Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A gift from a goof in Chicago

My pal, Sally, sent me this "life-transforming" breath spray. She's always bugging me about being Canadian and this proves a point I've been trying to make with her for years... that there are clearly enough Americans who wanna be like us Canadians that there's now
a whole market of products to appease them. *smile*

Oh, and you know that stereotype that we have a definitive accent of some kind that makes us sound Canadian? Not true. Not at all. Ask anyone who was in Maui with me this past summer. I blended right in and I'll betcha no one could tell where I was from!

11 comments:

Linda C. McCabe said...

Holly,

I don't think of myself as having much of an accent, yet I have heard people here in California tell me that my accent screams "Midwest." :shrugs: Maybe so. It isn't Brooklyn nasal, so I'm fine if someone recognizes that I'm not originally from this state I've adopted as home.

However, I have to say that there is a distinct difference in accents from those like myself that hail from the lower peninsula and those from the upper peninsula of Michigan.

Say ya to the U.P. eh? is a phrase we see on T-shirts from our northern brethren.

Here are some linguistic differences that I've noticed between UPers (pronounced like You Pers) and Trolls (those who live under the Mackinac Bridge:

Trolls think the word about should rhyme with trout.

UPers: think it should rhyme with boot.

Trolls: Schedule has the beginning sound like school

Upers: starts like shed.

And when trolls pause to think of a word, the sound umm or uh, comes out.

UPers: Eh which rhymes with wayyyyy.

Oh, and if you don't work the Freedom Trail into your story, that's fine. I just thought it might be amusing for you and your husband to count bars along the way if following the trail made it on your itinerary.

If for no other reason than to imagine how inebriated one would become if they actually fulfilled that quest that my friend at one time attempted.

Cheers!

Linda

ORION said...

Oh no.
Eh?
Get outa here!

Katie Alender said...

I can always tell a Canadian! Inevitably, an "aboot" slips "oot" at some point.

There's nothing wrong with people being able to tell where you're from!

Heidi the Hick said...

So what does Canadian breath spray smell like?

Tim Horton's coffee???

Apple fritters????

beer????

Anonymous said...

Tee-hee! I gotta get me one of these breath sprays, man!

Larramie said...

Do tell. What does being a Canadian feel and look like? ;)

Aprilynne Pike said...

Okay, I laughed so hard at that breath spray!! That is some weird marketing.:)

Ramona said...

OMG, our secret's out!!
Americans with Canada-envy, we're everyw-h-e-r-e....

Adam said...

At least you haven't got Bush running the joint! For this, I envy you most.

Anonymous said...

Where'd she get this?
I'd love to buy one for a buddy
of mine who lives in Chicago.
He moved there from Canada
last year.

Bernita said...

Canada's a big country, with lots of accents.
I've never heard anyone pronounce "aboit" as "aboot" though.