Things Only Canadians Do...

[Fishheadjoe]

Oh yah, apparently we like to pay substantially more for the same things our southern friends pay much less for.
Eg - cars, houses, food well, you name it, we pay more for it!
Fishheadjoe

Ps -except for maple syrup, we like to gouge everyone for that! LOL

 

[Richland123]

We have "pop" and you guys to the south have "soda".
Fishheadjoe

We call it "pop" here in Pennsylvania as well.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Geez. that's pretty good...how'd a Texan manage to nail a Newfie accent??

I was stationed in Argentia when I was in the Navy and spent a lot of time in St. Johns. I also went up there and lived for a while when I got out of the Navy. If I couldn't be in Texas, I'd be in Newfoundland.
I even auditioned for Harry Hibbs band. We met at the airport in Gander and asked me to audition. He ended up keeping his bass player. I think, even today, I could walk around downtown blindfolded.

 

[capnjim]

We make our trophies so that you can drink beer from them....Stanley Cup, Grey Cup.

 

[Mark Reccord]

Lard tunderin' Jesus, bye! Ye are makein' fun of da Newfies?

Well, we do talk a bit like pirates and we also do have our own Dictionary of Newfoundland English. There are still a lot of words and phrases from the 18th and 19th centuries in common use here that you don't hear anywhere else.

Um, no. Not nearly everyone.


Yeah, even McCoffee's better.

Maybe they do in Sarnia, but elsewhere, not so much.

I was stationed in Argentia when I was in the Navy and spent a lot of time in St. Johns. I also went up there and lived for a while when I got out of the Navy. If I couldn't be in Texas, I'd be in Newfoundland.
I even auditioned for Harry Hibbs band. We met at the airport in Gander and asked me to audition. He ended up keeping his bass player. I think, even today, I could walk around downtown blindfolded.

You definitely qualify for honorary Newfoundlander status. Very cool about the Harry Hibbs thing.

When was the last time you were here? The streets are pretty much the same but there's been a lot of development downtown in the past 15 years. Some of it good, some of it not so good.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Well, we do talk a bit like pirates and we also do have our own Dictionary of Newfoundland English. There are still a lot of words and phrases from the 18th and 19th centuries in common use here that you don't hear anywhere else.



Maybe they do in Sarnia, but elsewhere, not so much.



You definitely qualify for honorary Newfoundlander status. Very cool about the Harry Hibbs thing.

When was the last time you were here? The streets are pretty much the same but there's been a lot of development downtown in the past 15 years. Some of it good, some of it not so good.

I haven't been there since about 1988. Thanks for the honorary status. Here is a story that explains how Newfies are:
As I said, I was stationed in Argentia from 1963 - 1966. Argentia is about 90 miles from St. Johns. In those days, it was dirt road from Argentia to the TCH. That was 45 miles of dust and rocks in the summer, mud and muck in the spring and fall, and ice and snow in the winter. We traveled that road every weekend we were not in Iceland on patrol and sometime weeknights.
My friend and I were on our way to town in a blowing snow storm. We got a flat on the VW bug we were driving and when we got out to change the tire, we saw the place where you put the jack in on the side of a VW was no longer its square shape, but a misshapen trapezoid the jack would not fit in.
As we were discussing how we would get the car jacked up, a man in a pickup with his daughter, who looked to be about 13, in the middle and his wife on the right pulled up and asked if he could help. We explained our dilemma and he said he had a bumper jack in the truck bed we could use. If you know anything about the old VW bug, you know the fastest was to remove a bumper is with a bumper jack.
As we were experimenting with ways to jack up the car, the man rolled down the window and very politely asked if we could hurry it up a bit as his daughter had a broken arm and they were on the way to the hospital. I think we set a new world record for changing a tire on a VW.
I mean, who and where in the world would a person stop to help total strangers when his own flesh and blood was injured and in pain?

I told my wife this story and when we took a road trip from Houston, Texas, to St Johns. We couldn't find the Greenwood Lodge where we were booked. There is one thing Newfies can't do well. Give or understand directions. Sorry, but it is true. So I stopped at a convenience store and called the lodge to get directions. After several tries, I went back to the convenience store and repeated the process.
On the third trip back to the convenience store, a man in line behind me to use the pay phone said he knew where it was. I asked for directions, but instead, he asked my to follow him. He took up his time to lead me there.

That is Newfoundlanders. That is why I love them. That is why I call them the Canadian Texans.

 

[GregC]

We have "pop" and you guys to the south have "soda".
Fishheadjoe

There are definitely parts of the U.S. Midwest and Northeast where "pop" is the norm.

 

[charlie monroe]

Newfoundlanders don't give directions.

They say "Stay where you're at, I'll come where you're to."

 

[Fishheadjoe]

I once worked with a lady from New York City, she called "soda". We all thought she meant "Club Soda".
Fishheadjoe

 

[jmlee]

We have "pop" and you guys to the south have "soda".
Fishheadjoe

Actually, there's a divide on that stateside too. (Yes, that's a word we use too.) For instance, in Pittsburgh it's pop, but in Philly it's soda.

 

[catcauphonic]

Actually, there's a divide on that stateside too. (Yes, that's a word we use too.) For instance, in Pittsburgh it's pop, but in Philly it's soda.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton says soda, too. Must be a north-south invisible line dividing the state's west pop and east soda

 

[Tony In Philly]

Many Canadians still seem to think that all American beers are the watery industrial lagers that were totally dominant in the last century and that their industrial lagers are somehow a lot better. Wake up guys; it's not 1975 anymore! We have real beer here now!

 

[jmlee]

Many Canadians still seem to think that all American beers are the watery industrial lagers that were totally dominant in the last century and that their industrial lagers are somehow a lot better. Wake up guys; it's not 1975 anymore! We have real beer here now!

So true. The craft beer rebirth is making travel around the states and Canada more fun. In the old days we had a joke that went like this:

Q: Why is American beer like making love in a canoe?

A: They're both f***ing near water!

 

[D M C]

Well, we do talk a bit like pirates

What does a pirate say on his eightieth birthday?

Aye matey.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

In the south, pop or soda is always coke. Doesn't matter if its Pepsi, Coke, RC, Dr. Pepper, 7-Up, Orange Crush. Its a coke.
Here is description of the difference between a New Yorker and a Southerner.
Two guys sitting in the living room.
New York.
Guy1 - Wanna a pop?
Guy2 - yep?

Atlanta:
Guy1 - Hey Bubba, I'm feeling a bit thirsty so I thought I'd go out to the kitchen a get me a nice cold coke out of the fridge. While I'm out there, would you like me to bring one back for you?
Guy2 - That's right thoughtful of you, Harley. Reckon as long as your going to go out and get yourself a coke, it would be nice if you'd bring me one, too. I am a bit thirsty now that you mention it.
Guy1 - Okay, I'll do that. What kind of coke do you want?

 

[Gorn]

Two guys sitting in the living room.
New York.
Guy1 - Wanna a pop?
Guy2 - yep?

Correction:

Guy1 - Want a pop?
Guy2 - A what?

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Correction:

Guy1 - Want a pop?
Guy2 - A what?

substitute soda, then. whatever.

 

[Gorn]

substitute soda, then. whatever.

I know. I was being silly. I think "want a pop" can also have a sexual connotation.

 

[Richland123]

Correction:

Guy1 - Want a pop?
Guy2 - A what?

This one has pop in the name.

 

[bass12]

Maybe I have spent to much time in Canada. I say this all the time. I always thought it was more Aussie though.

Yep, definitely more an Australian thing. Canadians no doubt got the idea from all of the Australians living in Whistler.