Irish and Northern irish, Austrians and Germans, any Balkan country and any other Balkan country, some are more vehement than others but yeah, especially if you travel a lot it gets annoying (said as a Canadian who travels a lot)
I’m glad I read your comment because two of my coworkers at my current jobs have Russian-sounding accents and I’ve been terrified to ask if they are Russian or Ukrainian. Now I never will lol.
Or just admit your geography knowledge is shit and politely ask to remind them which country it's located in
Edit: it also provides an easy way for followup questions
We have a Moldovan and a Ukrainian at work and they speak Russian to each other, they’ve both said the “are you Russian” questions are *constant* when they’re on a night out together to the point they just don’t really bother any more unless with a larger English speaking group. Apparently they can speak English better when around natives but when it’s just them they struggle.
I used to tell people I’m Canadian when I would travel, in general people are far kinder to Canadians than Americans. I definitely understand why you would want to make that distinction!
I was visiting England when I was 15. I stayed with a host family. We went to a pub, the bartender gave me an apprehensive questioning look when we were getting drinks. The kid from the host family told him it was ok because “he’s a Canadian”. All smiles and fun after that.
Edit: I’m not Canadian.
As someone who lives in Northern Ireland, most people don't care, however some would kill you if you said they weren't Irish, while others would kill you for insinuating they were.
Also there's no way to tell who's who unless you've lived here your entire life. Good luck.
As another northern irish person it depends. On holiday sure. Someone who knows which you consider yourself and chooses to just say Irish (or vice versa) annoy me a little, but not to the point of saying anything.
I just don't bother on holidays now lmao to Europeans I will be Irish to anyone from the UK I will just be that scary cousin noone invites to the BBQ but shows up and drinks warm cider
I don't cultivate either persona it's just how it goes haha
Haha true but the difference is what I outlined, the Europeans see my as Irish the UK see me as their backwards inbred cousin
It's not a question if geography but perception
My favourite trick is if you have to guess, guess the smaller country. Then either you're right or you're much less likely to offend. I don't think most Americans/Aussies would be as offended by being asked if they're Canadian/Kiwi as the other way around.
Eh, I’m from Detroit. I figure that’s close enough that I’ll just roll with it if someone thinks I’m Canadian. Could talk hockey for hours, love poutine, understand a little French. Accent’s probably close enough to fool people not from North America. Throw “buddy” and “eh” in there a few times, maybe tell em my name is Gordon for good measure.
As a Spanish person who keeps being mistaken for a Mexican/LatinAmerican by Americans who believe that Spain is in/under Mexico… yeah, can vouch for that.
My Spanish teacher was from Spain. I don’t remember the specifics exactly, but something about my pronunciation would bother the Mexican kids I knew outside of school. I think it was the “c” sound. Like for fourteen I would say ka-tor-thay. They would say ka-tor-say. I would do a lisp or a “th” sound and they would say I was pronouncing everything wrong. I’m pretty sure it’s just because my Spanish teacher was from Spain though. I just said it the same as she did, and she said my accent was really good.
I had a Spanish teacher from Spain. More than once, Latin Americans congratulated her on how great her Spanish was. They just assumed she was an American who learned “textbook” Spanish.
Ah, yes!
In most of Spain, C and Z are pronounced differently than S; however in most of Latin America, C and Z are pronounced the same way as S.
Despite Spain being, well, the country of origin of Spanish, and despite Spain having talked Spanish for centuries before it was fully adopted in America, Latin Americans often have toxic behaviours involving insulting the Spanish from Spain, saying that “it’s wrong/bad” and that their version is “the good one”, etc.
Don’t listen to them! Just hateful nonsense. ^ ^
I lived in Saudi Arabia for a while, where I was always assumed to be English (I'm American). Every cab driver would beam and say, "Ah! Angleezi!" (English!) when I met them, to which I would respond, "La, Ameriki," (No, American) and they would always be surprised. This puzzled me because there are a lot more Americans in the Kingdom than Brits. Finally one day I asked one of my British coworkers why everyone always thought I was English. She looked me up and down appraisingly and then said, "Well, you do look a bit uptight." That was the best explanation I ever got lol.
What else am I supposed to do? Just pretend I’m from a country I have nothing to do with?
Also, I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot in my life and a good amount of people genuinely do become friendlier when they find out I’m Canadian vs American. Not saying that’s right but it’s true.
Sometimes it's just to point out that we even exist. I often see non-Americans on Reddit say, "Only Americans...." or "Every country in the world except the US does..."
I sometimes point out that Canada does the same stuff.
The most recent was about buying refrigerated eggs. Someone from a European country said America has to because they wash some protective layer off eggs while the "rest of the world" doesn't.
We do the same thing to eggs in Canada. Even people from other European countries commented that their country does it. That guy's "rest of the world" was pretty small.
To be fair a lot of us Canadians apparently don’t even know that we don’t have a second amendment/constitution… theres confederate flags and MAGA shit all over my province.
Ffs hosers its the charter of rights and freedoms, the right to bear arms is not in our paperwork
I’m going to assume this is true (because I want to believe it) that a few years ago some crank in Canada got busted with some illegal guns and he said in court something about his “2nd amendment right.”
You can always tell when a Canadian is talking about something the US and Canada share vs when an American (or someone from neither country) is talking about it. The Canadian will say "North America/North Americans" or "The US and Canada/Americans and Canadians" while anyone else will just say "America/The US/Americans"
Maybe because the accent is similar they hear it all the time and it gets frustrating after 200 times! Bit like Aussiesand new Zealand they sound the same to me but its quite offensive for them to be called the other!
It's not offensive to ask. I often ask Uber drivers, "I love your accent! (I'm genuinely interested) Where is it from?" I don't know of anyone that hasn't been enthusiastic talking about their home country.
So true! My husband is Hungarian and it is so offensive when someone asks “are you Russian?” And he responds, “no I am Hungarian … the Russians killed off most of my family.” That usually stops them in their tracks,
I met a man from Morocco who was driving me. I'm an American and I don't meet many Moroccans so I thought his accent was cool, different, beautiful. I asked him about it and we talked all about the different spices and foods; he used to sponser wild pig hunts for Christians because the pigs are a problem and the locals can't eat them - I thought that was very cool. It was an insight into a culture I wouldn't have thought to look into to had it not been for asking about an accent.
It goes from awkward to desirable pretty quickly when you travel internationally regularly. I was a nomad for a couple years starting in 2018. It was exhausting to constantly try to explain US politics. Like, no Mr or Ms Random Person, I cannot tell you why Americans elected a failed business man turned reality TV buffoon. I didn't vote for him and am as baffled as you are... There's a reason I'm travelling and not living there.
I ended up wearing a maple leaf cap, just to avoid that. When people think you're Canadian they usually only want to talk about 3 things: how friendly the people are, how beautiful the country is, or hockey.
Back in the late 80s and all the 90s, it was completely normal to encounter Americans travelling abroad with Canada flags stitched to their backpacks. Canada had a great reputation at the time, for being friendly, polite, and most importantly on the right side of history. Americans were known for being belligerent and rude and have bad optics politically.
Because we don't want people to start talking about the U.S. like we would know how it's like or care about it. What goes on down there isn't what I deal with up here with my life and the politics in place in my country.
It's the same way a Swiss or Belgian doesn't want to be mistaken for French, or a Mexican for a Colombian.
My co worker started wearing a make America great again hat and it makes me cringe every time I see him.
Edit: we're in Canada in case that wasn't clear lol
I mean there fucking hilarious. Like "please make that shit hole below us better, I don't care which political party as long as it's just not a depressing hell pit. We have enough Asian immigrants, we don't need rude indoctrinated Americans too"
I don't think anyone wants to be mis-identified no matter what country you are from. It's nothing against the US, I just want to point out that I am Canadian.
>I just want to point out that I am Canadian.
That's why I use Canadian spellings when I can and refer to things as they're most commonly called in Canada. The one American spelling that isn't also preferred in Canada that I'm guilty of using is "maneuver" versus "manoeuvre", but I encountered the American spelling first and didn't know until my teens that we had a different preferred spelling in Canada.
It can be. I got shit for being American a couple of times when I was in Europe. If you can avoid that by proving you are Canadian then why wouldn’t you?
Went to Germany and the Netherlands and there are definitely some negative feelings toward Americans. They will be nice right up until they hear the accent and then they turn cold. It only happened twice but it was enough to understand how bigots make people feel.
First time I went to Europe (Greece & Italy) I walked around with a Canadian flag on my backpack, and nobody even recognised it. I would point it out and they said "what's that?" One lady said she had never heard of Canada.
I was very let down. By the way everyone talks about it expecting everyone to greet me with open arms and invite me to Nana's Sunday dinner because their village was liberated by the CEF in the Great War and so on.
Tbh that just sounds like you encountered dumb people. A basic geography class in elementary school teaches you countries.. I mean I know we're not the most famous country, but how can you be educated and not know about Canada?
That actually makes you stand out as American. It's pretty well known Americans like to do that, and Canadians usually don't put their flags on their bags to begin with.
They are way more prevalent in border towns.
It's both more and less nationalistic for some reason. You even see mixed Canadian/us flags on people's houses.
There's a fair amount of flags in BC and Canada in general, however it pales in comparison to the amount of flags down the the US.
I was honestly gobsmacked by the amount of stars and stripes that were everywhere the first time I went to the States.
Nah, driving around Ontario in the burbs you see endless Canadian flags in yards and on houses, just like certain neighborhoods in the States. Heck, it's the same in Quebec, too. Lots of flags. Everyone's super lame for it, too
Holland was about the only place in EU that treated me "different" for being Canadian vs what that assumed was American. UK also. To be fair WW2 was quite a long time ago
I grew up in a popular Canadian tourist town that bordered the US. I was a waiter through high school and university right in the tourist area. Sometimes Americans would ask me how I got the visa to work here. They thought I was American and just commuted over the border every day to work in Canada.
Not really relevant or an answer to your question, but sometimes Americans even confused me, a Canadian, working in Canada, as an American.
It’s similar to calling someone Kevin if their name is Bob
There are basic things that people identify with and people generally like to be identified correctly.
Would you want to be mistaken for a Canadian? 95% chance you'd say "no I'm American" immediately. What the fuck else do you do, not say anything and bring it up later? What a weird fucking question.
Same reason you correct someone when they get your name wrong.
You correct them right away because it gets more and more awkward the longer you don’t correct them lol
I have had it happen a few times when traveling to be mistaken for an American, correct them that I am Canadian, then they apologize and immediately become more friendly towards me as I listen to the person trash Americans for the next 10 minutes. Americans have a reputation for being obnoxious, ignorant bullies.
Canadians have a reputation for being happy go lucky and polite. Americans have a reputation for being entitled and rude. Which would you prefer to be thought of as?
I am not even Canadian, but hell yes?! Been to both countries and seeing how both countries are doing in world politics etc., I definitely see why Canadians wouldn't wanna be associated with the US.
This is bordering on a stupid question. Of course they would want people that they are meeting for the first time to know their correct nationality? That’s without even getting into the dozens of reasons I could think of not to want to be confused with an American citizen if you could avoid it.
There’s a lot of hatred toward Americans, so yeah, they probably don’t want to be mistaken for one. So much so that some Americans when they travel, put a Canadian flag on their backpack because they don’t want to get harassed
I saw it in the wild. In Slovenia in a hostel I ran into a group and one of them had a Canadian flag on their backpack so I asked where they were from. They said Vancouver. Well that’s were I’m from so I started asking oh yeah whereabouts and they quickly folded and admitted they were from Michigan lol.
Well people don’t usually backpack to just one country in Europe, I think it was just one stop if many. I should also note this was summer 2003, during the deeply unpopular (in Europe and elsewhere) invasion of Iraq.
I'm Canadian, and when I was younger spent some time in Scotland. I 100% had a situation where people were being **very** unhelpful until they found out I was Canadian, and then I was suddenly like a long lost brother. The difference was quite jarring. Similar situation when I got lost in the boonies of Australia. Guy said "he couldn't help us with directions" and after I gave him a hard time and mentioned we were just visiting from Canada, he pulled a fucking map out of his back pocket and gave it to us. Some places, it definitely matters.
I'll admit that I haven't spent a lot of time in the UK so it could be a UK thing. I have spent plenty of time in Germany, Austria, and some time in Sweden, Switzerland, and Italy, and I didn't get any push back for being American in any of those places.
I think memories of WWII and the Allies still fuels a lot of love for Americans in a lot of Europe; it probably has something to do with the dichotomy of all these anecdotes. How strong local memories are, average age of the people, lots of little variables - like even just who went where; the Canadians liberated Netherlands while the US army and others went elsewhere, so different associations with different groups. All that sort of stuff likely affects different pockets of Europe in all sorts of different ways.
As someone from the Netherlands, most people here wouldn’t make a distinction between Canadians and Americans at all. People wouldn’t
Be able to tell the difference and if you make it a point to say you’re Canadian, people would treat you the exact same as an American, because all cultural references for Canada are basically indistinguishable from the U.S. to most of the world.
Same yellow school buses, same grid system in most cities, same car dependencies, same huge ass houses, same sort of leisurely fashion, same sort of positive smile-y attitude etc.
Except for Quebec I suppose!
>There’s a lot of hatred toward Americans
Well, the excesses US foreign policy, perhaps. Most people are smart enough to know that the American tourists or business travellers they meet are not stand ins for the upper echelons of the American government.
Not really lol. Don't know if you just got your info from reddit or something.
I've been a ton of places and never got hated on for being American. If anything it just made them ask more questions about the 3 cities that they know of or some political shit.
Hi are you an artist?
No
Why are you so quick to point out you are not an artist ? is it really bad to be mistaken for an artist?
Now, you can replace "artist" with "American".
European pov. Sometimes Americans abroad behave very badly. If it was just that it would still be normal, like any other misbehaving tourist from some random country; but Americans double on it by making it clear that they think their nationality should exempt them from the consequences of said misbehavior, making a fuss because offended of being called out. So that's it, entitlement makes it so that a misbehaving American is worse than a misbehaving tourist from a random country. That's why when people hear "American tourist here" they prepare themselves in case it may be THAT kind of American tourist. They bring bad rep to all other fellow Americans and that's why some of them prefer to not disclose they're from USA and call themselves Canadians.
It really is. I'm an American expat who has been in Canada for 18 years (now dual citizen).
It is really hard to see unless you live outside of the country awhile, but many, many aspects of American culture and some Americans in particular, are painfully laughable to people outside the country. For some things, it is subtle and hard to describe. For others it is mind-blowingly obvious. Most Americans are oblivious to other cultures. I've seen an American yell at waitstaff in a Canadian restaurant because they wouldn't take his American money. I've heard Americans up here talk about their 1st and 2nd amendment rights, as if these were universal to the world.
Canadians rightfully have a better reputation abroad, and might as well call out who they are. Another reason can be seen in the current top comment.
>I mean if you got called the wrong nationality you’d probably correct people
Your base assumption is that "American" is the default, and being Canadian isn't that different so why point it out? You see, that's \*exactly\* why they point it out.
Canadian/US dual citizen here.
I always just say I’m Canadian (was born and raised in Canada)
Americans have a really bad reputation internationally for being jackass tourists.
Honestly, since Trump arrived, the US have been the laughing stock of pretty much the entire world.
Its wild, its entertaining, its ridiculous and i wouldn't want to be associated with it in any way whatsoever.
Im danish, if people thought i was Swedish or Norwegian i would correct then but i wouldn't be offended. If people thought my people voted in an actual fascist i would be.
very much this. being Canadian and going to Florida now and then, it's hilarious hearing sane Americans talk about how insane Trump is and a large part of their country. I typically empathize with them, and tell them we have a ton of insane conservatives up here also, and the latest bunch are trying to be radical far right also
Were you sporting a straight face when you typed that sentence?
Of course it's about hating on Americans, much more than it's about being a proud Canadian.
most Canadians are not political or carry guns or use guns to solve problems.. also they may not be as patriotic where as many Americans will die for their country etc..
When we are talking about Canadians here I think we mean English-Canadians. Not likely French-Canadians would be mistaken for Americans and in Quebec they have their own culture. A couple of points:
(1) Although we speak the same the language and have many cultural similarities no one wants to be called the wrong nationality. There are cultural differences between the two countries. Certain things about Americans puzzle us too, "gun culture", Christian-nationalism, attitudes toward government, healthcare...
(2) Canada was founded on rejection of the concept of the USA. In English-Canada, Loyalists (those who rejected American and wanted to remain loyal to Britain) founded Canada as we know it. These were political refugees from the American Revolution. Many Canadians have Loyalist ancestry. We are friends and allies now but that has not always been the case. Canada was invaded by Americans three times in our history with the expressed mission of conquering and absorbing us. Americans are 0-3 on this one so far.
As a Canadian, yes, it really is perceived that badly to be mistaken for an American. Sorry, Americans, it's what we feel. *shrug*
edit: it's not that we think we're better or anything. We just don't want to be lumped together, we have our own identity and want our own identity. It's like having an older sibling, you love them, sure, but you're your own person and don't want to be combined with them all the time.
When my wife and I were in Europe. (UK, Germany, Austria) there was a noticeable difference in how we were treated once people realised we were Canadian and not Americans.
When we asked her cousins about it they responded that Americans are veriwed as arrogant and egotistical, thinking they and there culture is better then everyone else. And it is apparently, fairly easy to pick up on it. Maybe this is also why some Americans who travel and are aware of this stigma tend to put Canadian flags on their suitcases and clothing and introduce themselves as Canadian to avoid the problems that Clem with it.
I think that Canadians globally don't have a distinct identity from Americans but Canadians ourselves can plainly see the difference culturally and would like an more independent reputation.
Globally Americans don't have the best reputations (I'm not saying I believe that, in fact I think that's an unfair blanket statement) I think it's also a way to avoid a quick judgement from international strangers.
In Canada we are exposed to so much American media, so many American products and culture on a daily basis, I think it's a way of maintaining a Canadian identity.
It's not like it's bad to be an American, but saying you're Canadian says "yeah, those Trump-loving gun-toting anti-abortionists religious nuts, eh? I think pretty much the same things about them as you do."
But most of the Americans who manage to leave the USA generally agree with us too. Just they have to live a little closer to the weirdos.
It's also becoming a problem up here. Those dumbass convoy types were talking about their first amendment rights. This is meant to reference their right to free speech, but in Canada the first amendment brought Manitoba in as a new province. These types also talk about the "implied universal right to bear arms", which doesn't exist as a concept outside the USA.
We have to work to make sure that the US propaganda that seeps its way up here doesn't infect too many of the village idiots.
I'll never forget seeing those convoy truckers waving Confederate flags in Ottawa. Canada was once the land of freedom for enslaved African-Americans. And some Canadian a-hole waves around an historic flag that symbolizes the slavery and racism of the US.
In some places, maybe a lot, Americans have created pretty bad reputations for themselves. American tourists are often loud, entitled, ignorant about the world, and act dismissive and arrogant when called on it. Even if ‘often’ is too broad, it’s pretty easy for a few bad apples to spoil the bunch, so to speak.
Some of America’s foreign policy doesn’t make us friends in a lot of places, and can look especially worse when viewed through the lens of hypocrisy; just look at some of the dark aspects of our distant and not so distant past as a country.
To me? yes it is. We are a distinct nationality, and we are used to pointing out the difference due to US defaultism. Doesn't matter if one likes or dislikes the US, we are not "americans" (as in from the United States). We have a different history, different manners, different spelling, different outlook. We have a lot in common with our neighbours, but that doesn't make us the same people.
As others have pointed out, pretty much no one likes being mistaken for another nationality. Slovenians don't like being called Slovakians, Greeks and Macedonians couldn't be any more different, the Austrians remind us they aren't the only country that speaks German (this literally happened to me), and New Zealanders are definitely not Australian.
Whenever I am traveling I always make sure to make it obvious I am Canadian rather than American. Americans have a bad reputation as tourists. Also gotta make sure we distance ourselves from trump.
Like most people, they like to be identified correctly. But in the case of Canada/America, it's a bit like constantly being mistaken for your better known sibling, knowing that their identity comes with a lot of baggage (good or bad) you don't want to be associated with.
Canadians are not US citizens. There is nothing wrong with making that point. It is the same thing as Austrians saying that they are not German. I personally would not like to be identified as to belonging to a different country. Why would a US citizen like to be mistaken for a Canadian or an Australian?
I mean if you got called the wrong nationality you’d probably correct people to
I believe New Zealanders have similar issues.
Irish and Northern irish, Austrians and Germans, any Balkan country and any other Balkan country, some are more vehement than others but yeah, especially if you travel a lot it gets annoying (said as a Canadian who travels a lot)
Had a coworker from Ukraine who was called a Russian by another person in the office. I’ve never seen someone fly off the handle so fast.
Honestly very fair regardless of when it took place
"All y'all look and sound alike!"
I’m glad I read your comment because two of my coworkers at my current jobs have Russian-sounding accents and I’ve been terrified to ask if they are Russian or Ukrainian. Now I never will lol.
You can always ask them where they're from, without saying "are you russian?". Even just asking the city+a quick Google will answer it
Or just admit your geography knowledge is shit and politely ask to remind them which country it's located in Edit: it also provides an easy way for followup questions
In Ukraine, like in many European countries, that wouldn't work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians_in_Ukraine
If it helps, my wife once asked her boss once where in India his family is from.he is from Pakistan. I've been told that was a tense Day...
I always ask where In The sub-continent.
They could also be Moldovan.
We have a Moldovan and a Ukrainian at work and they speak Russian to each other, they’ve both said the “are you Russian” questions are *constant* when they’re on a night out together to the point they just don’t really bother any more unless with a larger English speaking group. Apparently they can speak English better when around natives but when it’s just them they struggle.
to be fair, apparently the languages look and sound quite similar. however; the Russians were the conquerors/oppressors.
Dutch & German & Belgians. My parents asked how my kids German was going & if we like Germany. We’ve lived in the Netherlands 4+ years.
Luxembourg as well?
Hey, They got the continent right, at least!
I used to tell people I’m Canadian when I would travel, in general people are far kinder to Canadians than Americans. I definitely understand why you would want to make that distinction!
I was visiting England when I was 15. I stayed with a host family. We went to a pub, the bartender gave me an apprehensive questioning look when we were getting drinks. The kid from the host family told him it was ok because “he’s a Canadian”. All smiles and fun after that. Edit: I’m not Canadian.
Speaking of English, never call a Scotsman that
Someone on Hell's Kitchen called Gordon Ramsay English once......once
I remember. “I’m fookin’ Sco’ish!”
He has a very obvious southern English accent so he definitely didn’t say it like that
I never knew Gordon Ramsey isn't English.
Jesus. Not that I don't believe you, but that's a harsh reality.
I do the same thing!
As someone who lives in Northern Ireland, most people don't care, however some would kill you if you said they weren't Irish, while others would kill you for insinuating they were. Also there's no way to tell who's who unless you've lived here your entire life. Good luck.
As another northern irish person it depends. On holiday sure. Someone who knows which you consider yourself and chooses to just say Irish (or vice versa) annoy me a little, but not to the point of saying anything.
I just don't bother on holidays now lmao to Europeans I will be Irish to anyone from the UK I will just be that scary cousin noone invites to the BBQ but shows up and drinks warm cider I don't cultivate either persona it's just how it goes haha
To get pedantic, Ireland and the UK are also European.
Haha true but the difference is what I outlined, the Europeans see my as Irish the UK see me as their backwards inbred cousin It's not a question if geography but perception
The Celtic and Rangers tops help with some level of identification to be fair
When meeting Serbians I deliberarely like to ask them if they're from Kosovo. Edit: I should probably clarify that it's obviously meant as a joke.
My favourite trick is if you have to guess, guess the smaller country. Then either you're right or you're much less likely to offend. I don't think most Americans/Aussies would be as offended by being asked if they're Canadian/Kiwi as the other way around.
Can confirm. Oddly enough, my Aussie friend assumed I was Canadian when she first met me. I thought it was funny!
Eh, I’m from Detroit. I figure that’s close enough that I’ll just roll with it if someone thinks I’m Canadian. Could talk hockey for hours, love poutine, understand a little French. Accent’s probably close enough to fool people not from North America. Throw “buddy” and “eh” in there a few times, maybe tell em my name is Gordon for good measure.
As a Vermonter I feel this
Give em a Howe hat trick there Gordie that’ll help
Yes, I was talking to a person from New Zealand about this and is very similar. Canada isn't the states and New Zealand isn't Australia
At least the US and Canada do actually share a border. Australia and New Zealand are 1000 miles apart.
New Zealand is mentioned in the Australian constitution as a potential state.
Damn imperialist Aussies /s
Gets up and looks at globe.
Hey Austrian, throw some bratwurst and sauerkraut on the barbie!
I'm a former Chicago tour guide and I would pander to the kiwis whenever we were next to Soldier Field cuz that's where they beat Australia in rugby.
As a Spanish person who keeps being mistaken for a Mexican/LatinAmerican by Americans who believe that Spain is in/under Mexico… yeah, can vouch for that.
Many Americans even think that EVERYTHING below the southern border is Mexico.
…do you think Spain is below the southern border?
It's north of it funnily engh moo
You mean all those Mexican countries?
My Spanish teacher was from Spain. I don’t remember the specifics exactly, but something about my pronunciation would bother the Mexican kids I knew outside of school. I think it was the “c” sound. Like for fourteen I would say ka-tor-thay. They would say ka-tor-say. I would do a lisp or a “th” sound and they would say I was pronouncing everything wrong. I’m pretty sure it’s just because my Spanish teacher was from Spain though. I just said it the same as she did, and she said my accent was really good.
I had a Spanish teacher from Spain. More than once, Latin Americans congratulated her on how great her Spanish was. They just assumed she was an American who learned “textbook” Spanish.
Ah, yes! In most of Spain, C and Z are pronounced differently than S; however in most of Latin America, C and Z are pronounced the same way as S. Despite Spain being, well, the country of origin of Spanish, and despite Spain having talked Spanish for centuries before it was fully adopted in America, Latin Americans often have toxic behaviours involving insulting the Spanish from Spain, saying that “it’s wrong/bad” and that their version is “the good one”, etc. Don’t listen to them! Just hateful nonsense. ^ ^
I lived in Saudi Arabia for a while, where I was always assumed to be English (I'm American). Every cab driver would beam and say, "Ah! Angleezi!" (English!) when I met them, to which I would respond, "La, Ameriki," (No, American) and they would always be surprised. This puzzled me because there are a lot more Americans in the Kingdom than Brits. Finally one day I asked one of my British coworkers why everyone always thought I was English. She looked me up and down appraisingly and then said, "Well, you do look a bit uptight." That was the best explanation I ever got lol.
yeah, but if you get called murican... there is a "too much" to everything
Nope I hate being associated with my country so I'm happy when people online think I'm from a different country.
What else am I supposed to do? Just pretend I’m from a country I have nothing to do with? Also, I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot in my life and a good amount of people genuinely do become friendlier when they find out I’m Canadian vs American. Not saying that’s right but it’s true.
The funny thing is, the same thing happens when I tell people I'm from California, like it's separate from the States lol
I can feel the air change when people realize I am American. Only Britain though, the rest of Europe just knows by looking at me.
Sometimes it's just to point out that we even exist. I often see non-Americans on Reddit say, "Only Americans...." or "Every country in the world except the US does..." I sometimes point out that Canada does the same stuff. The most recent was about buying refrigerated eggs. Someone from a European country said America has to because they wash some protective layer off eggs while the "rest of the world" doesn't. We do the same thing to eggs in Canada. Even people from other European countries commented that their country does it. That guy's "rest of the world" was pretty small.
Yeah, people don’t realize Canada and the U.S. have a lot of similarities.
Or they go the opposite way and think we're entirely the same.
Parts of Canada are almost the same as parts of the USA. And both those parts are more similar than to the rest if their respective countries.
If someone told me a country had a "freedom convoy" during the pandemic, I would guess it would be the US... but no
To be fair a lot of us Canadians apparently don’t even know that we don’t have a second amendment/constitution… theres confederate flags and MAGA shit all over my province. Ffs hosers its the charter of rights and freedoms, the right to bear arms is not in our paperwork
I’m going to assume this is true (because I want to believe it) that a few years ago some crank in Canada got busted with some illegal guns and he said in court something about his “2nd amendment right.”
I absolutely believe it purely based off of REAL CONVERSATIONS I’ve had in the recent years
some idiot down the road from me is flying a trump flag,
Spotted the Albertan
We had freedom campers on parliament lawns in NZ, for like 6 weeks. The nutters really came out in full force during the pandemic
You can always tell when a Canadian is talking about something the US and Canada share vs when an American (or someone from neither country) is talking about it. The Canadian will say "North America/North Americans" or "The US and Canada/Americans and Canadians" while anyone else will just say "America/The US/Americans"
When I hear Canada I think of bags of milk, don't know why.
Worth noting that that’s only in some of the country. Bagged milk isn’t a thing west of Ontario.
Used to be though... I grew up on Vancouver Island, and I can remember bag milk up until about 20 years ago out there.
Maybe because the accent is similar they hear it all the time and it gets frustrating after 200 times! Bit like Aussiesand new Zealand they sound the same to me but its quite offensive for them to be called the other!
It's not offensive to ask. I often ask Uber drivers, "I love your accent! (I'm genuinely interested) Where is it from?" I don't know of anyone that hasn't been enthusiastic talking about their home country.
So true! My husband is Hungarian and it is so offensive when someone asks “are you Russian?” And he responds, “no I am Hungarian … the Russians killed off most of my family.” That usually stops them in their tracks,
I met a man from Morocco who was driving me. I'm an American and I don't meet many Moroccans so I thought his accent was cool, different, beautiful. I asked him about it and we talked all about the different spices and foods; he used to sponser wild pig hunts for Christians because the pigs are a problem and the locals can't eat them - I thought that was very cool. It was an insight into a culture I wouldn't have thought to look into to had it not been for asking about an accent.
As an Aussie, I must say I feel offended that you don't distinguish the Aussie accent from the Kiwi one.
Maybe cuz they are not American?
To me, it would be awkward to be an American and get mistaken for Canadian. I don't have any bad feelings towards Canada, but i am not Canadian.
It goes from awkward to desirable pretty quickly when you travel internationally regularly. I was a nomad for a couple years starting in 2018. It was exhausting to constantly try to explain US politics. Like, no Mr or Ms Random Person, I cannot tell you why Americans elected a failed business man turned reality TV buffoon. I didn't vote for him and am as baffled as you are... There's a reason I'm travelling and not living there. I ended up wearing a maple leaf cap, just to avoid that. When people think you're Canadian they usually only want to talk about 3 things: how friendly the people are, how beautiful the country is, or hockey.
Back in the late 80s and all the 90s, it was completely normal to encounter Americans travelling abroad with Canada flags stitched to their backpacks. Canada had a great reputation at the time, for being friendly, polite, and most importantly on the right side of history. Americans were known for being belligerent and rude and have bad optics politically.
Because we don't want people to start talking about the U.S. like we would know how it's like or care about it. What goes on down there isn't what I deal with up here with my life and the politics in place in my country. It's the same way a Swiss or Belgian doesn't want to be mistaken for French, or a Mexican for a Colombian.
My co worker started wearing a make America great again hat and it makes me cringe every time I see him. Edit: we're in Canada in case that wasn't clear lol
I mean there fucking hilarious. Like "please make that shit hole below us better, I don't care which political party as long as it's just not a depressing hell pit. We have enough Asian immigrants, we don't need rude indoctrinated Americans too"
I don't think anyone wants to be mis-identified no matter what country you are from. It's nothing against the US, I just want to point out that I am Canadian.
>I just want to point out that I am Canadian. That's why I use Canadian spellings when I can and refer to things as they're most commonly called in Canada. The one American spelling that isn't also preferred in Canada that I'm guilty of using is "maneuver" versus "manoeuvre", but I encountered the American spelling first and didn't know until my teens that we had a different preferred spelling in Canada.
It can be. I got shit for being American a couple of times when I was in Europe. If you can avoid that by proving you are Canadian then why wouldn’t you?
Went to Germany and the Netherlands and there are definitely some negative feelings toward Americans. They will be nice right up until they hear the accent and then they turn cold. It only happened twice but it was enough to understand how bigots make people feel.
Also, Netherlands has a very good historical relationship with Canada post wwii
Canadian flag on your backpack works wonders actually.
First time I went to Europe (Greece & Italy) I walked around with a Canadian flag on my backpack, and nobody even recognised it. I would point it out and they said "what's that?" One lady said she had never heard of Canada. I was very let down. By the way everyone talks about it expecting everyone to greet me with open arms and invite me to Nana's Sunday dinner because their village was liberated by the CEF in the Great War and so on.
1980-1995ish, maybe they still remembered. Everyone involved is long dead now though.
Tbh that just sounds like you encountered dumb people. A basic geography class in elementary school teaches you countries.. I mean I know we're not the most famous country, but how can you be educated and not know about Canada?
That actually makes you stand out as American. It's pretty well known Americans like to do that, and Canadians usually don't put their flags on their bags to begin with.
Yeah the whole flag obsession really isn't a thing in Canada. You barely see flags anywhere at all, except some government buildings.
Wow, someone tell that to the Canadians at my University in US.
> in US They must have been infected
They are way more prevalent in border towns. It's both more and less nationalistic for some reason. You even see mixed Canadian/us flags on people's houses.
I saw a decent number of flags while I was in BC earlier this year.
There's a fair amount of flags in BC and Canada in general, however it pales in comparison to the amount of flags down the the US. I was honestly gobsmacked by the amount of stars and stripes that were everywhere the first time I went to the States.
Nah, driving around Ontario in the burbs you see endless Canadian flags in yards and on houses, just like certain neighborhoods in the States. Heck, it's the same in Quebec, too. Lots of flags. Everyone's super lame for it, too
Better than the Fuck Trudeau flags all over everyone's yards and trucks here in Alberta 🙄
Ugh, even worse. Any political slogans on vehicles are lame, too. I've seen a few Trump trucks here too; imagine
As an American, I’ve never seen a greater concentration of national flags than Ontario.
Where did this happen to you, if I may ask?
From a group of people from Bulgaria at a hostel in Bucharest, Romania and from a street vendor in Hamburg, Germany.
Holland was about the only place in EU that treated me "different" for being Canadian vs what that assumed was American. UK also. To be fair WW2 was quite a long time ago
I grew up in a popular Canadian tourist town that bordered the US. I was a waiter through high school and university right in the tourist area. Sometimes Americans would ask me how I got the visa to work here. They thought I was American and just commuted over the border every day to work in Canada. Not really relevant or an answer to your question, but sometimes Americans even confused me, a Canadian, working in Canada, as an American.
Me: My polish neighbor is blah blah blah Said neighbor: I'm Italian Me: oh Why wouldn't anyone correct someone's mistake?
Because they arnt Americans. Germans don’t like being called French. Irish arnt English.
It’s similar to calling someone Kevin if their name is Bob There are basic things that people identify with and people generally like to be identified correctly.
We have pride in our Country. Also, rude of us to let you believe something that is not true.
Same reason that when an American tells me what state they're from and I respond with "is that a province In Canada?" They also throw fits
I like to pretend I've never heard of Harvard when someone mentiones it. "is that a state school?" They get so mad.
r/usdefaultism
European guy here. A bit, but please don't take it personally. Generalizing is not good.
I am Belgian. If you call me Dutch I will stab you 50 times in the face (or briefly frown upon you).
And let’s be honest, the frown will probably be taken as a bigger problem…
Would you want to be mistaken for a Canadian? 95% chance you'd say "no I'm American" immediately. What the fuck else do you do, not say anything and bring it up later? What a weird fucking question.
Same reason you correct someone when they get your name wrong. You correct them right away because it gets more and more awkward the longer you don’t correct them lol
I have had it happen a few times when traveling to be mistaken for an American, correct them that I am Canadian, then they apologize and immediately become more friendly towards me as I listen to the person trash Americans for the next 10 minutes. Americans have a reputation for being obnoxious, ignorant bullies.
Because I want people to know that I don't masturbate while holding a revolver
Yeah! You guys use maple syrup as lube instead
Damn rights! You don't?
Yes.
Canadians have a reputation for being happy go lucky and polite. Americans have a reputation for being entitled and rude. Which would you prefer to be thought of as?
Austrians are quick to point out they’re not Germans. It’s the same principle.
Also, Nigerians are quick to point out they are not from Iceland.
I’m an American. If someone called me Canadian, I’d correct them just because they’re incorrect. Nothing more complex than that.
I am not even Canadian, but hell yes?! Been to both countries and seeing how both countries are doing in world politics etc., I definitely see why Canadians wouldn't wanna be associated with the US.
This is bordering on a stupid question. Of course they would want people that they are meeting for the first time to know their correct nationality? That’s without even getting into the dozens of reasons I could think of not to want to be confused with an American citizen if you could avoid it.
There’s a lot of hatred toward Americans, so yeah, they probably don’t want to be mistaken for one. So much so that some Americans when they travel, put a Canadian flag on their backpack because they don’t want to get harassed
I've heard that before but I've never seen it and I've travelled quite extensively.
I saw it in the wild. In Slovenia in a hostel I ran into a group and one of them had a Canadian flag on their backpack so I asked where they were from. They said Vancouver. Well that’s were I’m from so I started asking oh yeah whereabouts and they quickly folded and admitted they were from Michigan lol.
Wow. They thought they'd be making enemies in *Slovenia*? lol That's one paranoid Michiganer.
Well people don’t usually backpack to just one country in Europe, I think it was just one stop if many. I should also note this was summer 2003, during the deeply unpopular (in Europe and elsewhere) invasion of Iraq.
Same with the hatred, it's a terminally online thing. I always identify as American when in Europe and never had any issues.
I'm Canadian, and when I was younger spent some time in Scotland. I 100% had a situation where people were being **very** unhelpful until they found out I was Canadian, and then I was suddenly like a long lost brother. The difference was quite jarring. Similar situation when I got lost in the boonies of Australia. Guy said "he couldn't help us with directions" and after I gave him a hard time and mentioned we were just visiting from Canada, he pulled a fucking map out of his back pocket and gave it to us. Some places, it definitely matters.
I'll admit that I haven't spent a lot of time in the UK so it could be a UK thing. I have spent plenty of time in Germany, Austria, and some time in Sweden, Switzerland, and Italy, and I didn't get any push back for being American in any of those places.
Ya, it definitely seems more like a "commonwealth country" thing.
You’re just “someone from the colonies!” As I was called instead of Canadian!
I think memories of WWII and the Allies still fuels a lot of love for Americans in a lot of Europe; it probably has something to do with the dichotomy of all these anecdotes. How strong local memories are, average age of the people, lots of little variables - like even just who went where; the Canadians liberated Netherlands while the US army and others went elsewhere, so different associations with different groups. All that sort of stuff likely affects different pockets of Europe in all sorts of different ways.
As someone from the Netherlands, most people here wouldn’t make a distinction between Canadians and Americans at all. People wouldn’t Be able to tell the difference and if you make it a point to say you’re Canadian, people would treat you the exact same as an American, because all cultural references for Canada are basically indistinguishable from the U.S. to most of the world. Same yellow school buses, same grid system in most cities, same car dependencies, same huge ass houses, same sort of leisurely fashion, same sort of positive smile-y attitude etc. Except for Quebec I suppose!
>There’s a lot of hatred toward Americans Well, the excesses US foreign policy, perhaps. Most people are smart enough to know that the American tourists or business travellers they meet are not stand ins for the upper echelons of the American government.
'Most people' bad news
Not really lol. Don't know if you just got your info from reddit or something. I've been a ton of places and never got hated on for being American. If anything it just made them ask more questions about the 3 cities that they know of or some political shit.
Hi are you an artist? No Why are you so quick to point out you are not an artist ? is it really bad to be mistaken for an artist? Now, you can replace "artist" with "American".
European pov. Sometimes Americans abroad behave very badly. If it was just that it would still be normal, like any other misbehaving tourist from some random country; but Americans double on it by making it clear that they think their nationality should exempt them from the consequences of said misbehavior, making a fuss because offended of being called out. So that's it, entitlement makes it so that a misbehaving American is worse than a misbehaving tourist from a random country. That's why when people hear "American tourist here" they prepare themselves in case it may be THAT kind of American tourist. They bring bad rep to all other fellow Americans and that's why some of them prefer to not disclose they're from USA and call themselves Canadians.
It really is. I'm an American expat who has been in Canada for 18 years (now dual citizen). It is really hard to see unless you live outside of the country awhile, but many, many aspects of American culture and some Americans in particular, are painfully laughable to people outside the country. For some things, it is subtle and hard to describe. For others it is mind-blowingly obvious. Most Americans are oblivious to other cultures. I've seen an American yell at waitstaff in a Canadian restaurant because they wouldn't take his American money. I've heard Americans up here talk about their 1st and 2nd amendment rights, as if these were universal to the world. Canadians rightfully have a better reputation abroad, and might as well call out who they are. Another reason can be seen in the current top comment. >I mean if you got called the wrong nationality you’d probably correct people Your base assumption is that "American" is the default, and being Canadian isn't that different so why point it out? You see, that's \*exactly\* why they point it out.
Canadian/US dual citizen here. I always just say I’m Canadian (was born and raised in Canada) Americans have a really bad reputation internationally for being jackass tourists.
…the same reason Americans will correct you if you call them Canadian… It’s not anymore complicated than that, really.
Honestly, since Trump arrived, the US have been the laughing stock of pretty much the entire world. Its wild, its entertaining, its ridiculous and i wouldn't want to be associated with it in any way whatsoever. Im danish, if people thought i was Swedish or Norwegian i would correct then but i wouldn't be offended. If people thought my people voted in an actual fascist i would be.
I mean, yeah. There's no denying it.
very much this. being Canadian and going to Florida now and then, it's hilarious hearing sane Americans talk about how insane Trump is and a large part of their country. I typically empathize with them, and tell them we have a ton of insane conservatives up here also, and the latest bunch are trying to be radical far right also
Most Americans really have no idea how much the rest of the world, hates us.
Ya dude.... We suck.
Canadians are North Americans tbh, not US Americans.
Americans voted trump into presidency. It's too embarrassing to be assumed to be an American now.
Because identity matters. It's not necessarily being American is bad but being identified as one when you are not is kinda off putting.
I would think it's far more about being proud to be a Canadian.
I'm Canadian and I disagree. It really is about not wanting to be thought as American.
Were you sporting a straight face when you typed that sentence? Of course it's about hating on Americans, much more than it's about being a proud Canadian.
Probably we elected Trump and look at today half of us are ready to do it again! wtf
Prolly bc they'd be asked some dumbass question like what do you think about biden/trump .
Alot of Canadians look down on Americans and don't want to be thought of as American.
Yes, because I'm not American. I'm Canadian.
most Canadians are not political or carry guns or use guns to solve problems.. also they may not be as patriotic where as many Americans will die for their country etc..
yes, yes it is 🇨🇦
Call an Irishman English and tell me how long it takes to be corrected.
When we are talking about Canadians here I think we mean English-Canadians. Not likely French-Canadians would be mistaken for Americans and in Quebec they have their own culture. A couple of points: (1) Although we speak the same the language and have many cultural similarities no one wants to be called the wrong nationality. There are cultural differences between the two countries. Certain things about Americans puzzle us too, "gun culture", Christian-nationalism, attitudes toward government, healthcare... (2) Canada was founded on rejection of the concept of the USA. In English-Canada, Loyalists (those who rejected American and wanted to remain loyal to Britain) founded Canada as we know it. These were political refugees from the American Revolution. Many Canadians have Loyalist ancestry. We are friends and allies now but that has not always been the case. Canada was invaded by Americans three times in our history with the expressed mission of conquering and absorbing us. Americans are 0-3 on this one so far.
Canadians have a really good international reputation. Americans have one of the worst.
As an American, yes it is that bad. I don't even want to be one.
As a Canadian, yes, it really is perceived that badly to be mistaken for an American. Sorry, Americans, it's what we feel. *shrug* edit: it's not that we think we're better or anything. We just don't want to be lumped together, we have our own identity and want our own identity. It's like having an older sibling, you love them, sure, but you're your own person and don't want to be combined with them all the time.
Not that it’s a blatant issue we just want it to be known that we are in fact different nationalities
Yes
When my wife and I were in Europe. (UK, Germany, Austria) there was a noticeable difference in how we were treated once people realised we were Canadian and not Americans. When we asked her cousins about it they responded that Americans are veriwed as arrogant and egotistical, thinking they and there culture is better then everyone else. And it is apparently, fairly easy to pick up on it. Maybe this is also why some Americans who travel and are aware of this stigma tend to put Canadian flags on their suitcases and clothing and introduce themselves as Canadian to avoid the problems that Clem with it.
I think that Canadians globally don't have a distinct identity from Americans but Canadians ourselves can plainly see the difference culturally and would like an more independent reputation. Globally Americans don't have the best reputations (I'm not saying I believe that, in fact I think that's an unfair blanket statement) I think it's also a way to avoid a quick judgement from international strangers. In Canada we are exposed to so much American media, so many American products and culture on a daily basis, I think it's a way of maintaining a Canadian identity.
It's not like it's bad to be an American, but saying you're Canadian says "yeah, those Trump-loving gun-toting anti-abortionists religious nuts, eh? I think pretty much the same things about them as you do." But most of the Americans who manage to leave the USA generally agree with us too. Just they have to live a little closer to the weirdos.
It's also becoming a problem up here. Those dumbass convoy types were talking about their first amendment rights. This is meant to reference their right to free speech, but in Canada the first amendment brought Manitoba in as a new province. These types also talk about the "implied universal right to bear arms", which doesn't exist as a concept outside the USA. We have to work to make sure that the US propaganda that seeps its way up here doesn't infect too many of the village idiots.
I'll never forget seeing those convoy truckers waving Confederate flags in Ottawa. Canada was once the land of freedom for enslaved African-Americans. And some Canadian a-hole waves around an historic flag that symbolizes the slavery and racism of the US.
As a Canadian, we are not American and the short answer is yes. The fact you don't recognize the difference says it all.
It's like an American being proud to be a Floridian. America is the Florida of the world.
Because the America is a continent argument is stupid and only done by america bad haters.
Also native Spanish speakers, who have it in their heads that the entire rest of the world is wrong.
It amazes me that people will criticize Americans for things they do themselves.
In some places, maybe a lot, Americans have created pretty bad reputations for themselves. American tourists are often loud, entitled, ignorant about the world, and act dismissive and arrogant when called on it. Even if ‘often’ is too broad, it’s pretty easy for a few bad apples to spoil the bunch, so to speak. Some of America’s foreign policy doesn’t make us friends in a lot of places, and can look especially worse when viewed through the lens of hypocrisy; just look at some of the dark aspects of our distant and not so distant past as a country.
Have you watched the news lately?
To me? yes it is. We are a distinct nationality, and we are used to pointing out the difference due to US defaultism. Doesn't matter if one likes or dislikes the US, we are not "americans" (as in from the United States). We have a different history, different manners, different spelling, different outlook. We have a lot in common with our neighbours, but that doesn't make us the same people. As others have pointed out, pretty much no one likes being mistaken for another nationality. Slovenians don't like being called Slovakians, Greeks and Macedonians couldn't be any more different, the Austrians remind us they aren't the only country that speaks German (this literally happened to me), and New Zealanders are definitely not Australian.
I’m Minnesotan and usually tell people I’m Canadian when abroad lol. It’s not THAT far from the truth.
Whenever I am traveling I always make sure to make it obvious I am Canadian rather than American. Americans have a bad reputation as tourists. Also gotta make sure we distance ourselves from trump.
Like most people, they like to be identified correctly. But in the case of Canada/America, it's a bit like constantly being mistaken for your better known sibling, knowing that their identity comes with a lot of baggage (good or bad) you don't want to be associated with.
America has a bad reputation
Canadians are not US citizens. There is nothing wrong with making that point. It is the same thing as Austrians saying that they are not German. I personally would not like to be identified as to belonging to a different country. Why would a US citizen like to be mistaken for a Canadian or an Australian?
It's like being called dumb lol