Throughout my posts here at hatrack I’ve noticed whenever I bring up the issue of Canadian appearances I get comments such as
CRash ------------------------------------------------- Why fight aliens when you have hockey?
For those of you who went to public school in the U.S. and haven't heard of Canada before, it's a small, third-world country just north of the United States. Once you learn to understand their peculiar dialect of English, it's not too hard to converse with Canadian natives.
Canada is a poor and sparsely-populated country where up to 98% of the citizens are alcoholics. Most Canadian citizens have government jobs where they are paid to say "Eh?" all day long.
If this is the common misconception of Canadians in the United States then I give up! Year after Year our Doctors and greatest actors go to the USA to make money. We call it the "Brain Drain" Only to have the USA criticize us about our intelligence? PUH LEEZE! OSC himself has been known to make jokes about Canadians in Forums Past... I am hoping someone here can actually change my opinion on Americans, as I am about to give up and move to Australia. I hear it is what Canada would be without American influence.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
There are several Canadians here, IATWC, and it's possible that what you were seeing was some gentle in-joke ribbing. Or not, as the case may be -- I wasn't there.
I am here in Vancouver, BC, though, having come as a US physician to ply my trade in the cultured civilization north of the 49th.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
If you want to get back at 'rednecks', make sure you alude to Beer-swillin', NASCAR and old trucks up on blocks in front of the mobile home. Worked to great effect on Hurricanes fans during the NHL playoffs.
To be serious, I'm with CT. I didn't see the thread(s?) in question, but there is a lot of goodnatured ribbing of Canada. I've never seen anything malicious...heck, some of the people I know best from Hatrack are Canadians, I try not to hold it against them. Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
I live in northern Washington State, and my mother's family lives in Canada. We visit quite often. Sorry if you took offense, War Chief, it was meant, as has been said, as harmless ribbing. Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I'm Canadian. What's the problem?
More to the point, I gave up and moved to Sri Lanka. Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
One thing I've noticed about the US citizens and Canadian citizens. When US citizens joke about Canada, its just that, a joke. Not necesarrily funny, but we really don't mean anything cruel.
I get the impression that when Canadians joke about the US, they really aren't joking.
Posted by OSTY (Member # 1480) on :
But in all honesty, Being a US citizen who is in a town with many Canadians and recieving CBC on our cable system. I see a lot of Canadians making fun of the things you brought up also. But then I tend to make fun of us United Staters too. Dumb uninformed Americans...it is all in fun.
I mean of course we know that Canadians do more then drink beer and play hockey. They curl too.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:I hear it is what Canada would be without American influence.
Full of poisonous vermin?
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Wait a minute? Is it not cool to make fun of people based on what country they come from? This is gonna kill a large base of my joke bank.
This reminds me a time when a French friend came out of a restroom in a local restaurant and commented that "it smells like France in there." She was talking about the hand soap they used, but I will never let her live that down.
It's just a joke man, get over it.
Oh and by the way, Canadanians make passionate love to small woodland creatures.
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
I've never heard anyone associate Canadians with alcohol, just syrup. For example, that Simpsons episode where they go to Canada and give a DVD player to some Canadians, and one of them says, "D..V...D? Where do you pour the syrup?"
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Wait, everyone DOESN'T get the CBC? Where do they watch all their hockey?
I haven't heard ANY of the Canadian jokes I've seen in this thread, quite frankly, I think Canadians make fun of themselves a lot more than anyone else does. We rip on them a bit around here, but that's only because cross into Canada here is no different than crossing city lines, it's where people go on the weekends for fun.
Other than calling Canada the 51st State, and talking about how great a state flag the Maple Leaf would make, I don't hear many Canadian jokes. That we'd take them at all is a compliment Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
"Canada? Why should we leave America to visit America Junior?"
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
quote:Whats With All The Rednecks?
Glass houses. That is all.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
Oh by the way, I've seen Red Green, don't go pretending its just the US that has rednecks.
Posted by Hank (Member # 8916) on :
Canada has rednecks, too, they're just skinnier.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
As a resident of Alberta, I am able to confirm that Canada does indeed have its fair share of rednecks. It never ceases to amaze me how many beat up old trucks I see driving around with confederate flag license plates. Confederate flags! In Canada!!
As for this supposed Canadian-bashing, it doesn't really exist to any great extent on Hatrack. All I've ever seen is some good-natured kidding on these boards. Also, the jokes most definitely fly both ways. I can't speak from the American perspective, but there's definitely a lot of comedy at the expense of the States here. Hell, CBC's poster boy for comedy, Rick Mercer, had a special called "Talking to Americans" in which he interviewed ignorant Americans about Canadian and global issues, with often hilarious results.
I'd like to say that it stops at friendly joking, but I've also heard quite a bit of venom directed at our neighbors to the south.
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Everyone jokes about Canadians, even Canadians do, but they don't know they are joking.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
My redneck brother, who drives a 4x4 with a rifle rack, lives in Calgary, Alberta, and only cut his mullet off last year when his daughter pointed him towards the mullet.com site. Wish I'd been there to see it... Eh.
Posted by The Mister (Member # 9619) on :
You know how they came up with the name Canada, right?
No one could agree on the new country's name, so they decided to draw letters of the alphabet out of a hat. So this is how it went down: "C, eh?" "N, eh?" "D, eh?"
If you don't get it at first, say it out loud. Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Old joke. Very very old.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Why fight aliens when you have hockey?
Was in response to this question:
quote:More Importantly.... WHERE ARE ALL THE CANADIANS!?!?!?!
I assumed from the punctuation and capitalization that the question itself was a joke, practically an invitation for a joke in return.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by vonk: Oh and by the way, Canadanians make passionate love to small woodland creatures.
Now darlin', I never thought of you as small, just a little size-challenged.
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Phew, I am glad I am a large woodland creature,
yet, I still feel a little nervous.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson:
quote:I hear it is what Canada would be without American influence.
Full of poisonous vermin?
Ironically, there was a recent thread stating that Australia had far too much American influence.
--j_k
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by quidscribis: Old joke. Very very old.
The good ones have staying power.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Too bad this isn't one of them. Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Wait, is that a joke? um, I dont speak Canadian.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
I don't know, I think Canadians are just Yankier Yankee's and we Texans don't associate with any of them pale skinned snow grown types. ;-)
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
You know that when you get to the Canadian border, eh, you have to leave your vehicle in the parking lot, eh, and hire a dog sled team, eh, and stay in igloos, eh?
Posted by stihl1 (Member # 1562) on :
Without canada, we wouldn't have william shatner.
Canada is like the little brother that you think is cute, yet you rib him and poke fun at him a lot because you know it makes him mad. You don't mean anything malicious by it, it's just fun.
Posted by Quimby2999 (Member # 7044) on :
I'd say Canda's more like that somewhat annoying guy in your group of friends who anyone of you could take out at a moment's notice, but you don't cause he's cool and even makes you laugh occasionally.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Without canada, we wouldn't have william shatner.
I'm trying to figure out if this was said as in implication or defense of Canada. Posted by Brian J. Hill (Member # 5346) on :
I don't want to derail the thread too much, but to me "redneck" is a very derogatory insult, often applied incorrectly to all people who have Southern heritage. Jeff Foxworthy popularized the term, and we Southerners have embraced Jeff's comedy as a way of laughing at ourselves. However, that doesn't allow others to throw around the term willy-nilly, much like Chris Rock's use of the n-word doesn't make it any more acceptable for non-blacks to use the term.
As for this particular thread, no one here has insulted me, nor has anyone even used the word incorrectly, but the it still makes me really uneasy seeing so many Damn Yankees making generalizations based on geographic location. Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
Then there's this one, concerning Alcoholics Anonymous.
Mike: "D'ja hear? Dave's in A.A., eh?" Bob: "A.A.A.? What's that, eh?" Mike: "Not A.A.A, eh? A.A., eh?" Bob: "EH?" Mike: "Not A, eh? A.A...." and so on, ad infinitum.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
quote:it still makes me really uneasy seeing so many Damn Yankees making generalizations based on geographic location
Um, dude, I'm insulting my Canadian brother based on his use of 4x4 trucks with a rifle rack and his mullet. Sheesh. Get it straight, will ya? Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Seeing as every summer my neck turns bright red, along with every bit of me that gets any sun for more than a minute (which I will admit doesn't happen too often in oregon) I reserve the right to make fun of them, and myself. foxworthy's you might be jokes make me laugh because so many are true. no joke. my dad has shot a deer out the bathroom window. And I am also a national merit commended whatnot and SAT geenyus. I can take out half the guys on my schools football team and I ran a marathon yesterday so I am the exception to every rule, but I still reserve the right again to joke about ANYONE!
damn hippies. jebus h malarkey.
and as soon as I understand what you canadians are saying I will prove you wrong and move on to the french. HA! Cant wait till french canadia...
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
Being from Minnesota I think I'm allowed to make fun of Canadians...its ok because we hate Wisconsites more.
p.s. I live in Chicago now.
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
This is something funny that involves Canada, but isn't against Canada: I was watching this TV show of outtakes from other shows, and one of them involved a sitcom character who had to sing "O Canada" for some reason. The actor forgot, so he sang, to the tune of "O Christmas Tree," "O Canada, O Canada! You gave us bacon, la la la!"
Posted by I Am The War Chief (Member # 9266) on :
I was looking for someonee to change my opinions on Americans not enforce them. Heres some of the latest "ribbing ive been listening to. Last week, MSNBC host Tucker Carlson told his audience Canada "is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving." "He's nice, but you don't take him seriously."
And that was just one of the famously right-wing political pundit's rants.
"Anybody with any ambition at all, or intelligence, has left Canada and is now living in New York," he told his audience, insisting it was pointless to tell Canada not to criticize the United States.
"It only eggs them on. Canada is essentially a stalker, stalking the United States, right? Canada has little pictures of us in its bedroom, right?"
"It's unrequited love between Canada and the United States. We, meanwhile, don't even know Canada's name. We pay no attention at all," he said.
And Carlson wasn't alone in his criticism.
"So have the Canadians gotten a little too big for their britches?" Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked his viewers last week. "Could our neighbours to the north soon be our enemies?"
Even the press secretary to former Republican senator Bob Dole weighed in, charging in a Washington Times commentary that Canada is a haven for terrorists.
"Can Canada really be considered our friend anymore?" he wrote. "What other question can be asked when the Canadian government not only willingly allows Islamic terrorists into their country but does nothing to stop them from entering our nation?"
Despite the ramped-up rhetoric, Paul Waldman of the non-profit watchdog Media Matters for America believes this to be just the latest in a series of favourite flash-in-the-pan, headline-grabbing issues. "What usually happens with this kind of controversy is that it gives the right-wing media something to talk about for a couple of days," Waldman told CTV's Canada AM in an interview from Washington on Tuesday.
"They need somebody to be angry at, someone to build up resentment against -- that's sort of their modus operandi."
It could be Canada today and France tomorrow, he said.
So...
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Well, I guess if you saw four Americans on TV saying something, you can pretty well assume they speak for every citizen of the country, right? Oh wait, no, no you can't.
And when you come to an online forum and complain about people making fun of you, you can pretty much assume your about to get made fun of some more. But, rest assured, that's all it is, 'fun'.
On that note, if it were as easy for me to live and be gainfully employed in Canada as it is in the US, I would probably live there.
Posted by I Am The War Chief (Member # 9266) on :
elected leaders voted in by the public and "popular" tv hosts ... as long as thier considered unpopular by hatrackers I suppose. Still this would indicate a larger movement than just four people.
Posted by Ecthalion (Member # 8825) on :
Politics goes beyond popular votes and so often in politics you need to look in different contexts for different things said. Many things are implied but never stated, or stated but not nesisarily the point. So that being said.
Canada is like a loft apartment over a really great party.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:Despite the ramped-up rhetoric, Paul Waldman of the non-profit watchdog Media Matters for America believes this to be just the latest in a series of favourite flash-in-the-pan, headline-grabbing issues. "What usually happens with this kind of controversy is that it gives the right-wing media something to talk about for a couple of days," Waldman told CTV's Canada AM in an interview from Washington on Tuesday.
Believe me, even if this is what they intend -- and it isn't -- it won't work. We Americans consider Canadians cute, sweet, and almost entirely irrelevant.
Posted by Mneighthyn (Member # 9572) on :
If this begins to get political I'll throw a question out there then never reply to the thread again.
How many Canadians have died in the last few years due to "friendly fire"? (Meaning American's)
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
I consider all of my fire friendly. Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
In Afghanistan? Canada has had 37 deaths total. Twenty-eight deaths were caused by enemy fire. Of the non-hostile deaths, four were in vehicle accidents. Four more were killed when an F16 dropped a bomb on a Canadian position. Another was killed when an American A10 strafed a Canadian position. The last one was killed when a rifle went off accidentally.
The last time Canada was involved in combat with the US before Afghanistan was Gulf War I, and Canada suffered no casualties. Before that, Canada was involved in Korea and WW2, where there was probably some friendly fire, but that's information older than what I can find on the internet.
So to answer your question -- five deaths out of a total of 37 over the most recent 6 years of US-Canada joint operations (2 in the Gulf, 4 in Afghanistan).
--j_k
Posted by Ecthalion (Member # 8825) on :
wow.... that took the fun outta it.
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Stupid Thinkers.
Posted by foundling (Member # 6348) on :
"And then... the drunk guy says "I cant HELP being and idiot... I'm Canadian!"" "You're right! They're so pathetic!" "ENOUGH!!! There's been too much Canada Bashing for far too long!!! I say NO MORE" "Dont you mean "No more, eh?" "Good one man, they are SO stupid!" "Stop it now! Instead, let us offer our Northern brothers and sisters this song of tribute... Ohhhhh I wish I was back in old Canada, a land which I never shall lampoooooon. How I pine for the ice covering Lake Manitoba and the beauty that is Saskatewwwwwn..." "I got one... Oh I wish I was stuck in the hills of Alberta, drinking beer with some bigdumbguy trapping fur. As he scraped and he chiseled all the moose dung off his boots I would learn that he's the Prime Minister..." "Oh, stop that!" "Ohhhhh.... I wish I was in the land that gave us Peter Jennings, Alanis Morissete, Mike Meyers toooooo.... No I take that back I wouldnt go there even if you paid me, Oh Canada you are a place I must eschew." "Now this is NOT in the spirit I had intended!" "Aw, c'mon, give in. After all, they gave us Ted the Sock. And Rush..." "Yeah! What are you defending? They're such feebs!" "OK, I'll try. OH, I wish I was blowing up Prince Edward Island, and going on to bomb Ontaria! The destruction of Canada and all of its culture is by far my favoriiiite scenario." "Umm, OK. Thats a little strong." "NO, no, you were right, Mike, this is much more fun! Just where the hell does Canada get off sharing a border with countries far superior to iiiiit.... why you lousy stinkin' francophonic, bacon lovin' bastards, your countries just a giant piece of sh...." "WHOA WHOA WHOA.... Ok, I think thats enough. Cambot? Ok, thanks..." "I'm Sorry! I'm sorry! I have no sense of proportion... I'm a disgrace to my uniform!" "No no no, calm down now, thats ok. Mustn't hate, mustn't hate..." "At least so overtly..." "Exactly. Must disguise our hate. It's ok now, Dudley. Calm down" "PARDONNE MOI!! PARDONNE MOI!!"
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Hey! Bacon is good! and it isnt like canadians invented it. it was the scottish, duh.
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
What's a redneck?
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
it is a person from nebraska, colloqially known as a "neck", who happens to be well read.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
Why call ham bacon? We make fun of Canadians because they are white and we can feel safe in doing so. If we were to make fun of Mexicans, we get called a racist.
It's the same reason why we, in Oklahoma, make fun of people from Arkansas for sleeping with their sister. It's relatively safe.
Are Canadians better at hockey because they have six toes?
Ok, now I am ready for the Okie replies. BRING IT ON!!!
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Oak Trees?
ugh, I still prefer making fun of canadians.
and so does Weird Al Yankovic! Listen to his new song Canadian Idiot.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Wish I'd been there to see it... Eh.
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)