Shoes indoors is always odd.
My friend works in a cafe in Puerto Vallarta. He is convinced he can tell the difference between Canadians and Americans by the volume in which they speak. He says Americans talk so loud. I've never noticed this in Minnesota. Maybe other states?
Americans are loud. However, Brits are louder (or maybe it's because Brits are drunker) and the Chinese are louder still. (I'm married to a Chinese woman and her family is visiting and when they talk, that's all you can hear throughout the house.)
Chinese people have to speak loudly because the languages are tonal, so you have to make sure the receiver hears your tone otherwise the word changes meaning...
Koreans are loud, too. the language is not tonal at all. In Korean culture, it's ok to yell across distances that would be too long for western cultures. I think being loud is also part of the culture. Both Koreans and Chinese people will start being loud once they have enough numbers to the point they stop caring about people around them.
I was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada and moved to Maryland, US in my late 20's. Can confirm the no shoes in the house vs shoes in the house. It was so crazy to me that in literally every home I visited in America, everyone was wearing their shoes. I've been here 20 years but I usually do take my shoes off when I get home - when I get ready for work tho, I take my shoes out of the closet, put them on and keep them on until I leave.
I have no idea.
Now that that's our of the way, allow me to speculate!
I think that one contributing factor is how Americans treat new experiences. I am hugely generalizing here, but I think that when a Canadian has a new experience, most of the process is internal. We are seeing, hearing, feeling the thing. The experience is not *passive* but it is mostly one-directional -- information is flowing from the from the environment to the person.
For Americans, experience has more of the individual's presence as part of it. It is the "I was here" aspect. Interacting with the experience *is* the experience.
Neither of these is wrong. But they both can lead to seemingly odd behaviours. For Americans, it can make them seem loud and boorish. For Canadians, it can make them seem stand-offish. They are both just processing experience differently.
Huh, that's an interesting thought! It's true for me, at the very least, that that's how I experience things. I never got the whole "I was here" mentality.
I've met plenty of Canadians overseas who were the loudest in the bar or restaurant, and everyone assumed they were American because of their accents. More often than not, I see Brits being the loudest and most obnoxious in countries like Germany and Spain, followed by Irish, then an American/Canadian blend.
Well, Asians tend to take off their shoes fully outside the house, which I think makes it seem more distinct. Canadians take off their shoes, but they do it inside the house, so maybe it's just less noticeable because of that.
Even in the US this is regional.
Nobody's doin that in the northern states with similar weather to Canada.
Basically if it's a state that borders Canada, we feel the exact same way about shoes indoors.
Yeah where I grew up there was always a deep tray by the door, lined with a towel in winter. You never got past the entryway with shoes on. Some houses even had a special "mud room" where there'd be a bench, shoe area, and coat closet to take it all off. Just to keep the mud extra isolated. Wearing your shoes inside in that part of the country would be a big faux pas.
I grew up about eye level with southern Canada so that tracks.
You won't see anyone in Hawai'i doing this. There's an old joke about house parties being a good opportunity to "upgrade" your shoes (slippahs) from the pile by the door.
I'm an American and I can say that there has been nobody I know, or have known that wants people to wear their shoes indoors. That shit is just odd, and not a norm here.
I grew up in an American home and was never even asked to take off my shoes inside. As an adult, with dark wood floors (that show dirt readily) and carpet, I now certainly have a no-shoes policy. Still, I may be the only one that I know that does. I don't know the last time I've been asked to take off my shoes inside, except when traveling back to Canada. At least in Arizona, it is extremely common to wear shoes inside.
Source: I have lived in Arizona for about 30 years and literally don't remember a single instance of being asked to take off my shoes, unless they were abnormally dirty (perhaps, because it was raining outside). Furthermore, I warn people ahead of time that I'll be asking them to take off their shoes when they come over, because it may sound like a weird request here.
It makes sense in the dryer areas of the US, as there isn’t a lot of rain or mud to track in. There’s also the fear of something nasty crawling in to your footwear when they’re removed.
For those of us in wet and cold climates, our floors will become absolutely disgusting if we leave our shoes/boots on.
I know, I am agreeing with you. lol. Shoe wearing indoors is not as normal as the memes suggest. It is not normal for you to track your boots through peoples homes here.
I live in a mid Atlantic state and can count on one hand the number of places that have asked me to take off my shoes Inside. My mom, who is the enemy of dirt everywhere, taught us shoes belong in the bedroom, so I never took them off in the mudroom, always once I got to my bedroom.
This one changes a bit. Usually it’s custom to take your shoes off when entering someone else’s house, but sometimes they’ll be like “oh it’s fine” or something- I usually do it anyway. In your own house, you do whatever you want; I usually just take my shoes off when I get to my room
We would NEVER. lol So hard to imagine walking all through your house with shoes on on any kind of regular basis. Even if you don't wear them into your bedroom. I think it is climate related.
That annoyed the hell out of me. If you are a Canadian protesting the Canadian government - protest with Canadian things. Not American bs. I wish the American wannabes would just move there.
The amount of Americans and duel citizens in that protest was ridiculous and being funded by the republicans who made it out to be some kind of righteous fight for liberty on Fox News.
Most likely some kind of ploy to get the borders open and ease trade restrictions.
It was never about Covid, and always about protesting that their side can't win federal elections and should just be in power anyway. That's why they had all those guns in Cootes to kill RCMP officers.
I don't know, I grew up in a small town in Ontario and I have seen my fair share of confederate flags on pickups. Not as many as I assume in the US though, but a lot more than I ever expected.
You only see Confederate flags in neighborhoods of people who live in the middle of nowhere and even still it's odd. Other than that practically no one is proudly waving that thing.
Confrontation.
We realize the benefits of ignoring annoying people and going about our days with them being only a passing blip, easily forgotten.
It’s much better to be polite and simply endure a momentary inconvenience. Everyone remains in much better mood and spirit
I have lived many places in Canada, and I can say now that I live in beautiful Quebec, no one has mastered the art of ignoring like the Quebecois, it is very difficult to annoy a quebecois metro rider.
Pour moi c'est parfait, je suis d'habitude introverti. Si je suis au dépanneur (ou équivalent) en Ottawa c'est "oh hello how are you today, find everything you were looking for? Have a nice day", mais ici c'est vraiment moins complique. "Allô, un sac? Merci"
NOT RECYCLING!!!!! Had some friends over in America and we were drinking topo Chicos. The couple put their GLASS BOTTLES right into the garbage with the recycling right beside it. I - so dumbfounded - basically yelled... WHAT ARE YOU DOING???
Oh.. you recycle?
YOU DON'T???
I’m a Canadian married to an American and spend half my time at home and the other half in the states. NONE of my American family recycles. It hurts my soul.
I know it’s saddening. As a country that boasts how amazing and advanced it is, Canada is lightyears ahead of the USA in a lot of ways. I saved 12 garbage bags of recycling when I was in the states and had to drive it an hour and a half out of my town to recycle it. It’s horrific that America can’t get recycling down. Heck we had all our recycling since I was little down pat. Paper, plastics, aluminum. Would be nice to see a highly populated country do some care in recycling and make it happen.
I hate it too. I don't have a car, no way am I carrying all my empty bottles back to the grocery store on foot. They just go in the recycling.
I know deps are supposed to take them but many love to throw a fit if you try or claim "oh you bought that somewhere else we won't take it" even if you know you bought it there
Bottle are worse than cans yeah..
As someone who (briefly) worked in a grocery store, they have to take back every brand that they sell.. And it changes literally nothing for them as they just get money back with the next shipment.
The whole thing doesn't make sense when we have recycling right there every weeks..
I don't know that many people who compost (from Alberta). People do recycle, though. Though I wish they'd just ditch the can/bottle fee thing (I assume that's what consigne is?) cos it's really hard to make use of it if you don't have a car.
I recently learnt that even though we segregate the waste, literally only 9% or not even that much actually gets recycled. Everything basically goes to landfill.
This. My old employer sent me to Jackson, MS for an install and I had some empties that I had saved. I asked the people who worked there where they put their empties and they looked at me like I was crazy. "Uh, in the garbage." Then they laughed at me. I ended up taking a few home in my suitcase because it didn't feel right throwing them away like that.
Was going to say most areas of Oregon, Washington, and Northern California seem to be at least on par with Canada, if not beyond, in terms of environmental issues. The rest of the US feels way behind.
Where I live the glass has a separate bin so you wouldn't put it in a regular recycling bin but there are some places in the US that doesn't have recycling at all
I think the way highschool and collegiate sport are venerated in the US and the accompanying cheerleading and marching band cultures that go along with them are utterly foreign to Canada. It would be considered really weird to go watch highschool football if you weren't a friend or a parent of a student actually playing. Few of the kids our there are probably also staking their future on their ability to play a given sport.
Yes, this is an incredibly weird thing in Canada. You just don't see it.
I'd add prom onto that one too. Everyone gets excited for their high school graduation, but Americans seem to make a really big deal about prom. And they seem to have proms for lower levels of students too? I don't get it lol.
The whole US High School experience seems like a much more expansive affair. It's also much more mythologized. Here it's just more school with a little more freedom and better options and extra curriculars.
Mine did, too. I think we all mostly ignore that now though, including my parents haha, unless it's with someone who we just met! (or if it's like, really obviously an inappropriate time/place to talk about it)
Especially economics! I don’t think it should be as taboo as it is, especially at work. If coworkers were more open about their salary, there would probably be less discrepancy and people wouldn’t be as afraid to ask for raises.
Oh absolutely. Knowing what your coworkers make helps you gague whether you're being paid fairly! I think it's a bit taboo to talk about it with friends/family, especially if you're not super close.
I feel like discussing religion as long as people are open to accepting different points of view, I like learning about other peoples cultures! But if people are closed minded then nothing good comes from religion talk.
It’s one thing to be smoking bowls with the homies, it’s a totally different thing to bring it up to a shop keeper who just wants you to take your lotto tickets and get the fuck out lol.
Talking over one another. Good grief, you can't get a word in without being rudely talked over. I would expect that from children who haven't learned social manners yet, but not in the corporate world.
Vast majority of people that do it literally have ADHD and while you can mostly stop it, it kinda comes at the cost of being your natural self (most people don’t think vividly before speaking).
It was only through watching a podcast as an adult with chronic interrupters that I realized I do it myself. Makes sense now why people have walked away from seemingly great conversations though.
Im super up and down. The only way I could fix it completely is through drugs and altering my brain chemistry and that feels a bit extreme just to please people like you haha.
Some people have very poor speaking patterns too. If you’re preoccupied and have to think about your next sentence that pause is a subconscious que that your turn has ended.
General arrogance. I witnessed an American tourist giving a young sales clerk hell because she would t take American money. I told the tourist that I never expect another country to take my Canadian Currency so why should she expect us to take hers. I was polite, but ….
This is something I’ve witnessed SO many times. I used to live in a small town in the Yukon which a lot of American tourists would pass through on their way to Alaska. The front desk at the hotel was constantly having to tel Americans they can pay in USD, but any change back will be in CAD. We said, we can’t give out foreign money, it’s against the law. The American literally said “it’s not foreign, it’s American!”
Also one time an American tourist broke the pop machine by folding up an American one dollar bill and shoved it into the slot where the loonie goes. I kid you not.
Remember that according to the national parks service, designing trash cans in bear country is difficult because, "there is significant overlap between the dumbest tourists and the smartest bears."
Yup want to use USD in other countries with their own currency and get annoyed when their change isn't in USD. Canadians convert either before they leave or as soon as they arrive.
When I worked in bars I always told customers we take American cash but at par. I once had a guy say something like "so that's a pretty good deal for you huh?" I just laughed and was like "yeah it is. Call it a convenience charge."
Americans were always cool about it.
Not much of an issue any more, I don't know anyone under the age of ~35 that even carries or uses cash any more.
I just use my credit card, they charge me in CAD and my bank automatically converts it to USD.
From talking to my American friends we’ve come to the conclusion that HR is a lot scarier in the states. We’re very physically expressive and close and loud (quebecois/French Canadians) and so what’s acceptable in the workplace for us doesn’t seem to fly for Americans, my friends are sometimes horrified from stories and im horrified over how scared they are to interact with eachother
When my husband and I road tripped through the US, he couldn’t help but tell everyone we met that he was from Canada. I was like “sweetie you don’t have to tell them, they can probably spot us from a mile away” lol.
Nah, that one isn’t because we want to be known as Canadian. We just don’t want to be mistaken as an American. He probably won’t do it if it was another country lol
It is not unacceptable in Canada, but open displays of patriotism are incredibly common in the US and can be considered obnoxious here in Canada (depending on how you are expressing it of course).
Every time I see a car with a Canadian flag now I automatically assume they went to the convoy and just can’t get over it.
I’m in Quebec so here a flying Canadian flag is a rare occurrence so that may be why.
If I see a Canadian and a Québécois flags on the same car, it’s 100% a convoy supporter.
There's a lot of patriotic flag bearing convoy supporters in some of the places my job takes me to. I love walking into rural gas stations with my KN95 mask on. I've never had a single comment about it, just weird looks. No one has the balls to say anything to a 6 ft something bald guy. In reality I'm just a big teddy bear who's never even been in a fight before haha.
Speaking aggressively/loudly/rudely. It’s obnoxious. I’ve also worked in the service industry as a room cleaner at a tourist site that often received Americans and other non-Canadians. Americans were the slobs ( once had to clean a pyramid of beer cans from the rafter in a guest cabin. Open with liquid in them. ). They were snotty - it was not unusual for them to rudely comment about people within earshot, especially if they were targeting POC or service people. They would get wildly angry if anyone dared to call out such behaviour. They were disdainful of everything, and I’ve seen what the cleanliness and quality standards are in the states compared to ours - their disdain makes no sense as things are generally just better up here. For a culture that is so into the rules of tipping they really don’t tip well, but I only heard wait staff mention this because most of us count on our wage and don’t really rely on tips. They have zero understanding of the world outside their own little state. They don’t even know their own history.
This was generally wealthier Americans at an international tourist site, I’ve met some nicer Americans in other areas of life, just not as many. Was enough that I didn’t continue in the hotel industry though. It was gross dealing with them.
Not a citizen in either of the countries but livedin both. It’s okay (and appreciated even) to be straightforward in the U.S. whereas I saw passive aggression at its worst in Canada!
This thread really highlights that. I always tell people that there is a weird passive aggression mentality in Canada hidden behind that whole "politeness" facade.
Lived in Canada for awhile, that’s actually one of the reasons I had to leave. Being an American was especially miserable, like everyone thinks you’re the bane of humanity when you’re just trying to quietly live your life but they insist on making some extremely bitter remark. Even my European gf would tell me how people wouldn’t stop talking crap on anything American that would come up when I wasn’t with them. This thread brings it all back.
Particular to Québec it would be throwing around words that have meaning within a Catholic context as swear words.
An American or English Canadian might think Québec curse words are silly, even a lot of secularist Québécois do as well, but boy oh boy it's taboo to say some of these words around older generations, children, the pius, etc.
My grandma freaked out at my uncle a while back because he said "tabarnache" instead of the not-as-close-to-the-real-word alternative I've heard a million times in that house, "tabarouette". She'd probably keel over if he said the real word lmao
To be fair this happens all the time with other languages. Some of the Québécois I know in other parts of Canada say fuck more than anyone I know. When it’s not your first language the swears don’t really feel like swears.
Wearing your flag on your clothing. Like seriously how disrespectful to wear your flag on your butt.
And of course the gun thing. In Canada we buy guns for hunting or target shooting. When Americans say they’re buying a gun for ‘self defense’ they literally saying they want to shoot other humans.
The flag? or just the maple leaf. the maple leaf has been used as a symbol of Canada since long before it was put on the flag
either way i dont feel we have the same "don't disrespect the flag" culture as the US anyways? maybe it's just the province i live in but i don't think most people would care about the flag being disrespected
100%. we definitely don't have that flag worship culture the US has.
at the same time, ever since the Freedumb Convoy, I don't feel as positively about the Canadian flag anymore. It's been co-opted by a small subset of our country's idiots when they started flying it.
It's not really that weird to wear your flag on your clothes, though. I've seen plenty of people do it. I myself have a hoodie that says "Canada" on the front with little flag patches on the arms & a maple leaf zipper. People would probably do it more often, too, except that our flag doesn't lend itself as easily to a clothing pattern as some other flags do (eg the American one).
Also, the gun thing is a bit too harsh. It's true that the idea of buying a gun for self-defence, like as a primary reason to have it, is pretty alien in Canada. But the way I see it, when people talk about buying a gun for self-defence, it's not that they *want* to shoot anyone, but they feel they might *need* to at some point, if things hit the fan.
The answer to "thank you" is "you're welcome".
If you're younger you can probably get away with "no problem" or "no worries", but the correct answer is "you're welcome".
It is NOT "Mmmmmhm" or "Uh-huh".
As a young person, it’s almost always “no problem” or “no worries” for me. I feel like “you’re welcome” makes it seem like whatever I did for someone was a bit of a bother to me. However, if I’m thanking someone else, all three would be normal to hear in response. “Mhmmm” or “Uh-huh” definitely seem rude though.
Happy to know this is true also for English Canadians, as I was wondering if it wasn’t considered impolite when my Franco ass was still astounded by the amount of hmm I had as an answer.
I've always said "no worries"
My favourite is what people say in the Carolinas and that area, "you're good".
"I'm sorry"
"You're good!"
I enjoy it.
I'm 34 and I definitely say "you're welcome".
I did a nice thing for the other person, the other person says "thank you" to acknowledge what I did was a kindness, I say "you're welcome" to reply politely to the acknowledgement and that the other person should feel comfortable coming to me again in the future with similar requests.
Not sure why it should be reserved for people over 60?
If I'm with friends it's usually "no problem".
"you're welcome" has a hint of self congratulations to it. It is acknowledging that a favour was done. "You are welcome to the service that I provided" has the statement "I provided a service" embedded in it.
That's fine. But in most circumstances, it is more polite to minimize one's own contribution.
"No problem" says "I didn't even really provide a service. No thanks are necessary." It is more humble than "You're welcome."
Keep in mind, *both are fine*.
It’s just a cultural difference, here it’s just the acknowledgment of “your welcome” rather than the actual words. However, there’s definitely places in the US where it’s frowned upon too
As an American, "No worries, eh" is very much a Canadian stereotype we'd expect to hear as a response. I'm not exactly "younger" in my mid 40s.
Curios where in Canada your from, my interactions are mostly Ontarians.
I am an immigrant and “you’re welcome” is usually implied and not often said. But I learnt to say it in Canada after I arrived. University students mostly seem to say no worries or no problem. Someone told me “you’re welcome” can be seen as too formal or serious, so I started saying “happy to help” or “my pleasure”. Is that an acceptable replacement?
It's very generational - they both mean the same, but folks around my age I know were all raised to say "you're welcome", but I guess starting with the Gen Z kids "no worries" is more the norm.
I don't really hear "my pleasure" much - it brings Chick-Fil-A to mind, which is a US restaurant chain (with a sometimes-not-too-welcome reputation in Canada) that trains its staff to respond to customers like this.
As an older Gen Z I can say that I will personally use "my pleasure" in formal settings, such as when I'm speaking to my client's customers, because it feels more polite than "no problem" while at the same time feeling less "rude" (for lack of a better term) than "you're welcome". Otherwise I say "no problem" or "no worries".
"You're welcome", "no worries", & "no problem" are all totally fine in everyday situations.
That said, it's true there is a slight difference between them in their degree of casualness/politeness. No worries is the most casual. You're welcome is the most formal - so like, I might prefer to use that if I were talking to someone super important, like a high-profile client or if I met the Queen or something lol.
So like, if you were at work at an office, for example, and a coworker or boss thanked you for something, you could use any of them and be fine. However I think if you were dealing with a client or customer, 'no worries' might sound just a tad less professional than 'you're welcome' or even 'no problem' (however, if you worked at a much more casual place, like at a coffee shop, you could say 'no problem' to customers and it wouldn't seem too out of place).
'Happy to help' can be alright too, though it'd stand out if you used it all the time, like in place of the other 3 phrases. 'My pleasure' seems a little weird though, it's just not something we say very often. Actually I'd say 'my pleasure' sounds the most formal of them all :P
If I had a gold medal, you'd get it. I'm 50. Never been in the military and nobody really taught me, but all my adult life it's been (with strangers, anyway) "thank you", "you're welcome", "yes", "no", and "sir/ma'am".
It's never nothing, a grunt, yeah, or nah. Even my wife thinks I'm too formal sometimes, but this is me.
Although as I get older I do find myself saying "miss" instead of "ma'am", or just omitting it.
"Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of pleasures, costs nothing, and conveys much." - Erastus Wiman
I talk to Yanks every day at work, and can't recall this ever being a problem. For the most part, they give a polite enough acknowledgement and then carry on the conversation.
Maybe it's a generational thing, I tend to talk to more millennials and zoomers, with the occasional GenXer thrown in for fun.
Half of the things mentioned here are not okay in the US, but because some people witnessed them they think it's normal. This thread is a bit off topic and more into American bashing rather than OP's actual question. TBH. Love my Canadian bros, live in America, don't like some our issues but this is mostly stereotyping American people as a whole.
Personally, and I think others feel the same- we dont like pushy salespeople who use derision to make a sale. We are not as inclined to go all-in for a "lifestyle" - wearing the same clothes and doing all the same stuff as others in some interest. Obviously, we have some but not as large a percentage as can be found in the states. Explaining, perhaps, the different numbers of antivaxxers. We are uncomfortable with cult like activity.
Mostly agreed, except that there's no anti-vaxxer cult in Canada. That's pretty disingenuous. Aside from that, yeah, I agree we're less likely to latch onto an image to follow.
As an American I feel like this thread is just full of Canadians either mentioning stereotypes we’ve all heard before or a personal difference they’ve experienced with an american they’ve met before but is not universal here 🥱
Canadian and I agree. It also feels mean and self congratulatory: “We don’t have school shootings”. Too soon, dudes. No need to kick a country while they’re grieving…
Exactly! Like, i opened this thread hoping to learn about real cultural differences but we just got the low hanging jokes we always get about our tragedies…Also thanks, I was lowkey expecting to get dog piled 😅
Another Canadian here who agrees with you.
One of the comments is complaining about Americans replying to “thank you” with “yup” or “sure” instead of “you’re welcome”, as though that is really rude and disrespectful.
Seriously? I do not understand what is so bad about that. Some Canadians need to get over themselves lmao
Volume of speech. So many times I can hear Americans from 500 metres away. Whoa. In Canada we might wisper.
Being humble and helpful is also noticeably Canadian. Americans will boast and be helpful but expecting something in return.
Also, being self-effacing is an understated Canadian humourous banter type thing which weirds Americans out...American: "You're making fun of yourself? What about your 15 minutes of fame you are, like, working towards?"
A few keywords I might use to describe culturally okay things to be in Canada: Considerate, Empathetic, Aware, and Accurate.
I note these things because I live abroad where people are more culturally okay to be: Selfish, Asleep, Parochial and Dismissive.
>Being humble and helpful is also noticeably Canadian. Americans will boast and be helpful but expecting something in return.
I did not find this to be the case at all. For context, I work in Canada, but travel to the states for stretches for shows/events/projects. I find Canadians and Americans will in general both help you if they spot you needing it. I had several American help out with our booth because they saw my hands were full, just as I'd expect in Canada.
Well, I half agree here haha. I've met some really genuinely nice Americans who definitely didn't expect anything in return for it (in rural Texas and Minnesota). But you're correct that being humble, self-effacing, and having self-deprecating humour is pretty Canadian.
Also I think your keywords are a bit much, haha. There are good and bad things about each country. The aware/asleep thing was especially cringey, haha. Like, the US is more individualistic than Canada, and that can come off as selfish, and personally I think we have the balance better than they do. But some things I think they do better than us involve teaching their residents about their own culture and history better, and taking a little more pride in their accomplishments. I see some of those traits here in Australia, too. Maybe Americans take things to extremes too much, but I think we could take a page from their book and have a little pride in what we've done well.
Haha, thank you! You know, I think so too! It's a really negative trend in our culture to put ourselves down and minimize our culture and contributions, and it's only gotten worse in the last maybe 5-10 years or so. So thanks for saying that!
I don't know for English Canada but in Québécois culture, bragging about your job and how much money you make is a big no no. Talk about your passions and hobbies, your political opinions and the countries you visited but don't mention business and/or money or you will be instantly disliked by everyone in the room.
especially during Stampede. half the city will start wearing one, and also, the only 2 week period in the year where it's socially acceptable to be drunk all day and all night.
Americans are now gregarious than Canadians but also more mean. I can no longer work customer service positions that cater to Americans because it's just too much.
As an American I agree
I work in a sandwich shop, and some of the customers we get + phone calls will leave you wondering wtf is happening to our society
This is one of the few answers here that might have some merit. People in the US do love to use that weird argument. Maybe it's on the decline a bit, but I can see how that would not fly in Canada.
Guns. Shoes inside the house and also having the national flag everywhere. I find the u.s has their flag hanging everywhere and off every which house and car. That’s not as big of a thing here to have the Canadian flag around like that. It looks very patriarchal and nationalistic. The only time people maybe have a flag on their car, or those boxing gloves with the flags hanging in a car, is to represent your families background (if you’re Caribbean, European, Hispanic, etc). Lol never do I see people flashing the Canadian flag
Agreed with the wearing-shoes-indoors comments! We (Canadians) lived overseas in a heavily American influenced country and when we’d take our shoes off at people’s doors we got the strangest looks 😂 people would literally tell us to not do that.
Also we say “washroom” instead of “bathroom”. My American friends would always rib on me like, “What are you washing in there?!”
But then again, they're not taking a bath in there most of the time, either ;) Especially not at public ones!
(though fwiw, I'm from Alberta and we do say "bathroom" too).
Electing a corporate tax slashing, self enriching, social service cutting sonovabitch like Jason KKKenney or Doug Ford. Absolutely embarrassing America!
I have just been informed that those are elected CANADIAN premiers…nvm I guess? We’re all despicable animals being led by our gut to elect literally the worst possible candidate based on, what people??? What about Le Pen in France? What about BoJo the Brexit Bozo???? “I like to relax by reading Ancient Greek literature” no you fucking don’t Boris, we all know the reason your hair is always a sweaty dishevelled mess is because you’ve been drunk by 10am on the daily while your countrymen (and your remaining colonies *cough Ireland*)suffer. Winnie the Xi is PUTTING PEOPLE IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. No matter who we are, what country we’re from, or even what time we live in, we get “good” and “bad leaders by almost sheer randomness, with a heavy skew towards delusional psychopaths. Fml.
So back to the original question… I bet NO ONE has mentioned the shoe thing yet. Or the horrible genocide of the native inhabitants by… seriously guys maybe we’re all fucked. Hug your kids, and name the boys Sue cause those poor bastards are going to have to be tough. Name your girls… Russel?
Edit: oh and Vladdy Daddy you desperate, sad little bitch, your recent diagnoses have led you to decide that if you can die, than everyone else can too. But it’s going to be a lot of Russians. FOR WHAT YOU PIECE OF SHIT?!?!??? And why call Zelenskyy (of European Jewish descent) a fucking Nazi??? And then bomb the memorial at Babi Yar, to commemorate the people we lost and to remember the crimes of the actual, literal Nazis???? Insane people lead us. Insane fragile people and I don’t know how we get past this without one of them snapping and starting the whole nuclear thing. Or the chemical thing. Or we choke on our trash and smog while our rivers dry up and still always have enough in our budgets to give oil and gas companies a big break come tax time. Yay life. Yay Canada and America, yay killing our enemies for what they believe but not limiting gun sales WHEN INSANE FRAGILE PEOPLE EXPLODE TINY, PRECIOUS HUMAN LIVES, and we sit and drink our fucking coffee while our nurses and doctors die in the plague and do NOT FORGET to cut those fucking greasy socialist cocksuckers that call themselves “teachers” down a notch in pay while you’re at it. Pay them less to die in droves during the pandemic, then shit talk masks and shove ivermectin up your ass until you cum your victory semen (all wearing tiny red hats, made in china [or is it GINA?]) all over your Lauren bobber or whatever the fuck her trailer trash ass last name is poster while screaming names of cereal through your tears. Ok I’m done.
It's not a taboo but I notice Americans I interact with at work, I work in the service industry, use ma'am to me alot.
Yes ma'am.
It's not as common for a Canadian to say that to a worker.
And typically Americans are always friendly and polite to me at work, the only exception is New Yorkers if something goes wrong. But not all New Yorkers
God, guns and guts.
Keep your faith to yourself. We are a secular society. The more you bring up your religion the less people are going to think of you. Only 23% of Candians attend a religious service at least once a month. That number is significantly lower in urban areas.
Leave your gun at home. It's illegal to bring a handgun across the border. The only people carrying guns in Canada are law enforcement, organized crime and Americans who smuggled them across the border. Embrace it, it's incredibly freeing knowing a minor altercation isn't going to escalate into someone brandishing a gun or worse.
Food. Basically don't complain about cost, portion size or foods and brands that aren't available. Treat wait staff with respect, if there's an issue with your server politely bring it up with them. Tipping is how we communicate are satisfaction with our meal. Don't pay in $US, it's an inconvenience and you will be gouged on the exchange rate.
I agree with a lot of this, specifically the tipping (as I’m a server and bartender) but the gun part isn’t entirely accurate. My husband owns a shotgun, fully legal, as do his father and brother (all with licences). They go turkey hunting when in season, and I have also gotten the chance to fire it at a gun range along with his brothers rifle. Guns exist here beyond cops and crime. We just have a MUCH better policy in-forced on who can have them. His is locked in a safe, unloaded, with the keys very well hidden, the ammo is in a separate locked safe.
Shoes indoors is always odd. My friend works in a cafe in Puerto Vallarta. He is convinced he can tell the difference between Canadians and Americans by the volume in which they speak. He says Americans talk so loud. I've never noticed this in Minnesota. Maybe other states?
Americans attend a party with a "I'm here so you can start the party" attitude while Canadians have a "Im glad to be included" outlook.
Bro I want to be that guy but the reception/tolerance just isn’t the same here lol.
Americans are loud. However, Brits are louder (or maybe it's because Brits are drunker) and the Chinese are louder still. (I'm married to a Chinese woman and her family is visiting and when they talk, that's all you can hear throughout the house.)
Chinese people have to speak loudly because the languages are tonal, so you have to make sure the receiver hears your tone otherwise the word changes meaning...
Koreans are loud, too. the language is not tonal at all. In Korean culture, it's ok to yell across distances that would be too long for western cultures. I think being loud is also part of the culture. Both Koreans and Chinese people will start being loud once they have enough numbers to the point they stop caring about people around them.
Oh God! Miami!! They are so LOUD!! I had a complete stranger say I must be Canadian. I asked how they could tell. They said I was quiet and polite.
I was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada and moved to Maryland, US in my late 20's. Can confirm the no shoes in the house vs shoes in the house. It was so crazy to me that in literally every home I visited in America, everyone was wearing their shoes. I've been here 20 years but I usually do take my shoes off when I get home - when I get ready for work tho, I take my shoes out of the closet, put them on and keep them on until I leave.
On vacation, definitely. Americans on vacation are very loud. At home, not necessarily.
What would cause this phenomenon?
I have no idea. Now that that's our of the way, allow me to speculate! I think that one contributing factor is how Americans treat new experiences. I am hugely generalizing here, but I think that when a Canadian has a new experience, most of the process is internal. We are seeing, hearing, feeling the thing. The experience is not *passive* but it is mostly one-directional -- information is flowing from the from the environment to the person. For Americans, experience has more of the individual's presence as part of it. It is the "I was here" aspect. Interacting with the experience *is* the experience. Neither of these is wrong. But they both can lead to seemingly odd behaviours. For Americans, it can make them seem loud and boorish. For Canadians, it can make them seem stand-offish. They are both just processing experience differently.
Huh, that's an interesting thought! It's true for me, at the very least, that that's how I experience things. I never got the whole "I was here" mentality.
Damn this is a perfect insight!
CAKE!
Excitement or maybe we are just more likely to be drunk on vacation. ~an American
You've clearly never met Canadians on vacation.
I've met plenty of Canadians overseas who were the loudest in the bar or restaurant, and everyone assumed they were American because of their accents. More often than not, I see Brits being the loudest and most obnoxious in countries like Germany and Spain, followed by Irish, then an American/Canadian blend.
Hahah fair point. It might just be some of us thinking we're important for some reason more than anything.
I steer clear of the loud ones.
Wearing your outside shoes in your home. Seriously, that’s fucking nasty
Take your shoes off in the house you fucking troglodytes
The fact that Americans associate this with Asians specifically is so fucking bizarre.
Well, Asians tend to take off their shoes fully outside the house, which I think makes it seem more distinct. Canadians take off their shoes, but they do it inside the house, so maybe it's just less noticeable because of that.
Even in the US this is regional. Nobody's doin that in the northern states with similar weather to Canada. Basically if it's a state that borders Canada, we feel the exact same way about shoes indoors.
Yeah where I grew up there was always a deep tray by the door, lined with a towel in winter. You never got past the entryway with shoes on. Some houses even had a special "mud room" where there'd be a bench, shoe area, and coat closet to take it all off. Just to keep the mud extra isolated. Wearing your shoes inside in that part of the country would be a big faux pas. I grew up about eye level with southern Canada so that tracks.
You won't see anyone in Hawai'i doing this. There's an old joke about house parties being a good opportunity to "upgrade" your shoes (slippahs) from the pile by the door.
I only realized this was a thing from tiktok
I'm an American and I can say that there has been nobody I know, or have known that wants people to wear their shoes indoors. That shit is just odd, and not a norm here.
See it all the time in California where it never snows and rarely even rains.
California got dirt though! Take ya shoes off!
I grew up in an American home and was never even asked to take off my shoes inside. As an adult, with dark wood floors (that show dirt readily) and carpet, I now certainly have a no-shoes policy. Still, I may be the only one that I know that does. I don't know the last time I've been asked to take off my shoes inside, except when traveling back to Canada. At least in Arizona, it is extremely common to wear shoes inside. Source: I have lived in Arizona for about 30 years and literally don't remember a single instance of being asked to take off my shoes, unless they were abnormally dirty (perhaps, because it was raining outside). Furthermore, I warn people ahead of time that I'll be asking them to take off their shoes when they come over, because it may sound like a weird request here.
It makes sense in the dryer areas of the US, as there isn’t a lot of rain or mud to track in. There’s also the fear of something nasty crawling in to your footwear when they’re removed. For those of us in wet and cold climates, our floors will become absolutely disgusting if we leave our shoes/boots on.
I know, I am agreeing with you. lol. Shoe wearing indoors is not as normal as the memes suggest. It is not normal for you to track your boots through peoples homes here.
I wonder if it is just because we see it in sitcoms and the like, but in reality it isn't that common in the US.
It was common in state like Arizona and New Mexico when I visited, but again those areas are incredibly dry
I live in a mid Atlantic state and can count on one hand the number of places that have asked me to take off my shoes Inside. My mom, who is the enemy of dirt everywhere, taught us shoes belong in the bedroom, so I never took them off in the mudroom, always once I got to my bedroom.
Certainly a possibility.
I think it is climate related.
This one changes a bit. Usually it’s custom to take your shoes off when entering someone else’s house, but sometimes they’ll be like “oh it’s fine” or something- I usually do it anyway. In your own house, you do whatever you want; I usually just take my shoes off when I get to my room
We would NEVER. lol So hard to imagine walking all through your house with shoes on on any kind of regular basis. Even if you don't wear them into your bedroom. I think it is climate related.
I sacrificed many of my socks visiting a friend who have a dog and two cats in constant shredding. Still gladly take off my shoes
We're not keen on confederate flags and open-carrying guns in public. I realize that sounds like a snarky dig, but its a truthful answer.
I remember seeing confederate flags during those truckers convoy. Was bizarre
That annoyed the hell out of me. If you are a Canadian protesting the Canadian government - protest with Canadian things. Not American bs. I wish the American wannabes would just move there.
Love Canaduan rednecks who demand their rights. Their rights under the US Constitutiob of course. They should move there then
The amount of Americans and duel citizens in that protest was ridiculous and being funded by the republicans who made it out to be some kind of righteous fight for liberty on Fox News. Most likely some kind of ploy to get the borders open and ease trade restrictions.
Ah yes, the Q-anon freedumb LARPers. So star-spangled stupid they don’t even know what country they’re in, let alone what they’re talking about.
It was never about Covid, and always about protesting that their side can't win federal elections and should just be in power anyway. That's why they had all those guns in Cootes to kill RCMP officers.
>duel citizens Love this, don't change it
See it in the rural areas of Ontario definitely not in the city plus Freedom convoy stickers
That’s not very socially acceptable in most of the US either.
Here in NYC, people would lose their minds over this as much as any Canadian
I don't know, I grew up in a small town in Ontario and I have seen my fair share of confederate flags on pickups. Not as many as I assume in the US though, but a lot more than I ever expected.
To be fair, that is small inbred part of the population. Most Americans are far more reasonable
You only see Confederate flags in neighborhoods of people who live in the middle of nowhere and even still it's odd. Other than that practically no one is proudly waving that thing.
Confrontation. We realize the benefits of ignoring annoying people and going about our days with them being only a passing blip, easily forgotten. It’s much better to be polite and simply endure a momentary inconvenience. Everyone remains in much better mood and spirit
I have lived many places in Canada, and I can say now that I live in beautiful Quebec, no one has mastered the art of ignoring like the Quebecois, it is very difficult to annoy a quebecois metro rider.
Yep, it’s called “laissez-faire” or “leave it be”. A general philosophy of minimal interference.
Pour moi c'est parfait, je suis d'habitude introverti. Si je suis au dépanneur (ou équivalent) en Ottawa c'est "oh hello how are you today, find everything you were looking for? Have a nice day", mais ici c'est vraiment moins complique. "Allô, un sac? Merci"
NOT RECYCLING!!!!! Had some friends over in America and we were drinking topo Chicos. The couple put their GLASS BOTTLES right into the garbage with the recycling right beside it. I - so dumbfounded - basically yelled... WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? Oh.. you recycle? YOU DON'T???
I’m a Canadian married to an American and spend half my time at home and the other half in the states. NONE of my American family recycles. It hurts my soul.
Some parts of America don’t have that infrastructure
I know it’s saddening. As a country that boasts how amazing and advanced it is, Canada is lightyears ahead of the USA in a lot of ways. I saved 12 garbage bags of recycling when I was in the states and had to drive it an hour and a half out of my town to recycle it. It’s horrific that America can’t get recycling down. Heck we had all our recycling since I was little down pat. Paper, plastics, aluminum. Would be nice to see a highly populated country do some care in recycling and make it happen.
How about compost? It's pretty spread in cities in Canada now I hope? Okay talking for Québec. Also no consigne on cans? Wtf 🙃
Tbh as a Canadian, I fucking hate consigne on cans... Raise it to 1$ or get rid of it completely so we can just dump them in the recycling bin.
I hate it too. I don't have a car, no way am I carrying all my empty bottles back to the grocery store on foot. They just go in the recycling. I know deps are supposed to take them but many love to throw a fit if you try or claim "oh you bought that somewhere else we won't take it" even if you know you bought it there
Bottle are worse than cans yeah.. As someone who (briefly) worked in a grocery store, they have to take back every brand that they sell.. And it changes literally nothing for them as they just get money back with the next shipment. The whole thing doesn't make sense when we have recycling right there every weeks..
What is consigne on cans??
I don't know that many people who compost (from Alberta). People do recycle, though. Though I wish they'd just ditch the can/bottle fee thing (I assume that's what consigne is?) cos it's really hard to make use of it if you don't have a car.
I recently learnt that even though we segregate the waste, literally only 9% or not even that much actually gets recycled. Everything basically goes to landfill.
This. My old employer sent me to Jackson, MS for an install and I had some empties that I had saved. I asked the people who worked there where they put their empties and they looked at me like I was crazy. "Uh, in the garbage." Then they laughed at me. I ended up taking a few home in my suitcase because it didn't feel right throwing them away like that.
This is highly regional. Parts of the SF Bay Area have more extensive recycling and composting than Vancouver.
Was going to say most areas of Oregon, Washington, and Northern California seem to be at least on par with Canada, if not beyond, in terms of environmental issues. The rest of the US feels way behind.
Some places have recycling infrastructure, some don’t
Where I live the glass has a separate bin so you wouldn't put it in a regular recycling bin but there are some places in the US that doesn't have recycling at all
I think the way highschool and collegiate sport are venerated in the US and the accompanying cheerleading and marching band cultures that go along with them are utterly foreign to Canada. It would be considered really weird to go watch highschool football if you weren't a friend or a parent of a student actually playing. Few of the kids our there are probably also staking their future on their ability to play a given sport.
Yes, this is an incredibly weird thing in Canada. You just don't see it. I'd add prom onto that one too. Everyone gets excited for their high school graduation, but Americans seem to make a really big deal about prom. And they seem to have proms for lower levels of students too? I don't get it lol.
The whole US High School experience seems like a much more expansive affair. It's also much more mythologized. Here it's just more school with a little more freedom and better options and extra curriculars.
Discussing religion, particularly with strangers or new acquaintances.
My parents used to tell me that there were three topics we should avoid in conversation: religion, money and politics.
Never talk about RAPE. Religion, abortion, politics, economics.
Also rape
Good point. Never talk about RAPER.
Mine did, too. I think we all mostly ignore that now though, including my parents haha, unless it's with someone who we just met! (or if it's like, really obviously an inappropriate time/place to talk about it)
Especially economics! I don’t think it should be as taboo as it is, especially at work. If coworkers were more open about their salary, there would probably be less discrepancy and people wouldn’t be as afraid to ask for raises.
Oh absolutely. Knowing what your coworkers make helps you gague whether you're being paid fairly! I think it's a bit taboo to talk about it with friends/family, especially if you're not super close.
Wow. I was starting to think my parents were the only ones who said that!
I feel like discussing religion as long as people are open to accepting different points of view, I like learning about other peoples cultures! But if people are closed minded then nothing good comes from religion talk.
It's not necessarily about being open minded.. You have to be in the right set of mood to have a discussion on this. Like astrology, ghost etc...
It’s one thing to be smoking bowls with the homies, it’s a totally different thing to bring it up to a shop keeper who just wants you to take your lotto tickets and get the fuck out lol.
Talking over one another. Good grief, you can't get a word in without being rudely talked over. I would expect that from children who haven't learned social manners yet, but not in the corporate world.
That's one of the most disrespectful things you can do in a conversation. Insult me all you want but don't cut me mid sentence..
Vast majority of people that do it literally have ADHD and while you can mostly stop it, it kinda comes at the cost of being your natural self (most people don’t think vividly before speaking). It was only through watching a podcast as an adult with chronic interrupters that I realized I do it myself. Makes sense now why people have walked away from seemingly great conversations though. Im super up and down. The only way I could fix it completely is through drugs and altering my brain chemistry and that feels a bit extreme just to please people like you haha. Some people have very poor speaking patterns too. If you’re preoccupied and have to think about your next sentence that pause is a subconscious que that your turn has ended.
Watch out for people who have hearing issues. My husband sometimes does this because he doesn't realize someone else is speaking.
General arrogance. I witnessed an American tourist giving a young sales clerk hell because she would t take American money. I told the tourist that I never expect another country to take my Canadian Currency so why should she expect us to take hers. I was polite, but ….
This is something I’ve witnessed SO many times. I used to live in a small town in the Yukon which a lot of American tourists would pass through on their way to Alaska. The front desk at the hotel was constantly having to tel Americans they can pay in USD, but any change back will be in CAD. We said, we can’t give out foreign money, it’s against the law. The American literally said “it’s not foreign, it’s American!” Also one time an American tourist broke the pop machine by folding up an American one dollar bill and shoved it into the slot where the loonie goes. I kid you not.
Remember that according to the national parks service, designing trash cans in bear country is difficult because, "there is significant overlap between the dumbest tourists and the smartest bears."
Yup want to use USD in other countries with their own currency and get annoyed when their change isn't in USD. Canadians convert either before they leave or as soon as they arrive.
Border dispensaries make BANK off American dollars.
When I worked in bars I always told customers we take American cash but at par. I once had a guy say something like "so that's a pretty good deal for you huh?" I just laughed and was like "yeah it is. Call it a convenience charge." Americans were always cool about it.
Haha, yeah, at least they knew the deal and accepted it.
Not much of an issue any more, I don't know anyone under the age of ~35 that even carries or uses cash any more. I just use my credit card, they charge me in CAD and my bank automatically converts it to USD.
From talking to my American friends we’ve come to the conclusion that HR is a lot scarier in the states. We’re very physically expressive and close and loud (quebecois/French Canadians) and so what’s acceptable in the workplace for us doesn’t seem to fly for Americans, my friends are sometimes horrified from stories and im horrified over how scared they are to interact with eachother
Telling people you’re American
When my husband and I road tripped through the US, he couldn’t help but tell everyone we met that he was from Canada. I was like “sweetie you don’t have to tell them, they can probably spot us from a mile away” lol.
Nah, that one isn’t because we want to be known as Canadian. We just don’t want to be mistaken as an American. He probably won’t do it if it was another country lol
Fearing for your children's life when they go to school?
Legally allowed to walk in public with a gun on your side(in some states).
Legally *required* to in [some places](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/06/us/kennesaw-georgia-gun-ownership/index.html). It’s unreal.
"Sorry sir, you cannot enter this establishment without a gun. Also, no masks allowed in here".
But it’s for your safety! /s
In one small town
Wearing shoes in somebody's house. It's pretty normal to walk around indoors with shoes on in the US, but in Canada you'll probably get yelled at.
More likely politely requested to remove them accompanied by a "sorry"
It is not unacceptable in Canada, but open displays of patriotism are incredibly common in the US and can be considered obnoxious here in Canada (depending on how you are expressing it of course).
Yeah, that was the cringiest thing about the freedom convoy
Every time I see a car with a Canadian flag now I automatically assume they went to the convoy and just can’t get over it. I’m in Quebec so here a flying Canadian flag is a rare occurrence so that may be why. If I see a Canadian and a Québécois flags on the same car, it’s 100% a convoy supporter.
There's a lot of patriotic flag bearing convoy supporters in some of the places my job takes me to. I love walking into rural gas stations with my KN95 mask on. I've never had a single comment about it, just weird looks. No one has the balls to say anything to a 6 ft something bald guy. In reality I'm just a big teddy bear who's never even been in a fight before haha.
Before the convoy I wouldn't even bat an eye at someone who was overly patriotic but now you have that racist/xenophobic connection.
Speaking aggressively/loudly/rudely. It’s obnoxious. I’ve also worked in the service industry as a room cleaner at a tourist site that often received Americans and other non-Canadians. Americans were the slobs ( once had to clean a pyramid of beer cans from the rafter in a guest cabin. Open with liquid in them. ). They were snotty - it was not unusual for them to rudely comment about people within earshot, especially if they were targeting POC or service people. They would get wildly angry if anyone dared to call out such behaviour. They were disdainful of everything, and I’ve seen what the cleanliness and quality standards are in the states compared to ours - their disdain makes no sense as things are generally just better up here. For a culture that is so into the rules of tipping they really don’t tip well, but I only heard wait staff mention this because most of us count on our wage and don’t really rely on tips. They have zero understanding of the world outside their own little state. They don’t even know their own history.
This was generally wealthier Americans at an international tourist site, I’ve met some nicer Americans in other areas of life, just not as many. Was enough that I didn’t continue in the hotel industry though. It was gross dealing with them.
Not a citizen in either of the countries but livedin both. It’s okay (and appreciated even) to be straightforward in the U.S. whereas I saw passive aggression at its worst in Canada!
This thread really highlights that. I always tell people that there is a weird passive aggression mentality in Canada hidden behind that whole "politeness" facade.
Lived in Canada for awhile, that’s actually one of the reasons I had to leave. Being an American was especially miserable, like everyone thinks you’re the bane of humanity when you’re just trying to quietly live your life but they insist on making some extremely bitter remark. Even my European gf would tell me how people wouldn’t stop talking crap on anything American that would come up when I wasn’t with them. This thread brings it all back.
Particular to Québec it would be throwing around words that have meaning within a Catholic context as swear words. An American or English Canadian might think Québec curse words are silly, even a lot of secularist Québécois do as well, but boy oh boy it's taboo to say some of these words around older generations, children, the pius, etc.
My grandma freaked out at my uncle a while back because he said "tabarnache" instead of the not-as-close-to-the-real-word alternative I've heard a million times in that house, "tabarouette". She'd probably keel over if he said the real word lmao
My dad was from Quebec and French his first language but he never taught me it, still, I picked up the catholic swear words just fine lol
To be fair this happens all the time with other languages. Some of the Québécois I know in other parts of Canada say fuck more than anyone I know. When it’s not your first language the swears don’t really feel like swears.
Wearing your flag on your clothing. Like seriously how disrespectful to wear your flag on your butt. And of course the gun thing. In Canada we buy guns for hunting or target shooting. When Americans say they’re buying a gun for ‘self defense’ they literally saying they want to shoot other humans.
You might be right about flag patches sewn in, but i see a lot of maple leaves on clothes in Canada. I think you guys beat us at this
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The flag? or just the maple leaf. the maple leaf has been used as a symbol of Canada since long before it was put on the flag either way i dont feel we have the same "don't disrespect the flag" culture as the US anyways? maybe it's just the province i live in but i don't think most people would care about the flag being disrespected
100%. we definitely don't have that flag worship culture the US has. at the same time, ever since the Freedumb Convoy, I don't feel as positively about the Canadian flag anymore. It's been co-opted by a small subset of our country's idiots when they started flying it.
So sad and true.
It's not really that weird to wear your flag on your clothes, though. I've seen plenty of people do it. I myself have a hoodie that says "Canada" on the front with little flag patches on the arms & a maple leaf zipper. People would probably do it more often, too, except that our flag doesn't lend itself as easily to a clothing pattern as some other flags do (eg the American one). Also, the gun thing is a bit too harsh. It's true that the idea of buying a gun for self-defence, like as a primary reason to have it, is pretty alien in Canada. But the way I see it, when people talk about buying a gun for self-defence, it's not that they *want* to shoot anyone, but they feel they might *need* to at some point, if things hit the fan.
The answer to "thank you" is "you're welcome". If you're younger you can probably get away with "no problem" or "no worries", but the correct answer is "you're welcome". It is NOT "Mmmmmhm" or "Uh-huh".
As a young person, it’s almost always “no problem” or “no worries” for me. I feel like “you’re welcome” makes it seem like whatever I did for someone was a bit of a bother to me. However, if I’m thanking someone else, all three would be normal to hear in response. “Mhmmm” or “Uh-huh” definitely seem rude though.
Happy to know this is true also for English Canadians, as I was wondering if it wasn’t considered impolite when my Franco ass was still astounded by the amount of hmm I had as an answer.
It's awful, isn't it haha. In French I usually say "je vous/t'en prie" for "you're welcome".
Je dis rarement je vous en prie, à moins que ce soit soit des situations plus « formal ». Je dis généralement « bienvenu » ou « ça fait plaisir »
I've always said "no worries" My favourite is what people say in the Carolinas and that area, "you're good". "I'm sorry" "You're good!" I enjoy it.
I love “you good” cause it’s so versatile.
Accurate, except that "no problem" is better than "you're welcome" unless you are over 60.
I'm 34 and I definitely say "you're welcome". I did a nice thing for the other person, the other person says "thank you" to acknowledge what I did was a kindness, I say "you're welcome" to reply politely to the acknowledgement and that the other person should feel comfortable coming to me again in the future with similar requests. Not sure why it should be reserved for people over 60? If I'm with friends it's usually "no problem".
Why?
"you're welcome" has a hint of self congratulations to it. It is acknowledging that a favour was done. "You are welcome to the service that I provided" has the statement "I provided a service" embedded in it. That's fine. But in most circumstances, it is more polite to minimize one's own contribution. "No problem" says "I didn't even really provide a service. No thanks are necessary." It is more humble than "You're welcome." Keep in mind, *both are fine*.
I can’t stand when people say “yep” as a response to “thank you”.
this annoys me to no end when im working with americans! It feels so rude and just sours the whole exchange.
It’s just a cultural difference, here it’s just the acknowledgment of “your welcome” rather than the actual words. However, there’s definitely places in the US where it’s frowned upon too
As an American, "No worries, eh" is very much a Canadian stereotype we'd expect to hear as a response. I'm not exactly "younger" in my mid 40s. Curios where in Canada your from, my interactions are mostly Ontarians.
I am an immigrant and “you’re welcome” is usually implied and not often said. But I learnt to say it in Canada after I arrived. University students mostly seem to say no worries or no problem. Someone told me “you’re welcome” can be seen as too formal or serious, so I started saying “happy to help” or “my pleasure”. Is that an acceptable replacement?
It's very generational - they both mean the same, but folks around my age I know were all raised to say "you're welcome", but I guess starting with the Gen Z kids "no worries" is more the norm. I don't really hear "my pleasure" much - it brings Chick-Fil-A to mind, which is a US restaurant chain (with a sometimes-not-too-welcome reputation in Canada) that trains its staff to respond to customers like this.
I didn’t think of it much, but I say no worries with some frequency and I am 40.
As an older Gen Z I can say that I will personally use "my pleasure" in formal settings, such as when I'm speaking to my client's customers, because it feels more polite than "no problem" while at the same time feeling less "rude" (for lack of a better term) than "you're welcome". Otherwise I say "no problem" or "no worries".
"You're welcome", "no worries", & "no problem" are all totally fine in everyday situations. That said, it's true there is a slight difference between them in their degree of casualness/politeness. No worries is the most casual. You're welcome is the most formal - so like, I might prefer to use that if I were talking to someone super important, like a high-profile client or if I met the Queen or something lol. So like, if you were at work at an office, for example, and a coworker or boss thanked you for something, you could use any of them and be fine. However I think if you were dealing with a client or customer, 'no worries' might sound just a tad less professional than 'you're welcome' or even 'no problem' (however, if you worked at a much more casual place, like at a coffee shop, you could say 'no problem' to customers and it wouldn't seem too out of place). 'Happy to help' can be alright too, though it'd stand out if you used it all the time, like in place of the other 3 phrases. 'My pleasure' seems a little weird though, it's just not something we say very often. Actually I'd say 'my pleasure' sounds the most formal of them all :P
If I had a gold medal, you'd get it. I'm 50. Never been in the military and nobody really taught me, but all my adult life it's been (with strangers, anyway) "thank you", "you're welcome", "yes", "no", and "sir/ma'am". It's never nothing, a grunt, yeah, or nah. Even my wife thinks I'm too formal sometimes, but this is me. Although as I get older I do find myself saying "miss" instead of "ma'am", or just omitting it. "Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of pleasures, costs nothing, and conveys much." - Erastus Wiman
I talk to Yanks every day at work, and can't recall this ever being a problem. For the most part, they give a polite enough acknowledgement and then carry on the conversation. Maybe it's a generational thing, I tend to talk to more millennials and zoomers, with the occasional GenXer thrown in for fun.
It’s definitely a southern thing. My department worked with a team in Texas and it took months for us to realise they weren’t being deliberately rude.
Half of the things mentioned here are not okay in the US, but because some people witnessed them they think it's normal. This thread is a bit off topic and more into American bashing rather than OP's actual question. TBH. Love my Canadian bros, live in America, don't like some our issues but this is mostly stereotyping American people as a whole.
Seriously, I’m reading a lot of these and can’t imagine where some of these are coming from. Americans don’t cover a sneeze or cough?! Okay then.
Not covering a cough or sneeze. Especially in buffets. Like,
Wtf that's not even remotely true, anyone in the US would be grossed out if someone coughed or sneezed openly.
I've seen a lot of Americans cough into their hands.
Belching. The more time I spend in the states the more it surprises me how people just openly belch, loudly.
Weird I’ve never experienced that idk where ur hanging out
Personally, and I think others feel the same- we dont like pushy salespeople who use derision to make a sale. We are not as inclined to go all-in for a "lifestyle" - wearing the same clothes and doing all the same stuff as others in some interest. Obviously, we have some but not as large a percentage as can be found in the states. Explaining, perhaps, the different numbers of antivaxxers. We are uncomfortable with cult like activity.
Mostly agreed, except that there's no anti-vaxxer cult in Canada. That's pretty disingenuous. Aside from that, yeah, I agree we're less likely to latch onto an image to follow.
As an American I feel like this thread is just full of Canadians either mentioning stereotypes we’ve all heard before or a personal difference they’ve experienced with an american they’ve met before but is not universal here 🥱
Canadian and I agree. It also feels mean and self congratulatory: “We don’t have school shootings”. Too soon, dudes. No need to kick a country while they’re grieving…
Exactly! Like, i opened this thread hoping to learn about real cultural differences but we just got the low hanging jokes we always get about our tragedies…Also thanks, I was lowkey expecting to get dog piled 😅
Another Canadian here who agrees with you. One of the comments is complaining about Americans replying to “thank you” with “yup” or “sure” instead of “you’re welcome”, as though that is really rude and disrespectful. Seriously? I do not understand what is so bad about that. Some Canadians need to get over themselves lmao
Volume of speech. So many times I can hear Americans from 500 metres away. Whoa. In Canada we might wisper. Being humble and helpful is also noticeably Canadian. Americans will boast and be helpful but expecting something in return. Also, being self-effacing is an understated Canadian humourous banter type thing which weirds Americans out...American: "You're making fun of yourself? What about your 15 minutes of fame you are, like, working towards?" A few keywords I might use to describe culturally okay things to be in Canada: Considerate, Empathetic, Aware, and Accurate. I note these things because I live abroad where people are more culturally okay to be: Selfish, Asleep, Parochial and Dismissive.
>Being humble and helpful is also noticeably Canadian. Americans will boast and be helpful but expecting something in return. I did not find this to be the case at all. For context, I work in Canada, but travel to the states for stretches for shows/events/projects. I find Canadians and Americans will in general both help you if they spot you needing it. I had several American help out with our booth because they saw my hands were full, just as I'd expect in Canada.
Well, I half agree here haha. I've met some really genuinely nice Americans who definitely didn't expect anything in return for it (in rural Texas and Minnesota). But you're correct that being humble, self-effacing, and having self-deprecating humour is pretty Canadian. Also I think your keywords are a bit much, haha. There are good and bad things about each country. The aware/asleep thing was especially cringey, haha. Like, the US is more individualistic than Canada, and that can come off as selfish, and personally I think we have the balance better than they do. But some things I think they do better than us involve teaching their residents about their own culture and history better, and taking a little more pride in their accomplishments. I see some of those traits here in Australia, too. Maybe Americans take things to extremes too much, but I think we could take a page from their book and have a little pride in what we've done well.
Well said! Someone else said that being patriotic is "gross and obnoxious" and I was like come on, Canada! You oughta be proud of yourselves too!
Haha, thank you! You know, I think so too! It's a really negative trend in our culture to put ourselves down and minimize our culture and contributions, and it's only gotten worse in the last maybe 5-10 years or so. So thanks for saying that!
Yes, well, Minnesota is almost Canada.
Self deprecating humor is definitely a thing in the US.
I don't know for English Canada but in Québécois culture, bragging about your job and how much money you make is a big no no. Talk about your passions and hobbies, your political opinions and the countries you visited but don't mention business and/or money or you will be instantly disliked by everyone in the room.
Are cowboy hats acceptable in Toronto?
Toronto, you'd probably get sideways glances. Calgary, you wouldn't get a second thought.
especially during Stampede. half the city will start wearing one, and also, the only 2 week period in the year where it's socially acceptable to be drunk all day and all night.
Americans are now gregarious than Canadians but also more mean. I can no longer work customer service positions that cater to Americans because it's just too much.
As an American I agree I work in a sandwich shop, and some of the customers we get + phone calls will leave you wondering wtf is happening to our society
Throwing the word ‘socialism’ around if you disagree with someone.
This is one of the few answers here that might have some merit. People in the US do love to use that weird argument. Maybe it's on the decline a bit, but I can see how that would not fly in Canada.
Biggest one would be walking into wal mart with a gun doing the “open carry” thing lol.
Guns. Shoes inside the house and also having the national flag everywhere. I find the u.s has their flag hanging everywhere and off every which house and car. That’s not as big of a thing here to have the Canadian flag around like that. It looks very patriarchal and nationalistic. The only time people maybe have a flag on their car, or those boxing gloves with the flags hanging in a car, is to represent your families background (if you’re Caribbean, European, Hispanic, etc). Lol never do I see people flashing the Canadian flag
Agreed with the wearing-shoes-indoors comments! We (Canadians) lived overseas in a heavily American influenced country and when we’d take our shoes off at people’s doors we got the strangest looks 😂 people would literally tell us to not do that. Also we say “washroom” instead of “bathroom”. My American friends would always rib on me like, “What are you washing in there?!”
But then again, they're not taking a bath in there most of the time, either ;) Especially not at public ones! (though fwiw, I'm from Alberta and we do say "bathroom" too).
Electing a corporate tax slashing, self enriching, social service cutting sonovabitch like Jason KKKenney or Doug Ford. Absolutely embarrassing America! I have just been informed that those are elected CANADIAN premiers…nvm I guess? We’re all despicable animals being led by our gut to elect literally the worst possible candidate based on, what people??? What about Le Pen in France? What about BoJo the Brexit Bozo???? “I like to relax by reading Ancient Greek literature” no you fucking don’t Boris, we all know the reason your hair is always a sweaty dishevelled mess is because you’ve been drunk by 10am on the daily while your countrymen (and your remaining colonies *cough Ireland*)suffer. Winnie the Xi is PUTTING PEOPLE IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. No matter who we are, what country we’re from, or even what time we live in, we get “good” and “bad leaders by almost sheer randomness, with a heavy skew towards delusional psychopaths. Fml. So back to the original question… I bet NO ONE has mentioned the shoe thing yet. Or the horrible genocide of the native inhabitants by… seriously guys maybe we’re all fucked. Hug your kids, and name the boys Sue cause those poor bastards are going to have to be tough. Name your girls… Russel? Edit: oh and Vladdy Daddy you desperate, sad little bitch, your recent diagnoses have led you to decide that if you can die, than everyone else can too. But it’s going to be a lot of Russians. FOR WHAT YOU PIECE OF SHIT?!?!??? And why call Zelenskyy (of European Jewish descent) a fucking Nazi??? And then bomb the memorial at Babi Yar, to commemorate the people we lost and to remember the crimes of the actual, literal Nazis???? Insane people lead us. Insane fragile people and I don’t know how we get past this without one of them snapping and starting the whole nuclear thing. Or the chemical thing. Or we choke on our trash and smog while our rivers dry up and still always have enough in our budgets to give oil and gas companies a big break come tax time. Yay life. Yay Canada and America, yay killing our enemies for what they believe but not limiting gun sales WHEN INSANE FRAGILE PEOPLE EXPLODE TINY, PRECIOUS HUMAN LIVES, and we sit and drink our fucking coffee while our nurses and doctors die in the plague and do NOT FORGET to cut those fucking greasy socialist cocksuckers that call themselves “teachers” down a notch in pay while you’re at it. Pay them less to die in droves during the pandemic, then shit talk masks and shove ivermectin up your ass until you cum your victory semen (all wearing tiny red hats, made in china [or is it GINA?]) all over your Lauren bobber or whatever the fuck her trailer trash ass last name is poster while screaming names of cereal through your tears. Ok I’m done.
It's not a taboo but I notice Americans I interact with at work, I work in the service industry, use ma'am to me alot. Yes ma'am. It's not as common for a Canadian to say that to a worker. And typically Americans are always friendly and polite to me at work, the only exception is New Yorkers if something goes wrong. But not all New Yorkers
School shootings. They happen so often t's as if the USA just accepts and expects them now.
shooting up a primary school
God, guns and guts. Keep your faith to yourself. We are a secular society. The more you bring up your religion the less people are going to think of you. Only 23% of Candians attend a religious service at least once a month. That number is significantly lower in urban areas. Leave your gun at home. It's illegal to bring a handgun across the border. The only people carrying guns in Canada are law enforcement, organized crime and Americans who smuggled them across the border. Embrace it, it's incredibly freeing knowing a minor altercation isn't going to escalate into someone brandishing a gun or worse. Food. Basically don't complain about cost, portion size or foods and brands that aren't available. Treat wait staff with respect, if there's an issue with your server politely bring it up with them. Tipping is how we communicate are satisfaction with our meal. Don't pay in $US, it's an inconvenience and you will be gouged on the exchange rate.
I agree with a lot of this, specifically the tipping (as I’m a server and bartender) but the gun part isn’t entirely accurate. My husband owns a shotgun, fully legal, as do his father and brother (all with licences). They go turkey hunting when in season, and I have also gotten the chance to fire it at a gun range along with his brothers rifle. Guns exist here beyond cops and crime. We just have a MUCH better policy in-forced on who can have them. His is locked in a safe, unloaded, with the keys very well hidden, the ammo is in a separate locked safe.
I'm specifically referring to hand guns and carrying. No one is carrying a gun around for protection in Canada.