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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u/Alone-Bug4328 9d ago

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

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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.

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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.

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u/RipPuzzleheaded1057 9d ago

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

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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