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Canadians say "Tire" instead of "tyre"
Canadians say "trunk" instead of "boot"
Canadians say "truck" instead of "lorry"
"gas" instead of "petrol"...
a "yard" vs a "garden"
All American words.
Aussies don't use "lorry" either, while a "garden" is something you might have in your "yard". Similarly, we don't drive "estates" or "saloons" like the Brits, we have stop signs at "intersections", and we don't eat "courgettes" (British), and we have "roosters".
Quote:
Originally Posted by GM10
Okay I see what you mean. My bad, I thought that was some American slang or something. What I meant though was adding the "ou" in words and for example spelling "Centre" instead of center. I was talking about that. Then I guess Canadian spelling is a mixture of British and American spelling, but I don't think it is "more" American though.
Yep, spelling differences between Canada and Australia are pretty limited.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Australian spelling and vocabulary are much more closely aligned with British spelling. They have a few Americanisms that the British don't use but they're much closer to the UK norm than Canada is.
There are actually a lot of differences between Australian and UK English, including many where Australia departs from shared UK/US usage. A few examples: "capsicum" instead of "pepper", "doona" instead of "duvet" or "quilt", "chook" for chicken, "boot/shoe maker" rather than "cobbler", pronunciation of words like "project", "garage" and “data”, and of course Brits, Americans and Canadians are always amused by Aussies wearing "thongs" on their feet.
There are actually a lot of differences between Australian and UK English, including many where Australia departs from shared UK/US usage. A few examples: "capsicum" instead of "pepper", "doona" instead of "duvet" or "quilt", "chook" for chicken, "boot/shoe maker" rather than "cobbler", pronunciation of words like "project", "garage" and “data”, and of course Brits, Americans and Canadians are always amused by Aussies wearing "thongs" on their feet.
Of course. Still much closer to UK English than Canadian English is.
You know Tim Horton's and poutine are available in the U.S. as well right? I can share with you several restaurants in Pittsburgh you can buy a poutine..... Do many Canadians even watch those Canadian made TV shows and movies not including news or sports? From my experience with the Canadians I know, no they don't too much. Also, Canada is more aligned with U.S. capitalism that than Europe's economic model. Metric separates the U.S. from almost everywhere else so I don't even include that for this sense and Canada still uses its share of imperial measurements in daily life too which is different from Australia which uses metric almost exclusively.
Viewing things from a Canadian only vantage point it's easy to pinpoint the little things that are different between Canada and the U.S. and blow them out of proportion. Not that the two countries aren't different - they are. To a point.
But when you travel abroad and visit other foreign countries it becomes very obvious how Canada and the U.S. are similar and how Canada piggy-backs very heavily on the U.S. for so much stuff, that in other countries would be specific to the country (as opposed to imported or "shared").
There are parts of Canada where society, culture, etc. seem to have more of a home-grown flavour, like Quebec and Newfoundland.
Ironically, that unique flavour is not always seen as Canadian but rather "Québécois" and "Newfoundland".
I live in Wisconsin, and I feel like I have more in common with Canadians (at least the ones from the prairie states and territories) than people from the Southern US.
I feel like I'm more alike with Canadians than Australians, but that could just be because we can converse more about winter and all that it entails.
In the minds of a lot of Canadians (not saying this is what I think of Americans BTW) the U.S. is like the boorish brother that they're a bit ashamed of, but what can you do, you are still part of the same family. Whereas countries like the UK and Australia apparently serve as more palatable comparables for them. Kind of like the cool third cousin that you secretly want to be like.
Sort of like how people in Luxembourg *like* to think they are more like the French, when in actual fact they really are more like the Germans (but don't like to admit it because of the global stigma related to WW1 and WW2)...
I agree with this but how does our superiority complex tie in with the inferiority complex we're accused of having?
The thing is I listed so many reasons why they are different yet nobody is telling me how they are very similar. What makes the the two most similar countries in the world? I mentioned the different culture; Canadians are more polite and reserved. We have our own movies, TV shows and music in Canada. We also have American entertainment but so does Australia. The politics are so different I don't even need to explain it. The attitudes are different, Canada is less religious than the US and more open to other religions. Canada is also less capitalist and we are more left leaning than the States. The food: we have Tim Hortons which has a huge cultural importance in Canada. We also have poutine which is becoming popular in all parts of Canada. We have some other unique Canadian dishes like Beaver Tails. We also have McDonalds and KFC but again, so does Australia. The population of Canada is a lot more similar to Australia than the U.S. The U.S. has a giant population not even comparable to Canada. Gun violence is an issue in the U.S., in Canada it is not. We use the metric system, they use imperial. I can list many other differences but hopefully you get the idea. Now tell me the things that make the two countries the "most similar countries in the world"?
Are you serious? Sounds like you've bought the advertisements. Ad agencies must be proud.
Tim Hortons, a fast food chain, does not, will not, and can not define me as a Canadian.
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What I meant though was adding the "ou" in words and for example spelling "Centre" instead of center. I was talking about that. Then I guess Canadian spelling is a mixture of British and American spelling, but I don't think it is "more" American though.
