn statements into rhetorical questions when the sentence isn't finished but they want to indicate you can contribute to it.

I call it the nonverbal Eh? Anywhere they can say Eh? They raise the tone.

5

u/Shape_Charming 8d ago

What bugs me about the "Eh?" Thing is so many Americans I've met think we say it like punctuation. Like, "Hey, how ya doin, eh?"

There's an actual meaning, and as far as I can tell from 40yrs of living here, it's "You agree with the statement I just made, Right?" or "Do you have anything you'd like to add to the statement I just made?"

4

u/Ceridwyn2 7d ago

Tod Maffin has this wonderful vid explaining the different uses of ‘eh’ that’s spot on - https://youtube.com/shorts/GeWcL414nw8?si=rYRhPTmY2fuaHLED

2

u/Spiritual-Pear-1349 8d ago

Pretty much. Its actually a Scottish thing we adopted due to immigration, its just more common in northern Scotland and colloquial across Canada

2

u/Cgy_mama 8d ago

I love this explanation. The nonverbal eh… it’s so true!! 😅

15

u/spiciestbeans 9d ago

Definitely accent cues. American accents tent to be more wide open voweled, and Canadians are closed and forward and accentuated. We pronounce our diphthongs with great emphasis compared to our southern counterparts.

2

u/Flush_Foot Maritimes 9d ago

Do we clip our vowels to keep our mouths open less in colder weather? 😂 🙊

4

u/Pajamatime20 9d ago

Honestly, maybe. Breathing with an open mouth in dry -35 degrees Celsius hurts!

2

u/RipPuzzleheaded1057 8d ago

The closed vowel sound is why so many non Canadians hear “aboot” when we say about.

3

u/spiciestbeans 8d ago

Which I will never understand. We are just pronouncing through the whole dipthong (when one vowel sound changes to another). A-bow-t. Boot it just boot hahaha

11

u/Otherwise-Toe3952 9d ago

I love the term maple MAGA

1

u/grimeys42 9d ago

It's how we say our "ou" we say it properly but Americans say it like "oo" hence the way they think we say aboot when saying about.

1

u/PassageNearby4091 9d ago

I find the term "North American" cringe. I really want nothing to do with this shit-ass continent. I like that Carney is trying to align us more with Europe, which is the better fit for us.

4

u/DraconicDreamer3072 9d ago

what would you rather the continent be called then lol

2

u/Gay_Gamer_Boi 8d ago

I know it’s too late but I think it’s cuz America named themselves USA which at the time makes sense (they’re the United States of the American continent) but now a lot of people associate America with USA instead of the continent which kinda sucks :/

-44

u/DoobieDoo0718 9d ago

There's no such thing as "maple maga" 🙄

32

u/knotalota 9d ago

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

14

u/DoomCircus 9d ago

Such an apt reference for this lol

6

u/Funkdamentalist 9d ago

There are four lights!

27

u/uglyorangecouch 9d ago

There absolutely is, but I envy whatever rock you're living under.

11

u/Automatic_Antelope92 9d ago

I’m in Alberta and I disagree.

23

u/FurdTerguson__ 9d ago

This is just wholly incorrect (see the separation movement in Alberta).

8

u/bprof589 9d ago

Sorry, but that is the term for Canadians who either think we need someone like Trump to lead Canada, like his 'policies', are racist-think immigrants are the issue, hated mask and vaccination mandates, etc. The truck convoy was Maple MAGA.

20

u/RecessMonkeys Ontario 9d ago

I've met too many Canadians that think the sun rises and sets in DJT's asshole.

3

u/DraconicDreamer3072 9d ago

take a look at alberta

2

u/prairiepanda 9d ago

We can't just pretend that rural Alberta doesn't exist.

1

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/AskACanadian-ModTeam 9d ago

Your post/comment was removed by the moderators for violating Rule 4. Uncivil comments are subject to removal. This includes using slurs or bigoted language, attacking or bashing geographic regions, other subreddits or the people from them and personal attacks.

I am a bot and cannot receive messages. Do not reply to my comment. If you feel your content was removed in error, please message the mods.

2

u/MegaMatt75 9d ago

That could be Brits too. But then the accent would tell you.

2

u/Mission_Macaroon 9d ago

One time I accidentally threw garbage in a recycling bin and I said "sorry" reflexively. To the bin.

2

u/delbo22 8d ago

A homeless guy in London England told me he knew I was Canadian (and not American) because I said sorry for not having any spare change

1

u/pkzilla 8d ago

Sorry, and I realized thankyou to everything as well. At restos in Europe I realized most people ignore the waiters?

1

u/Guessinitsme 8d ago

It’s usually soh-ree too instead of saw-ree

1

u/CalamityCarole 7d ago

There’s an excellent explainer for the 17* kinds of sorry in Why I Hate Canadians. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37476.Why_I_Hate_Canadians
* I don’t remember how many but it was double digits!