Is "American posing as a Canadian" a real thing?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨animemann80@feddit.online⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I know that apparently, some American travelers put Canadian flags on their luggage or carry on then claiming they’re from Canada (the dead giveaway on debunking this is their passport, since how can you be “Canadian” when you have US citizenship unless you’re a dual citizen in possession of both nationalities) since some of them have hatred towards the US or feel ashamed of the country due to its internal affairs.

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HeHoXa@lemmy.zip ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Yes, my ex’s family did this.

They were the kind of upper middle class who thinks they’re upper class types and considered it basic awareness when traveling internationally.

I could see it being a popular trope in the circle, just another chance to say, “Oh you didn’t know? You sweet summer child.”

They didn’t seem to have a great grasp on how many people were just too polite to point out how obviously full of it they were

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blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’ve had Americans here in Spain ask me to speak English as they don’t speak Spanish.

I was speaking to them in English. I am English

Just cements the proof they often respond without thinking

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- Fondots@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Just kind of flipping that script a little, I work in 911 dispatch, and we get a lot of calls from Spanish speakers.
  
  Sometimes we’re lucky enough to have a Spanish speaking dispatcher on duty, so if they’re not on another call, I can transfer them over, and almost without fail the conversation goes like this
  
  Me (English): 911, where is your emergency?
  
  Caller (broken English): uh… Speak Spanish?
  
  Me (broken Spanglish): ok, let me get you a Spanish speaker, un momento Transfers caller
  
  Spanish Dispatcher (in Spanish): 911 where is your emergency?
  
  Caller: Ok
  
  Spanish Dispatcher: repeats in Spanish
  
  Caller: uh… Speak Spanish?
  
  Spanish Dispatcher (in Spanish): Yes sir (or ma’am,) I’m speaking to you in Spanish, where is your emergency?
  
  Caller: oh! continues in Spanish
  
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  - gramie@lemmy.ca ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    When I lived in Japan, if I was out with my wife people would always speak to her (she was Japanese). My Japanese was reasonably good, and my wife said that there were no real issues with my grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation, but still people didn’t understand me because I was a foreigner and they knew they couldn’t understand foreigners.
    
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swordgeek@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
It absolutely used to be. Whether it still is, I can only assume.

But decades ago, there was a joke: “How can you tell if a tourist is American or Canadian? The Canadian only has ONE Canadian flag on their gear.” US folks did their best job of overdoing everything, and would plaster their stuff with maple leaves.

For many years, another sign of a Canadian was having an item from the Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Almost everyone travelling had a jacket, a backpack, or a container with the beloved MEC logo. Then MEC got turned into a shitty for-profit company held by American vulture capitalists, and now it means nothing.

So…yeah. At least historically, and probably now as well.

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rbos@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Canadians don’t wear Canadian flags, it’s almost always an American.

Used to be you could spot us by MEC or Roots gear, but they’re both enshittified now.

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Medic8eme@piefed.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Traveled Europe in the 90’s with a backpack. It was pretty common then. I met loads of Americans claiming to be Canadian. As a travelled Canadian myself it was fairly obvious to me but some insisted it was worthwhile. It certainly fell off over the years I traveled however.

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Archangel1313@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
This was definitely a thing back in the early 2000’s, after the US went on its global rampage against brown folks. It wasn’t safe to let people know you were from the US. It also had the unintended consequence of making Canadians look bad, due to the association with rude assholes putting Canadian flags all over their gear.

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ripcord@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Yes, I have several friends who did it even 20 years ago

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- gramie@lemmy.ca ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  People were doing it 50 years ago too.
  
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hanrahan@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’m embarrassed to be an Australian and always say I am from New Zealand when travelling.

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- swordgeek@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  As a Canadian, I hate people like you. I mean, seriously - fuck right off.
  
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- floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Why? I love meeting Australians, you’re a funny bunch.
  
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  - Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Not in South East Asia. Bogans give us a bad name. I’ve had locals ask me if I was from Europe, because “you don’t act Australian”.
    
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- soyslurper2@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Is this a bit or are you serious (and why)?
  
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queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
The idea is fairly old. I think the first time I heard it was the latter part of the Bush era? Someone told me secondhand about how having a Canadian flag on the backpack makes some airports friendlier. that’s also around when I started traveling internationally for work so it could have been around even earlier than that. I never knew any Americans who actually did it. I did work with a lot of Southerners and we all had distinctively American accents, so I don’t think we could have pulled it off. Maybe a Minnesotan could pass.

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- ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Yoooers can for sure. It’s such an uncommon accent (there aren’t that many people in the UP and northeast Wisconsin to begin with, and most people who grow up there don’t leave or travel all that much) but so close to stereotypically Canadian that it threw me the first dozen or so times I heard it.
  
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josephc@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
If confronted at a bar I’d consider it for basically all the reasons you mentioned. When I send updates to my friends in France or Ireland or China I find myself apologizing for wherever embarrassing things we’ve done most recently.

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fratermus@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
When I was stationed in [the former West] Germany in the 80s one of the guys in my platoon was an avid & considerate traveler. He never claimed to be Canadian but

he had a Canadian flag patch on his traveling pack

listened to the Dayglo Abortions and knew all the words to Proud to be a Canadian

He didn’t want to lumped in with “Ugly American” a-holes. And he wasn’t. Probably more due his considerate behavior than flag patch but who knows.

Other proof of his excellence: he took me to my first Fields of the Nephilim, Sisters of Mercy, and Nitzer Ebb shows.
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loomi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Yes. I did it. Mainly in response to invasive questions from dodgy people. I had a fake name, a back story about where my family lived, etc.

After 9/11 and then the global war of terror, it was a prudent thing to have on dial. Never wrote clothes or put Canadian stuff on my bags.

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Munkisquisher@lemmy.nz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Yeah, I work with Americans in NZ, they don’t get away with it here if they have a Southern, NY or Cali accent unless they are in a very rural area, but they find it necessary when going to southeast Asia

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- Arcanepotato@crazypeople.online ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  
  but they find it necessary when going to southeast Asia
  
  I think this really is key. The US committed atrocities here within living memory.
  
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Jerb322@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I’ve always said that I would if I traveled, but I never travel, so…

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Nonprophet@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I’m a New Yorker. Only American on a technicality.

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hedders@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Only heard about this anecdotally, but it's plausible that it would work. People who aren't from North America often have trouble distinguishing at least some American accents (generally the more northern ones) from Canadian accents. Like, you won't get away with it if you're from Texas or Louisiana or some such, but if you talk like Dan Rather or David Sedaris you can pass for Canadian in most places that aren't Canada.

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- VeryVito@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  
  Dan Rather or David Sedaris
  
  That is quite the range.
  
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  - hedders@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I think that's kind of my point - to us Europeans, those accents sound the same.
    
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soyslurper2@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I do the opposite and pretend to be an American with a generic accent. Even Americans can’t tell.

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Malica@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I’m not a liar but I can see the appeal. Luckily, I also have an EU passport to hide behind, should I want to. Also, other Americans should know that there are many tells that will out them if they try.

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moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Canadians are Americans, so idk wtf you’re asking

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daggermoon@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’d be ashamed to be Canadian too.

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