I never understood this stereotype (aboot vs about). I’m Canadian, lived here all my life, my family is all Canadian and all have lived here all their lives. I’ve got family all across the country, from the western coast of BC to the eastern coast of Newfoundland, from the northern stretches of Nunavut to the most southern tip of Ontario, and very rarely have I ever heard it pronounced that way. It’s actually really funny as a Canadian to look up “how to speak like a Canadian” and watch how awful most of the “tips” are. I’d recommend it.
Same, never heard ‘aboot’ in my life. However, I do tend to say ‘-eh’ all the time, especially at the end of sentences as emphasis.
I definitely use “eh” a lot, that stereotype is pretty accurate, though I feel like a lot of Americans don’t quite understand the usage of the word.
It’s harder to make a joke with zed vs zee.
One time I was having a conversation with a woman that I had never met before. About 5 minutes into the conversation, she used a word with the “ou” vowel sound and I asked her if she was Canadian. She was caught off guard and didn’t understand how I correctly assumed she was Canadian.
A lot of people in the us will misinterpret a rural Ontario accent as Californian because way back in the day a bunch of people from Ontario moved to California and apparently the accent kind of caught on.
There’s a town called Ontario in California even.
A boawt
It’s because everyone’s accents have gotten less distinct/strong due to TV. I know people from the US south with barely an accent because of this.
Also, some of the accent stereotype comes from your own movie productions, especially older ones when the accents were more like that:
Granted they are playing this up for their characters
I absolutely love Bob and Doug McKenzie but they’re definitely not representative of the average Canadian. Like you said, they’re playing it up for their characters. They play an exaggerated stereotype of a dim-witted drunken Canadian. They’re kind of like Canadian Homer Simpsons in a way. A great comedy duo, truly one of the best, but most Canadians don’t sound like that.
its more like “a-boat”. I’ve never even been to Canada, but I can often spot a Canadian on TV within moments based on how they speak.
How does an American pronounce it?
A vast majority of the Canadians I know pronounce it the same way as “out”, “sprout”, “trout” etc.
Awt. I went awt and abawt.
To me a standard American accent sounds like they’re replacing the OU with AW, “abawt”. Or maybe “abowt” if they pronounced it like the bow of a ship (not like a fancy knot or the weapon).
Like Ah-bout… “bout” pronounced like a fight between two people.
Yeah that’s the same up here for most folks I know.
I think “oot” emphasises the difference from US accents for parody reasons, and also it’s just not that simple to describe that difference by substituting a single letter of the alphabet. The best way I can think of to describe it (based on experience with friends from BC) is like a combination of “oht” and “oat”
I’m in the US and I have to support this analysis. I dated someone from Canada when I was younger, and at first he expressed the same thought as the poster above - he didn’t hear the difference, so he didn’t get it.
Until he came to visit me in the states. The difference between how his dad and my dad talked was so apparent, the stereotype just “clicked.” To say “aboot” is definitely an exaggeration, but in all fairness, it’s really hard to repeat a sound that isn’t in your native dialect. There is no US-English equivalent for the “ou” sound in Canadian English “about.”
It’s like when a Japanese speaker uses a Z sound instead of English TH - it’s not because Z is exactly what they hear when an English person says TH, but because the TH sound doesn’t exist in Japanese at all. In both cases (and so many more across the world), speakers substitute non-standard sounds with ones they already know.
Afaik, the aboot thing is a regional dialect thing in parts of Ontario.
And, as we know, Toronto represents all Canadians… (or at least thinks they do)
Let’s hope the new “Toronto man” accent doesn’t come to represent all of Canada in the coming years.
It’s exaggerated. I’m from Newfoundland and have little to no regional accent, but still have very slight grammatical and phonetic tells that are apparently obvious to people from elsewhere.
I use more long “O” sounds than people in the US which is apparently obvious almost immediately, and I have some odd grammar whitch apparently singles me out as from NL very quickly to anyone in Canada.
Also, apparently the way I say “thirteen” has a stronger hint of Newfoundland in it than the rest of my speech, at least according to one of my co-workers from Ontario.
It’s quite possible that having such a wide ranging family same social circle has simple acclimated you to the various regional differences in dialect.
It’s exaggerated.
I watch a lot of Canadian Youtube, it’s totally a mix.
80% of the time it’s identical to US about
19% of the time it’s aboawt.
1% of the time it’s totally a-boot.
With a US English ear, it’s jarring. (not in a bad way) but we totally notice it.
Not eveyone does it. Linus from Linus tech tips drops one every few shows, but then Electro Boom never does. Bobsdecline does it a little less often.
It’s kind of like the US and Brittish people saying Idear instead of idea. it happens once in a while
I think Linus does it as a meme, more than as part of his natural speech.
And Bobsdecline is from the opposite coast.
The aboot thing is mostly a southern Ontario thing, but since that is where a lot of traditional media comes from, it is the most commonly exported Canadian regional accent.
aboot is all East coast. Where two things are side by each.
Linus might be meaming it, but I have heard others say it. The aboat version of it is even common across the northern border in central US.
I also just ran across a video of two Canadian English teachers talking about it, but they too were almost in the aboat class.
Personally, my trust in any specific individual is entirely based on that individual, regardless of their nationality or any other factor… Because I’m not bigoted like that.
However, my trust in the American government and my willingness to use American brands has been permanently altered.
Given how much surveillance most major tech companies do on their users, I’m just about ready to break out the tin foil. Shit is getting wild.
This. I live in a bubble in California. We still have decent folks here. When I travel the country I tend to encounter the chuds at airport bars. The key child indicator is to respond that you’re from San Francisco when they ask. They won’t be able to contain the fox news eulogy for San Francisco and how it used to be a great state before it got "ruined "
I bet more in ten Americans feel the same way about Americans.
Yeah, I was just wondering what the hell is wrong with 4/10 Canadians?
half of those are probably Bertans
Every country has “the idiot third”, add a couple “IDK” and bam 40%
It feels like we’re near or possibly over the precipice of losing our democracy
I’d just caution our friends to the north and those across the pond that when I look at people like Carney and Starmer I see people as bad or worse than Biden and then I look at who’s waiting in the wings…
It’s been gone since Citizens United, dude.
Definitely worse than Biden, but the systems they’re running are better than the one in America so it about evens out. Which, given how the American situation went, is really fucking bad.
As an US American watching two decades of secular human sacrifice through the long tail of the gunpowder revolution has left me undernourished and starving for humanity.
I’m afraid that the humanity you starve for has always been an ideal, and not reality.
… It’s probably about the same. A certain idiot never really dips below 38% approval rating.
They don’t trust us, we don’t trust them.
I don’t know who we is, but you’re right.
Same
I wonder how many never trusted them in the first place.
I’ve had beef with them ever since they dressed up in redface and threw a bunch of perfectly good tea into the Boston harbour. Quite rude, and they never apologized for it.
Especially because they were doing it to protect their smuggling profits, not out of some great and noble cause.
Ungrateful sods too, because a lot of the war debt that the tariffs were meant to pay off were the result of beating the French on the American continent so that it could be settled by English colonists. Ever wonder why so many places in the US have French names? Detroit, Louisville, St. Louis, Lafayette, Reno (a.k.a. Renault), Arkansas, Illinois…
Could have just not had the war…
Well, for that you’d have to talk to a certain English colonist named “George Washington”.
During a time when the English and French were technically at peace, this “Washington” fellow, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Virginia Regiment, ambushed a French detachment of 50 men, killing them all, including their commander who had been carrying a diplomatic message for the British.
This “Washington” fellow was a real fuck-up. Not only did he kick off the French and Indian war (also known as the 7 years war) by ambushing and killing a diplomatic courier during a time of peace, he then holed up in a fort which the French attacked and then he surrendered. When he surrendered, he signed a surrender document in which he took responsibility for assassinating Jumonville, the diplomatic courier.
This dude continued to fuck up too. He resigned his commission after this because as a colonial, he wasn’t allowed to have the rank he thought he deserved. A year later, he signed on as an aide to General Edward Braddock, who was planning to expel the French from Fort Duquesne. Washington came up with the master plan of splitting the army into a main column and a second smaller “flying column”. The French and their native allies ambushed the divided army and killed 2/3 of them, including General Braddock.
After a series of mistakes like that, I can only assume this guy faded into obscurity, forgotten as yet another failed son of a rich aristocrat. History is full of rich children like that who think they can play at “army” but who just keep screwing up.
And the British crown did not hang the British officer?
They probably should have. It might have changed history a bit if they had.
beef has gotten really expensive in the US.
Dw us and the injuns got pay back. How did reward them? Oh right…https://www.ontario.ca/page/indian-residential-schools
Ah yes. Native American. Famously for participating the the Boston tea… Hold on…
Are you a bot?
You know Canadians burn down the white house, right? And the first nation people were the one that led the atk? Right?
That’s one of my favorite facts about the long storied history between Canada and the USA.
Ha ha.
Strange way to bring up that particular atrocity.
Doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the subject matter of the OP, or the commenter you’re replying to.
Weird.
The parent comment alludes to “redface”
Eh, I’m a pretty big fan of democracy. I kinda think I would have supported the side that wasn’t about hereditary dictatorship.
But clearly, a lot of history has happened since then.
It wasn’t about democracy back then either. It was about a small, mostly slave owning, elite taking over.
Yes, the wording there was carefully chosen. It was a rationalist thing and not about democracy, but it was open to the idea at least a bit, while the other thing was a monarchy and an empire (and also slave-owning).
Liberal thinkers at the time definitely tended to side with the Patriots. After the war, going with a new monarchy was considered, but in the end they were nudged into a republic about as democratic as any that had existed to that point.
After this nightmare is over, the Untied States need a complete overhaul
A complete overhaul is the prerequisite for this nightmare to be over.
Yeah, talk about putting the cart before the horse.
And that overhaul is both far away and likely to be extremely painful.
I always tell Americans to just try to get out. Failing that, it’s about surviving and not making the situation even worse in the process.
It’s not ending any time soon. The US supreme court will remain a theocratic conservative majority for most of our lives. Regardless of how old you are. You will be quite old by the time that changes.
A brave-enough Congress could overhaul the Supreme Court, as they had in the past.
Unfortunately that level of courage is missing from most current politicians.
A brave Congress would require an overhaul of the election system. It is pretty much a catch 22. Also, if there are going to be elections in the future, they will have been corrupted as hell, the 2024 one was definitely not legitimate. The Republicans are not going to voluntarily relinquish power anymore.
Not that I’m trying to pawn off our responsibilities, but I think part of that change needs to come from the rest of the world putting us in our place. Quit bending the knee and letting us get away with murder. Sanction our asses.
Cuba is illegal in the Untied States. All other countries should outlaw the Untied States, make it illegal to go there and illegal to possess anything made there, until the Untied States behaves itself.
Holy fuck people like you are the problem. America isn’t coming back from this. Imagine being this clueless in 2025. This facist authoritarian government is there to stay for the next decades.
So you’re still saying it will end eventually?
Balkanisation might honestly be the only solution; but that would involve the US giving up its current position as the only remaining global superpower.
6 in 10 Canadians had too much trust in US citizens
Wow! That’s like fifty percent. Those wacky polls.
Many of my friends are American trans people desperate to be able to stay here, terrified of going back.
As an American, the other 4 out of 10 must be idiots. GOP is on a mission to destroy everything that makes America a superpower.
Maybe they just never trusted America in the first place!
Canada has their own far-right wing. I bet around 30% are MAGA types. If you look at any election, 30% usually vote insane.
Those 30% morons should move to the middle of bum fucking Mississippi.
They sure like taking advantage of our flags to avoid their personal responsibilities instead of properly protesting Washington’s antics for decades.
Stop being imperialist!
It’s easy to tell. Just ask an american to say lieutenant. Spell it out and ask them to say it. I am not going to give it away so they start using it. You will know as we have a very unique way of saying it.
BC citizen sweats with her west coast accent.
Do Canadians say “left-tenent” like Brits?
Also, asking someone to spell that word is a pretty tall order lol
The Canadian army says leftenant like the Brits, yes
Every American is the enemy. Unless they deal.with their leader.
We Minnesotans are hoping to be annexed by Canada
I’ll annex you if you have good cheap real estate and some big farm girls.
Seems low. Where I live it’s probably closer to 90-95%
American here and I agree.
Even within the borders of this asylum, the “6 in 10 don’t trust the US and/or the average American” feels like it would be in the ballpark for the locals. For the people living next to this shit, yeah more like your numbers.
The other 4 didn’t trust them to begin with.
From Mary Poppins:
Though we adore them individually, we agree that as a group they’re rather stupid.
Haha, I’m stealing this to describe religious people
from MIB:
A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it.
Yours is more eloquent though.
