Why do Americans take the piss out of Canadians?

[NoJo]

I get my view of the Americans view of Canadians from watching the Simpsons, and detect some kind of nasty undertone to their relationship.

It's not like the Brits with the Irish.

Is it simply envy?

What's the stereotypical Canadian to Americans? And Where did the stereotype come from?

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

I didn't know my fellow Americans ever regarded Canada as anything else but our attic.

 

[amicus]

The history is interesting, from American patriots, to French revolutionaries, to native american collaborations, to Inuit insights and Greenland and Iceland influence, to English Royalty, to Russian occupancy; there are no real 'Canadians'

Merely a hodge podge of 'losers' in the ongoing saga of human history. There are a few, K.D. ( Kathryn Dawn?) Lang, and Shania Twain, but then I wouldn't know a country singer from a Lesbian folkster now, then, would I?


The unascertainalbleamicus....

always a few steps ahead of the crowd...


cheers...

 

[steve w]

I'm just about to visit Canada again. I refuse to vacation in the USA on the grounds that the customs service make me feel like a criminal drug-dealing homocidal maniac just for having the temerity to visit their country.

In Canada, I find public services that work, friendly and polite people who don't feel the need to run their tanks through other people's country, high standards of service, and a lack of guns.

Maybe the Americans who like to criticise Canada simply don't realise that it's possible to live in North America without having huge parts of your cities as no-go areas, without having gun crime blighting the lives of millions, and without treating the rest of the world like something you've stepped in.

Maybe.

On the other hand, the USA gave us James Ellroy, and the Law and Order franchise, and Springsteen, so they aren't all bad.

 

[amicus]

Well, Y'know, I've been to Monctin and Goose Bay and St.Johns and Vancouver BC. and up the Frazier. I have been to Kodiak Island and Juneau, I enjoyed a gathering of Canadian nurses and american sailors at Esquimalt(sp) (I can still see her face, I named a daughter after her...) on Vancouver Island; I have trraversed the inland waterways from SE Alaska to the open North Pacific ( I don't recommend it). I regularly 'chat' with a dozen people, male and female in Canada, so, don't bullshit me.

Canada is in trouble. Not only with an identity problem, but with a political/philosophical/ psychological conflict and a protestant/catholic conflict which is tearing the nation apart.

Aside from in inferiority complex for the dynamic economy of the US, the leftist 'rabid econuts' that wish to let the petroleum rot in the ground rather than fuel homes for electricity and let the timber rot on the ground instead of becoming lumber to build homes, well, yeah, Canada has a few problems.

Worse, much worse, are the statistics of the disintegration of the 'moral fibre' of Canadians, with high suicide rates, very high drug addiction rates, extremely high prescripted drug addiction rates. All the numbers are on a steep downtrend and not even rgrham will dispute that. Or if he does he is really an idiot and a demogogue.

amicus...

 

[SensualCealy]

Well, Y'know, I've been to Monctin and Goose Bay and St.Johns and Vancouver BC. and up the Frazier. I have been to Kodiak Island and Juneau, I enjoyed a gathering of Canadian nurses and american sailors at Esquimalt(sp) (I can still see her face, I named a daughter after her...) on Vancouver Island; I have trraversed the inland waterways from SE Alaska to the open North Pacific ( I don't recommend it). I regularly 'chat' with a dozen people, male and female in Canada, so, don't bullshit me.

Canada is in trouble. Not only with an identity problem, but with a political/philosophical/ psychological conflict and a protestant/catholic conflict which is tearing the nation apart.

Aside from in inferiority complex for the dynamic economy of the US, the leftist 'rabid econuts' that wish to let the petroleum rot in the ground rather than fuel homes for electricity and let the timber rot on the ground instead of becoming lumber to build homes, well, yeah, Canada has a few problems.


Worse, much worse, are the statistics of the disintegration of the 'moral fibre' of Canadians, with high suicide rates, very high drug addiction rates, extremely high prescripted drug addiction rates. All the numbers are on a steep downtrend and not even rgrham will dispute that. Or if he does he is really an idiot and a demogogue.

amicus...

So us Canadians will be just like the Americans when all is said an done! Hmmm interesting thought!
C

 

[cantdog]

the spoon

When I joined the department in the mid-70s, one of the things they used to say to the probationary firefighters like myself was "Get some time in." But there was one ass who said it too many times.

"See this spoon, Wally? It has as much time in this department as you do. It doesn't know jack about firefighting. If time was all that it took, the spoons would run the department, and the rocks would run the planet. You have to be paying attention and learning, or your experience doesn't mean shit."

So thanks, amicus, for the rundown of the experiences you've had.

 

[Guest]

 

[SensualCealy]

Edited to incert an a statement concerning Limes response-

I DO NOT LUMP all Americans together, ( I know you werent saying I was, just clarifying myself) I can tell the difference between a loose mouth and someone with respect and dignaty for their fellow man/ woman.

I may not be a Quebec'er but half of my blood came from one, so theirfore I do feel the pain when people make comments about them.

Now concerning the strip clubs, there WAS one right beside our school, I personally went to the alcohol and gaming commission and got them to shut it down. I have been a patron of strip clubs and enjoy them, but not next door to a school!

As you can see if you look in this link, there are more important people from and in Canada than, Katherine Dawn Lang and Shania Twain (even if she put Timmons on the map!)

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa090100a.htm

Many of these things are widly use in the US and if it wasnt for some of these inventors, where would you be now? hmmm!

And maybe if the American History wasnt pushed on us as kids, we would know more about our "Quiet Nation"!!!

But actually, Id rather my kids have metal detectors at all the doors of their school. Id like to hear ambulances every couple minutes due to drive by shootings. Id just LOVE to have another Bush/ Kerry run about all over every frigging channel on tv, even the ones that are suppose to be Canadian content only!

Id rather be a bush sitter with hidden talents then a dictator showing what an ass he is!
C

 

[Guest]

 

[Remec]

I get my view of the Americans view of Canadians from watching the Simpsons, and detect some kind of nasty undertone to their relationship.

It's not like the Brits with the Irish.

Is it simply envy?

What's the stereotypical Canadian to Americans? And Where did the stereotype come from?

Take off, eh?


<VBG>
<ducking>

 

[SensualCealy]

Giggling now-

I was making a flippent statment to show he/she how stupid his statment was.

I travel to the US quite often and love it, (most of it) I even have relatives that chose to live in there. Every country has its pros and cons, its just too bad that people are so quick to point out the bad things before the good!

(Bush is bare but would love to sit and show you its talents!! lol)

C

 

[SensualCealy]

Remec- You hoser!!! Gotta beer?

One of my favourite shows !
C

 

[Remec]

Mild threadjacking...

(Bush is bare but would love to sit and show you its talents!! lol)

<pondering how to go about getting into the line for the talent show>

 

[Guest]

 

[Remec]

Remec- You hoser!!! Gotta beer?

One of my favourite shows !
C

'Course I do, eh? Let me turn down the fire under the backbacon...<rummaging through the cooler, producing a nicely chilled Moosehead>

Here ya go...

 

[SensualCealy]

Remec- I changed my AV just for you!!

I only like stubbies when it comes to my beer, and it has to be a pop top, none of those twist off kinds! lmao

Back baccon is good, as long its cooked with beer and maple syrup!

Kooo, koo koo koo koo koo kooo, kooooo, koo, kooooo!!

Dont all bushes lose their leaves in the winter in the north?
C

 

[dr_mabeuse]

To me, Canada is like the sane adult who lives upstairs in the frat house. Of course the kids poke fun at them.

I especially like the flag too. You see a helicopter coming at you with a Canadian flag on the side, and you know help is on the way.

You see a helicopter with an American flag on the side, and you know you'd better fucking run.

---dr.M.

 

[SensualCealy]

Well as the old saying ( or old Mother in my house always said when my brothers were being asses)

You just wait, they will also grow up , get married , and move out one day! Hope that refers to the kids living on the lower floors!

Do you think that will work for people who think Canadian's are woosies?

C

ps DR M- if you see a Canadian Helicopter still in the sky you better run too, it will likely fall on your head! Our country doesnt support their men and women in defence like other nations do.

 

[Liar]

Americans take the piss out of Canadians.
Canadians take the piss out of Americans.
Latvians take the piss out of Estonians.
Estonians take the piss out of Latvians.
Dutch take the piss out of Belgians.
Belgians take the piss out of Dutch.
Spaniards take the piss out of Portugese.
Portugese take the piss out of Spaniards.
Swedes take the piss out of Norweigans.
Norweigans take the piss out of Swedes.

...and probably every other neighboring country in the world with some kind of common bonds. English and Irish? France and Germany? Brazil and Argentina? Oman and Jemen? Probably.

It's all banter in good fun, most of the time.

However: Finns take the piss out of everybody. Including themselves.

#L

 

[nushu2]

Getting back to the origional thread, I think most of the jokes aboot Canadians are for Canadians. We laugh aboot them more than the Americans. Just saw the South Park movie last week and laughed my ass off as they were singing Blame Canada.

If it weren't for Canada all the U.S. would have for comedy is Seinfeld and "You know you're a redneck when ....". Although, amicus is funny.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I love the Canadians I've met here.

They talk funny.

Canada is a beautiful country.

I love how South Park portrays them and yet they take it in stride.

Like Dr. M said, they will jump to your rescue. Anyone remember the Iran hostage situation, who was there, the Canadians.

They have good beer too.

and pelts.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I'm just about to visit Canada again. I refuse to vacation in the USA on the grounds that the customs service make me feel like a criminal drug-dealing homocidal maniac just for having the temerity to visit their country.

In Canada, I find public services that work, friendly and polite people who don't feel the need to run their tanks through other people's country, high standards of service, and a lack of guns.

Maybe the Americans who like to criticise Canada simply don't realise that it's possible to live in North America without having huge parts of your cities as no-go areas, without having gun crime blighting the lives of millions, and without treating the rest of the world like something you've stepped in.

And I'm sure that we miss you terribly.

Liar's right. Everyone makes jokes about the countries around them. In the case of Canada, I think they spring from affection. At least, I have nothing but warm thoughts myself.

When I think of Canada, there are always two things in the back of my mind: you protected our embassy staff in Iran, and you took our planes on September 11th. I'm old enough to remember asking my father why everyone had up big "Thank You Canada" and "God Bless <maple leaf>" signs; it was when we'd just learned that during the hostage crisis in Iran, the Canadian embassy had kept a number of our people hidden for a very long time at considerable risk to themselves. There are many other things I like about Canada; I've been to Toronto and quite enjoyed it, I like some of your comedians who have come south, and I like the quiet decency with which you seem to conduct your forgein affairs. My dog, oddly enough, is Canadian, and she's rather nicer than the rest of the household; one of my good online friends is Canadian, and enjoys sending me pictures of the local bank's clock reading "-45 degrees." But perhaps through that early memory from childhood, my main thought of Canadians is that they are kind and decent people, and a great comfort and privilege to have as neighbors. When one thinks how few countries in the world can really get along with those around them, and how brash my own can be in its behavior, I am very grateful to have Canada at our border. Dr. M's comment on the flags sums it up very well.

Shanglan

 

[shereads]

It's a running gag in which Canadians seem to participate. To me it's more of an ironic view of America's self-obsession than it is about Canada's lack of anything.

John Candy, Martin Short, Andrea Martin and a lot of comic talent got their television start in a 70s-80s series called SCTV whose setting was a fictitious Canadian television network. The most memorable episode was one where a strike forced the network to run nothing but Canadian programming, among which was a version of one of those old panel game shows like "What's My Line."

Three blindfolded panelists are asked to guess the identity of "a famous Canadian actor."

First question: "You say you're a Canadian actor?

"I am."

"A famous Canadian actor?"

"Yes."

Silence.

"Are you Stewart Granger?"

"No, I'm not Stewart Granger."

Long uncomfortable silence.

Since no one has another guess, the panelists are told they can take off their blindfolds...

...and continue the questioning.

I get my view of the Americans view of Canadians from watching the Simpsons, and detect some kind of nasty undertone to their relationship.

The Simpsons gives an accurate view of the American family and American hairstyles, but for a realistic view of Canadian-American relations you should be watching South Park.

The movie, "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" featured this Oscar-nominated song:

Blame Canada

Times have changed,
Our kids are getting worse
They won't obey their parents,
They just want to fart and curse.
Should we blame the government, or blame society,
or should we blame the images on tv?

No!

Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!
With all their beady little eyes,
their flapping heads so full of lies
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!

We need to form a full assault, it's Canada's fault! Don't blame me for my son Stan, he saw the darn cartoon, and now he's off to join the klan!

And my boy eric once, had my picture on his shelf, but now when I see him, he tells me to fuck myself!

Well, Blame Canada!
It seems that everything's gone wrong since
Canada came along
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!

<snip>

With all their hockey hubaloo and that bitch Anne Murray too.
Blame Canada!
Shame on Canada!

etc.

They have a point about Anne Murray.

And what about curling?

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I miss SCTV.