Question to Americans and British and Australians and any English speakers. Can you hear a Canadian accent?
I am not talking about the stereotype of Bob and Doug Mackenzie of the Great White North from SCTV, eh. But more subtle things like pronunciation of “process”. Pah-sta (Am) vs Past-ah(Cn). About vs aboot.
I can spot it a mile away on tv presenters. They usually try to hide it but it inevitably slips.
Can you hear it, or am I hypersensitive?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 88 | May 15, 2024 10:37 PM
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I notice it whenever I'm visiting my mom and she is watching those cheesy Hallmark movies that are filmed in Canada.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | May 13, 2024 9:06 PM
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I have a friend born in Ontario and raised there until he was 10. I still hear something of an accent on occasion, but when I'm around his mom, I really hear hers.
On a related note, having studied French, I can usually tell pretty quickly when someone is speaking Canadian-French.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 13, 2024 9:33 PM
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I left Toronto for the US seven years ago. I hear the accent more and more when I go home now.
Definitely in western Canada but even in Toronto which has a different, less stereotypical accent.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | May 13, 2024 9:40 PM
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R3 it’s Québécois French, not “Canadian-French.”
by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 13, 2024 9:45 PM
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I'm very sensitive to it, having spent about 10 years in Buffalo and having a Canadian boyfriend for about 2 years during that time.
I can spot it within just a few words. Most people I know can't - and don't - hear in California. It's pretty glaring to me when it comes out of the mouths of actors or presenters.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 13, 2024 9:54 PM
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I can hear the Canadian accent and it is not charming,
by Anonymous | reply 8 | May 13, 2024 9:58 PM
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I watch a lot of Wisconsin police videos and they pronoun "down" as 'dah-wooon'.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | May 13, 2024 10:07 PM
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I find the Canadian accent eardrum shredding!
I hate it.
Get OOT!
by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 14, 2024 12:25 AM
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The kids on “You Can’t Do That on Television” in the 80s had very identifiable Canadian accents. The way they would say certain words were different.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 14, 2024 12:35 AM
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It's noticable when I visit Vancouver but less noticable when I watch Canadians actors on TV. I think actors tone it down a lot. It's a silly accent.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | May 14, 2024 12:35 AM
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"Project" is a dead giveaway for me.
Also, "washroom."
There are probably others I can't think of now, but I spent a lot of time in Ontario as a kid, and I can hear an Ontario accent a mile away.
I assume the western provinces are different.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 14, 2024 12:40 AM
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I don't find it grating. If anything, I find it sort of relaxing...good to go to sleep to. Not a lot of expression to it, just sort of monotonous and boring. Precise.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 14, 2024 12:42 AM
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[quote]monotonous and boring
Much like Canadians.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 14, 2024 12:44 AM
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Yes. It's kind of like a dorkier version of the American midwest accent.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 14, 2024 12:46 AM
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Sometimes but not always. I've traveled in Canada a bit and love the place. If you ever want a fabulous adventure, explore Nova Scotia.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 14, 2024 12:50 AM
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I’m Canadian and I can tell if somebody is from Ontario
by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 14, 2024 1:04 AM
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I can hear it easily, and find it grating and irritating.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 14, 2024 1:13 AM
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Is there a distinct Nunavutian accent?
by Anonymous | reply 20 | May 14, 2024 1:15 AM
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[quote] I spent a lot of time in Ontario as a kid
Which grades were you there. I have a friend from Buffalo who spent grade 3 there.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 14, 2024 1:16 AM
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They do pronounce a few things different, some already mentioned. They also tend to put the emphasis of the word “Canada” itself on the “-da.” It’s not a big deal.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 14, 2024 1:18 AM
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My sister in law is Canadian so, yes.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | May 14, 2024 1:19 AM
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r21 just summers. My family had a cottage in Northern Ontario
by Anonymous | reply 24 | May 14, 2024 1:22 AM
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Yes, and I dislike that high pitched sing-song shit.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 14, 2024 1:39 AM
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I notice it. The Canadian accent gets more pronounced the further north you go. I once went to northern Ontario where the Canadian accent is or at least was, very strong. So much fun, because to the locals I was the one with my flat midwestern US pronounciationd, the one who had an accent. People lived to hear me talk just to hear my accent.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | May 14, 2024 2:12 AM
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Plenty of Canadians (both French and otherwise) are Florida snowbirds, so I've heard it often. It is a little grating, but the Anglo-Canadians have always been very nice to me, so there's that.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | May 14, 2024 2:17 AM
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I like the way they say "process" and "against."
I noticed, from a couple of Canadian YouTubers, that they say "similar-i-ly" instead of "similarly." I don't like that extra syllable.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | May 14, 2024 4:21 AM
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The Winnipeg accent makes me think a Chicagoan has found therapy. Everyone I’ve met from Toronto has had a much better sex life than me so who gives a fuck about that accent…I pick up something that sounds Norwegian around Vancouver.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 14, 2024 4:28 AM
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Newfoundland speech is its own thing
by Anonymous | reply 30 | May 14, 2024 4:51 AM
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I am Canadian we say both pass-ta and pah-sta so this word is not a dead giveaway.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | May 14, 2024 5:16 AM
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Once in a bar a drunk from "P.E.I." somehow thought I was too: "I can always tell a P.E.I.-ler!"
It was like listening to someone speaking Welsh.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | May 14, 2024 5:16 AM
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Ontario is a vast province, with many dialects. Just which Ontario accent do you imagine you recognize, R13? Durham county? Brant county? Southwestern Ontario? Northern Ontario? Ottawa Valley (gidday)? Tronno?
Do tell, you sound so knowledgeable.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | May 14, 2024 5:33 AM
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A dialect and an accent are two different things.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | May 14, 2024 6:14 AM
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Of course I can pick a Canadian accent! But then again, I’m not American, so I’m slightly more attuned to these differences.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | May 14, 2024 6:45 AM
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R35, are you a native English speaker? I ask because the differences between Canadian and American English are subtle. If you're comparing standard American and standard Canadian (that is, the accents you're mostly likely to hear from national news announcers), telling them apart is impressive for a non-native speaker.
Anyway, yes, as an American, I can spot a Canadian accent pretty quickly. I don't any feeling about it one way or the other. It's just a slight accent, like the accents of different regions in the USA minus the positive or negative regional associations. Sometimes, Canadian news announcers sound a bit prissy and precise, but ordinary Canadians don't seem to do that.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | May 14, 2024 8:30 AM
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Yes, R37, I am a native English speaker.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | May 14, 2024 9:32 AM
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Incidentally, the cutest boy I ever met was an Ontario boy who was visiting New England with his dad, an old friend of my stepfather.
They met in the '60s in NYC, where my stepdad grew up and where his bud relocated after college. Eventually, the friend went back to Canada, got married, and raised a family. But they kept in touch over the years.
Meanwhile, my stepdad moved to Massachusetts and met my mom in the early '90s, when I was in middle school. A few years later, his buddy and his son, who was around my age, visited for the first time.
My God, was he gorgeous! Dark hair, blue eyes, dimples, kissable lips, and the most adorable personality you just wanna squeeze! He just had a way of BEING that made you wanna go, "Aww!" I've never met anyone so endearing. Anyway, I thought his accent was very charming, especially when he'd pronounce "sorry" as "soar-ee."
Needless to say, I wanted to get into his pants, but he was more interested in my older sister, who, of course, liked him in return. I remember one night they drove off somewhere without telling me and left me behind. I was so livid and tried to give him the silent treatment afterward, to no avail. haha
by Anonymous | reply 40 | May 14, 2024 10:28 AM
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I went on a gay cruise 🚢 in July and I met a lot of people from Canada 🇨🇦 and assumed that they were American until they told me they were where they were from.
None had discernible Canadian accents.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | May 14, 2024 11:54 AM
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I can tell a Canadian accent but not immediately, I have to hear them talk for a while before I can pick up the differences. Most people here down under will assume American = Canadian are the same unless they are told the person is Canadian
by Anonymous | reply 42 | May 14, 2024 12:56 PM
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Accent and dialect are two different things.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | May 14, 2024 1:03 PM
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Every once in a while, you could hear the Canadian slip in when Eric McCormack was speaking on "Will & Grace."
by Anonymous | reply 44 | May 14, 2024 1:03 PM
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R31- How do you pronounce this word-- ORANGE
as AREnge or ORenge
by Anonymous | reply 46 | May 14, 2024 1:33 PM
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People from Ontario sound like hillbillies. They sound like asshole hillbillies around Toronto.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | May 14, 2024 2:27 PM
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I know they're Canadian when they say something dumb.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | May 14, 2024 2:29 PM
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Anne Murray and her sexy lonely houswife videos are the best of Canada.
Who else could rock a fur coat roaming around Edmonton?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 50 | May 14, 2024 2:36 PM
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Yes. The way they pronounce the O syllable gives it away.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | May 14, 2024 3:55 PM
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I can listen to someone quite a while before realizing
by Anonymous | reply 52 | May 14, 2024 3:59 PM
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A Canadian accent is more like a small regional variation in an American Midwest accent than a foreign accent. It can vary even less than Chicago, or Wisconsin, or Minnesota.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | May 14, 2024 4:02 PM
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As a Canadian, American accents are easy to spot.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | May 14, 2024 5:47 PM
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I can.
Interestingly, I got a call that went to voice mail. When I listened, the person said, you have a British guy for your incoming calls. I had changed Siri (iphone - YAY Apple, I have stock in them) and picked a man with a British accent. Just a tip if you want a man to welcome voice mail callers.
YAY Apple
by Anonymous | reply 57 | May 14, 2024 7:10 PM
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I’ve been to Vancouver and Montreal, and what I heard in those cities sounded exactly the same as a standard American accent, with the exception of just a few words that they put their own spin on - words that have been mentioned above.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | May 14, 2024 7:35 PM
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R57 I re-read your post several times and I have no idea what you're trying to say.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | May 14, 2024 8:52 PM
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R46, you left out the cross between AH and AW that cultivated Americans use. It's not AHHH-orange, like somebody from wrong part of Long Island, but it's not OHH-range or AWW-range, like somebody from the flyover states. There's no way to render the sound in phonetic English, but you know it when you hear it. It's like a drawled version of the clipped British way of saying "orange".
I assume cultivated Canadians say it the same way.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | May 14, 2024 11:53 PM
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I hear it in the different terms more than accent (I'm from Buffalo so I developed an ear for it early). Terms: Chesterfield (American sofa); washroom (American bathroom). Accent: Sorry, crap (more like "crop"). Here's an odd one -- a Canadian told me that you can always tell an American because they always have pretzels as snacks.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | May 15, 2024 12:16 AM
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Didn’t Anne Murray have an affair with Elvis?
by Anonymous | reply 64 | May 15, 2024 12:19 AM
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I have never heard any English speaker from any country pronounce "crap" like "crop".
by Anonymous | reply 65 | May 15, 2024 12:23 AM
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Really? I hear it distinctly when in Canada — possibly more akin to “crahp.” It was always considered a sure sign you’re talking to a Canadian. I don’t often hear “holy shit.”
by Anonymous | reply 66 | May 15, 2024 1:27 AM
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Americans are nicer. Canadians have really become assholes
by Anonymous | reply 67 | May 15, 2024 2:03 AM
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Canadians say “con-TROH-versy” instead of “controversy.”
by Anonymous | reply 68 | May 15, 2024 2:21 AM
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Back in the 60s-80s we Canadians noticed the Buffalo NY accent of our cousins. I probably exaggerate but Canada sounded like Keyanada. Then I noticed the same accent in Hamilton (heyamilton) Ontario.
I grew up as an anglo in Quebec so all other Canadians say I sound French but only when I pronounce French words correctly. But much like cities in The States, accents change from one neighborhood to another.
You can tell an Anglo Montrealer, they say Muntreal. Americans say Mawntreal.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | May 15, 2024 2:25 AM
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[quote]You can tell an Anglo Montrealer, they say Muntreal. Americans say Mawntreal.
The broad "a" sound is very common among New Englanders as well. I'm from CT and we pronounce "aunt" as "ont" and not "ant" like people in pretty much every other region of the US.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | May 15, 2024 2:34 AM
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When I try to say it your way my face changes r71.
R70, at the same time, there are word pronunciations common to both Eastern Canada and New England, especially in Anglo "Muntreal" or maybe it's just my Jewish neighborhood.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | May 15, 2024 2:56 AM
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Canadians say "Holy shit" a lot. At least I do. And I say "crap" like 'tap". It's a rapid fire. But "Holy shit" can be elongated for emphasis (cf. 'Ho-- leee shi--T).
by Anonymous | reply 73 | May 15, 2024 2:57 AM
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I say it too r73 but I extend the ho leeee part and look around for little kids before I say shit or crap. Then I say COW.
But my niece's little 6 year old has latched onto "bum crack! Tabernac!"
That's another thing. We say bum for backside.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | May 15, 2024 3:11 AM
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[quote]Canadians say “con-TROH-versy” instead of “controversy.”
R68 common down under too, NZ and Australia
by Anonymous | reply 77 | May 15, 2024 4:41 AM
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All of those backward places!
by Anonymous | reply 78 | May 15, 2024 5:55 AM
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I honestly see no difference between Americans and Canadians, except for maybe a minor difference in the way some words are pronounced.
In fact, I think that the cultural and accent differences are more distinct between American Northerners and Southerners, than between American Northerners and Canadians.
Culturally, American Southerners are very different from the rest of Canada and the US.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | May 15, 2024 5:59 AM
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As a native Californian, I was asked several times if I was from Canada. I felt very flattered. I didn't know there was a difference. Now maybe I'll go on YouTube and have a listen.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | May 15, 2024 6:11 AM
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I couldn't even begin to tell you what kind of accent Canadian Ryan Gosling has.
It's all over the place.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 81 | May 15, 2024 7:31 AM
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[quote]Didn’t Anne Murray have an affair with Elvis?
Yes, while they were filming "Viva Vancouver!".
by Anonymous | reply 82 | May 15, 2024 7:47 AM
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I’m a Canadian who is always asked by other Canadians if I’m American. I have no idea what they’re hearing
by Anonymous | reply 83 | May 15, 2024 2:07 PM
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A funny line I heard on a British TV show:
Person 1: (Upon hearing the other person speak): "So, what part of the States are you from?"
Person 2: The Canadian part.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | May 15, 2024 2:51 PM
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If anyone watches the new Netflix doc about Ashley Madison, it will be an ear shocker of Canadian accent. Just warning you, or advising you if you want to hear it.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | May 15, 2024 7:13 PM
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Funny line from Guy Fieri at the end of one of his DDD shows, where they usually show a comedy clip at the end of every episode.
Guy was visiting a restaurant in Toronto, and the chef made a turkey burger sandwich with stuffing and cranberry sauce, which the chef said was reminiscent of Thanksgiving.
Guy asked, "You guys have Thanksgiving up here?" And the chef replied, "Yes, but it's earlier than the American Thanksgiving."
Guy then said, "What are you thankful for?"
And before the chef could answer, Guy replied "For being next to us?"
Lol.
by Anonymous | reply 86 | May 15, 2024 7:18 PM
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[quote]Didn’t Anne Murray have an affair with Elvis?
Since Elvis had a penis it's highly unlikely.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | May 15, 2024 9:29 PM
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Jim Carrey talks about Canada in early stand-up.
It's not on this clip, but he used to say that when his family was homeless and living out of their van, he (as a Canadian) just thought they were camping.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 88 | May 15, 2024 10:37 PM
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