10 Things You Didn’t Know About (Aboot) Canadians

Happy Canada Day! As a Canadian living in America, I wanted to clarify some of the things that Americans don’t know about Canadians…. Have something to add? Share in the comments.

1) Our Milk Comes in Bags.

Yes, it sounds weird and yes, it probably is. No, I don’t know why. You get milk in a 3-pack of bags, you put the bag into a jug and cut the corner. The milk isn’t poured into the jug, the bag sits in it and it is dispensed from the bag. Yes it is messier and grosser.

2) We Don’t Think We Have Accents

When I moved to America (9 years ago) I was accused of having an accent, which I blamed on mid-westerners having accents. Now I laugh when I hear my Canadian family talk with their accents… which they deny having. Canadians don’t hear their accents, even those that have been “beaten over the head with the Canadian Stick”. Don’t accuse Canadians of having an accent. They will deny it.

3) Canadian Thanksgiving is in Early October.

Yes, we celebrate Thanksgiving in early October. Most other major holidays (Halloween, Christmas, Easter) match up with the US and we follow the same calendar. When I first moved to the US I found it amusing to convince americans that we celebrated Christmas in November.

4) We Don’t Have Black Friday but we do have Boxing Day.

Black Friday doesn’t exist in Canada… Our Canadian Thanksgiving holiday falls on a Monday, and shopping has nothing to do with the holiday. We do however, have boxing day, which is similar to Black Friday, but it is the day after Christmas. People line up at store to get deals, but unlike Black Friday, we don’t trample each other (because we are generally nicer).

5) We’ve Only Really Been in One War, and it Was Against America. And we Won.

In the war of 1812, started by America, Canadians pushed the Americans back…past their ‘White House’. Then we burned it…and most of Washington, under the command of William Lyon McKenzie who was insane and hammered all the time. We got bored because they ran away, so we came home and partied…Go figure..  Also, Canada has the largest French population that never surrendered to Germany and the largest English population that never ever surrendered or withdrew during any war to anyone, anywhere. Although you could argue that it is because we don’t really fight any more (again, because we are nicer).  (Verified by Urban Dictionary – I know, totally credible).

6) Our Money Is Called Looneys and Tooneys. Seriously.

Yes it sounds like a joke, but it is legit. The looney is a one dollar coin with a Loon on it, and I guess Tooney for the two dollar coin just seemed to awesome too pass up. Also, Canada recently eliminated pennies, although I still don’t understand how that works, since prices may still end in a penny. The lowest coin is now 5 cents.

7) When You Search for Canadian Things on Google You Get Awesome Results.

For example apparently searches related to Canadians includes:

Also, a search starting with “Why is Canada” may end with “A Country” or “in the “NBA”. Shaking my head.

 

8) Canadians Think American Beer Tastes Like Water.

I remember growing up, a commercial for American light beer with the tagline “If I wanted Water, I’d ask for Water!”. This is because American light beer has less alcohol than Canadian light beer. Although in researching this post, I can’t actually confirm this “Canadian Fact”, but know that Canadians believe this to be true.

9) Nobody Uses the Phrase “Take off – Hoser”

I don’t know what TV show that came from, but I’ve never heard anyone say it. Ever. Also, we pronounce Toronto as “Torono”.

10) We aren’t all nice.

Especially me. I’ve been called the meanest Canadian (although at the time I was informed that I was still nicer than most Americans, just not as nice as the stereotype).