Americans and Canadians

HughFreakingDillon said:

Longueuil said:

dankind said:

mcgruff10 said:

Do people from Quebec look down on fellow Canadians when you talk English instead of French?

I'm not Canadian, but I've been to Montreal and its surrounding towns enough to say that I think it depends on the person and where his/her loyalties lie. I'd say it's about half and half where I've been.

For example, I'd walk into a store in Longueuil to purchase a two-four, and the clerk would say, "Bonsoir." I'd answer, "Hello." After which the clerk would either speak to me in English or continue speaking to me in French. If the latter, I'd take my business elsewhere, knowing that, by law, that motherfucker knows how to speak English and is just being an asshole.

Were you not able to answer "Bonsoir"? Did you expect a big, long and deep conversation with the clerk and it broke your heart that he didn't care? You see, we expect the minimum, just that you are trying to speak the langage because we do care about it. You didn't give a shit, he dind't either. I don't know if you travel in none anglophone country but wherever you go, it's the basic to learn to say "hi", "how are you?", "thank" and "good day" in the local langage. Why would you think we are different?

i see where you are coming from, but when you respond in the language, often they take that to mean you know the language, and start talking in that tongue. and then it's awkward after they say this long-winded sentence in that language, and all you can do is shrug your shoulders. it's different when you are in a resort in mexico and everyone knows that the only word you know is 'cerveza'. 

You don't visit Mexico outside of a resort? 

Just an hand movment and say "mon français pas bon" and you are good to go. You try, we try.

I’m OK with greetings, menus and such in most romance languages, and I can still recall my Russian. But when it comes to larger numbers in French—for instance, how 97 is (4x20)+(10+7)—I’m kind of beyond dumb. I always figured that it was easier to represent myself as an English speaker right away instead of being a fucking poseur, so as to avoid some embarrassment later when not knowing how much to pay when the time came. 

This happened a couple of times when I returned greetings in French, and then got busted by not knowing it well enough to finish a transaction. At which point, the clerk just kept speaking French anyway. I’m sure I don’t want to know what they were saying. 

dankind said:

I’m OK with greetings, menus and such in most romance languages, and I can still recall my Russian. But when it comes to larger numbers in French—for instance, how 97 is (4x20)+(10+7)—I’m kind of beyond dumb. I always figured that it was easier to represent myself as an English speaker right away instead of being a fucking poseur, so as to avoid some embarrassment later when not knowing how much to pay when the time came. 

This happened a couple of times when I returned greetings in French, and then got busted by not knowing it well enough to finish a transaction. At which point, the clerk just kept speaking French anyway. I’m sure I don’t want to know what they were saying. 

You're probaly right, you don't want to know what they were saying. I'm sure it was not offensive but I'm also sure that it was not interresting.
I must admit, I'm impress that you are able to speak Russian. It looks like a tough language to learn.

Difference between American and Canadian : American knows their Constitution, Canadian don't.

Longueuil said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

Longueuil said:

dankind said:

mcgruff10 said:

Do people from Quebec look down on fellow Canadians when you talk English instead of French?

I'm not Canadian, but I've been to Montreal and its surrounding towns enough to say that I think it depends on the person and where his/her loyalties lie. I'd say it's about half and half where I've been.

For example, I'd walk into a store in Longueuil to purchase a two-four, and the clerk would say, "Bonsoir." I'd answer, "Hello." After which the clerk would either speak to me in English or continue speaking to me in French. If the latter, I'd take my business elsewhere, knowing that, by law, that motherfucker knows how to speak English and is just being an asshole.

Were you not able to answer "Bonsoir"? Did you expect a big, long and deep conversation with the clerk and it broke your heart that he didn't care? You see, we expect the minimum, just that you are trying to speak the langage because we do care about it. You didn't give a shit, he dind't either. I don't know if you travel in none anglophone country but wherever you go, it's the basic to learn to say "hi", "how are you?", "thank" and "good day" in the local langage. Why would you think we are different?

i see where you are coming from, but when you respond in the language, often they take that to mean you know the language, and start talking in that tongue. and then it's awkward after they say this long-winded sentence in that language, and all you can do is shrug your shoulders. it's different when you are in a resort in mexico and everyone knows that the only word you know is 'cerveza'. 

You don't visit Mexico outside of a resort? 

Just an hand movment and say "mon français pas bon" and you are good to go. You try, we try.

I visited mexico once, last year, and we went on a few excursions outside of the resort, but otherwise, no. 

it was montreal. not a small village in france. 

HesCalledDyer said:

dankind said:

The potato chip aisle at a Canadian supermarket is truly a wonder to behold.

What is that one flavour they have? "All Dressed" or something like that?

Just got a bag today! One of my favorites (or is it favourites?)!

other notable good chips are Roast chicken, smokey bacon, and sour cream N bacon.   Not sure if jalapeno Cheetos are available south side but they are the best.  

rgambs said:

Nami said:

other notable good chips are Roast chicken, smokey bacon, and sour cream N bacon.   Not sure if jalapeno Cheetos are available south side but they are the best.  

They are available and they are pretty good.
We have 50 million shifting varieties of Doritos that almost always suck.

zesty and nacho cheese doritos were the only ones i could eat.  bad heartburn to boot. ha

One thing I've never actually heard a Canadian say is "eh."  Honest to god. Not ONE single Canadian I've ever met in my entire life has ever said that.

HesCalledDyer said:l

One thing I've never actually heard a Canadian say is "eh."  Honest to god. Not ONE single Canadian I've ever met in my entire life has ever said that.

I say it frequently. As do most of the Canadians I know. 

dankind said:

northerndragon said:

HesCalledDyer said:l

One thing I've never actually heard a Canadian say is "eh."  Honest to god. Not ONE single Canadian I've ever met in my entire life has ever said that.

I say it frequently. As do most of the Canadians I know. 

But do most of the Canadians you know say “twat”
as frequently as you do?

Depends on how many Americans they know.