IDK about you, but for some reason Canadians are prouder than ever to be Canadian…(spoiler alert — Lake Ontario will always be Lake Ontario to us). As a fellow Canadian, it’s easy to assume that everything you grew up with was completely normal. It isn’t until you start interacting with someone from another country that you realize, perhaps apologizing for simply existing or casually discussing freezing temperatures like it’s a beautiful spring day isn’t exactly universal…
Over on Reddit, Canadians are sharing the most stereotypical Canadian things they’ve ever heard someone say in real life, and honestly, these are painfully accurate:1. “It’s a beautiful day today… only -5°C.”
“I don’t get it? -5ºC is a lovely shorts & sandals kinda day.”
“You’re not in Canada if it’s not in the negatives and some dude isn’t wearing basketball shorts/cargos, a hoodie, nursing a DD and chuffin a dart.”
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2. “How far away is it? About 3 hours.”
“Every time driving distance is discussed, it’s neither in kilometres nor miles, it’s in time.”
“I was so shocked when I learned this wasn’t a universal thing LOL.”
3. “Oh yeah, no, for sure.”
“‘Yeah no’ = no. ‘No yeah’ = yes.”
4. “I bumped into someone at the grocery store and they reacted with ‘I’m sorry!’ Of course, also being Canadian, I responded with ‘No, I’m sorry!’ Then they replied; ‘It’s okay, sorry!’ Then I said; ‘No worries, sorry!’ Then on and on and infinitum until the store closed and we continued our squabble in the parking lot.”
“Two Canadians fighting is such an ugly sight!”
5. “I worked at a hostel in France for a bit and I asked my (Dutch) boss for a roll of loonies and toonies for the till and he told me that was the most Canadian thing he’d ever heard.”
“I still think we missed an opportunity in not calling them doubloonies.”
6. “I was almost here but I got stuck behind a bunch of geese trying to cross the road.”
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7. “Not exactly a quote, but I call it a ‘Canadian standoff’ when two or more people each want to be polite and let the other go first, resulting in neither person going and the whole interaction just entering a loop of deference. Bonus points if it’s all done without words.”
“And then you both laugh and say sorry at the ends.”
8. “I told a young fella at the pub last week that his cigarettes had fallen out of his pocket. ‘You dropped your darts bud.'”
“I still cant believe darts isn’t used everywhere. I’ve been hearing it for so long my brain supplies it before the word cigarette.”
9. “A now infamous sentence from me to my wife when passed rapidly on the highway…’Boys he was just bootin’er eh?'”
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10. “Is there another bag of milk in the fridge?”
11. “IDK if its nationwide, but yelling thank you (to the bus driver) from the rear of the bus before stepping off.”
12. “It’s a tossup between my friend telling me a story about drinking a mickey of Dan Aykroyd’s vodka brand on a bus from Sudbury to Toronto, or the same friend telling me she went to see April Wine at the CNE after hearing their music on Trailer Park Boys.”
13. “He wrapped his Civic ’round a hydro pole.”
“Hydro is such a typical word for electricity in Ontario. Not sure if they use it in other parts. I live outside Canada but when I talk about my hydro bill, people think I am taking about water.”
14. “Hey Gord — get a serviette for that poutine before you ruin the chesterfield.”
15. “Anything chaotic is a ‘gong show’.”
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16. “Let me just sneak right past you.”
17. “Wow, that driveway must suck in the winter.”
18. “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me : Beer…in a tree…”
Now I want to hear from you: what’s the most stereotypical thing you’ve ever heard someone say from your country? Drop your best quotes in the comments, or use this form below to remain anonymous!For more internet finds like this, be sure to follow BuzzFeed Canada on TikTok and Instagram!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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