I wasn't on a tour, but spent last week in Florida on vacation. All the Americans I met were very welcoming and even friendlier than usual when I said I was visiting from Canada. I had a great time and talked with many wonderful people on the West Central Suncoast!

Dianne

I'm not in Florida but you're welcome. I travel to Canada frequently and have always found the same friendliness among Canadians. Of course, having two Canadian grandchildren makes me a bit biased.

There's so many Canadians retired in central Florida, perhaps many of the "Americans" you met were actually Canucks in disguise

Chuckster

As a matter of interest, Chuck, as an American can you instantly recognise a Canadian from their accent? I'd regard myself generally as pretty good with accents, but I have to confess that I'm totally unable to tell apart Canadian and American accents!

Regards,

Chris

Chris: It's all in the vowels. Canadians have a tighter "ou" sound than the American "aow". Hence "about" sounds almost like "aboot". That's if the suffix "eh" hasn't already given it away! Some Eastern Canadians sound positively Scottish to my ears.
Caitie

Hi Caitie, hope you had a nice BB trip!
I tried and tried, but STILL couldn't pick the difference between the Canadian and US accents, knowing beforehand that Canadians were sensitive about such matters.
But then again, everyone I encountered in the US/Canada assumed I was English. I have the broadest of Aussie accents. Relatives in the UK just laugh at my speech, but I was born, and still am, a UK citizen- even after 30 years in Australia. I know I clip my vowels a little, especially if I am angry, but I still come out down here as a born and bred Aussie. People here are surprised when they find out where I was born.
I know I'm not your average "ow yer goin , she'll be right mate" Aussie - because my career/ professional standards require much better speech than that, but I still think I reek of "strine". Apparently, others don't think so. Here, I'm "dinky-di", but overseas friends can't apparently hear it!
Linda

Chris

I think I can usually tell a Canadian by their speech, especially the "ou" sound. My daughter married a Canadian from New Brunswick (in the east where, like Catie says, they can sound Scottish). They have two children who sound positively "Canadian". They recently moved to western Canada and have been told that they sound "like Maritimers" by their new friends and neighbors.

Our other daughter married a guy from Tennessee and they live in Knoxville. Their kids have a "Tennessee" accent.

Like, many places, both Canada and the USA are becoming more cosmopolitan and regional accents are going away. But, most Americans will recognize distinct regional speech patterns. Southerners (like me) have a distinct speech, as do natives from Boston, parts of New York City, New Jersey, and Maine. Yes, I still say "y'all".

Americans from the midwest generally have the least regional accents. That's why Tom Brokaw (NBC) has a great "news" voice.

Cheers y'all

Chuckster

Accents are a fascinating topic. I've never thought of myself of having an accent, of course. I've always thought everybody else had one. LOL. I was once in a breakfast buffet lineup in a hotel in San Diego talking with my husband and a man in line behind me actually pinpointed us as being not only Canadian but from Toronto. He said he travelled on business all over the world and listening and learning about accents was a hobby of his. I was amazed.

I can always pick out an "American" accent, if sombody is from the Southern US. I have been told that Canadians have a softer accent then Americans. It depends on what part of Canada people are from, Eastern Canadians have the "Newfie" accent, all my in-laws are from back east. They all seem to talk so darn fast, half the time I can not understand a word they are saying. I have trouble telling Kiwi's from Aussie's!!!
Rennea

Hi Chuck,

Oh yes, there are many American accents which I can instantly recognise - eg southern accents, NY accents, and so on; I just fine it difficult to distinguish what I'd call a "generic" American accent from a Canadian accent. It's probably due to no more than the fact that I've met enormously more Americans than I have Canadians, so I probably just don't recognise a Canadian accent when I hear one.

When I visit the east coast of the US, people always know that I'm English, but many years ago I worked for a while in Berkeley, California, and in that part of the world most people I met assumed that I was Australian!

Hi Chris,

I have no problem at all telling apart Aussies and Kiwis; to me, the Kiwi accent sounds much more "British". It may amuse you to learn that in the UK, most people can't tell apart Australian and South African accents!

Regards,

Chris

This is so funny. The exact same thing happened on my tour last year. When you put a bunch of english-speakers from all over the world in a room together, they all start comparing accents!

Believe me, Canadians have no trouble distinguishing between another Canadian accent and any American accent. Only once I met an American couple and thought they were from Canada. They were from Minnesota.

Chris Morrow, thanks for the Aussie/Kiwi tip. I'm going to listen for that!

Chuckster,
Just returned from your South Carolina--a golfing trip. We played with people from New York and Canada. The New York accent was there, but I could hear no accent from the Ontario couple. Around the golf courses there are so many starters and rangers retired from all over that sometimes you forget you are in the south.
We played 2 rounds just off Hilton Head, 1 on Fripp Island of all places, and 3 in Myrtle Beach. We went to Hilton Head by invitation to join Marriott's Vacation Club and buy a time share. (We didn't.) Hilton Head is sure a beautiful place.
By the way, remember the discussion on South Carolina individual liquor bottles? I wondered if they were recycled. As far as I could see South Carolina throws away even their aluminum drink cans. Is that right?

Suegreg

It's odd because the mini bottles are pretty much just found in the restaurants and bars. Of course, they can be purchased in the liquor stores but most everybody buys their "private" liquor in large bottles - just like everywhere else.

At home we recycle ALL aluminum cars, glass and plastic containers. But that's an individual thing. If I go to the neighborhood "convenience center" there are separate containers for each recyclable. I'm told that when our household garbage goes to the county landfill the prisoners from the jail next door sort through it for recyclables.

I'm sure some folks throw away their aluminum cans but I wouldn't say it's a statewide thing.

I've played golf with lots of Canadians and "Yankees" in the Myrtle Beach area. There are lots of folks from all over retired in that area - including many Canadians. Canadians often go there for the school spring breaks as Florida is almost twice as far to drive. I can tell the Canadians by the way they pronounce "ou" as in "about". Folks from the "tidewater" area of Virginia pronounce "ou" very similar to Canadians.

Chuckster

Suegreg; Where did you play golf, just off Hilton head Island? We go to H.H. every year - my brother lives in Sea Pines just off the Harbourtown Golf Course.(we can see the 15th hole) However we can't afford to play on that course. We usually play just off the island also. H.H. is a beautiful area. We love to visit! We've also visited Myrtle Beach and have played golf there also. We really enjoy the Carolinas and their hospitality.

Chuckster,
I'm glad to hear that the golf courses in South Carolina are the exception to the recycling in your state. I tried every time to hand the can to the bar tender instead of putting it in the trash and they said they don't recycle.
In Michigan, we have a bottle deposit and when the first casino opened in downtown Detroit, there was an article in the paper saying the Casino doesn't bother returning cans and bottles for the deposit. Not worth their while. At the time I thought what a shame--several organizations would be happy to pick them up and return them to make money--such as Boy Scouts. But then the State stepped in and said the Casino was in violation of the law and had to return the bottles and cans. I wonder if they cooperate. Who knows.
I have a friend so into waste reduction that she even picks up things marked for landfills and takes them home and puts them in her recycle box.

Babs,
We played golf at the two courses that Marriott Vacations had deals with--Old Carolina and Old South. Both were in great shape, but Old Carolina is off my list forever. There were waste lands and marshes so long that my best shot--which I was not doing that day anyway--couldn't possibly make it over. My husband was having the same trouble. I think we lost over a dozen balls each. We liked Old South much better.
With this Vacation deal we got 3 nights at the Marriott Beach Hotel--very nice place, and 4 rounds of golf (2 each) for $199. We had to pay for the golf carts--at $25/person. That's steep, but the rest was a bargain. Had to attend a 90 minute presentation on the Time Share which actually ran to 2 hours.
We got quite a surprise when we drove up to Sea Pines and found ourselves paying $5.00 to drive up to see the lighthouse shown on TV at Harbortown. We paid, but I don't think it was worth the money as it was very busy out there and we couldn't find a good place to park.
Where do you play?

suegreg; My husband is the golfer in the family - I just play at it occasionally. He has played at both Old Carolina and Old South. We have played at a couple on the island but forget the names of those at the moment. I was aware of the $5 dollar entrance fee - pretty steep just to drive to see Harbourtown. Since we stay at my brother's place in Sea Pines, he arranges for us to have a "pass" while we're there. Your deal sounds like a good one. Of course, being Canadian all expenditures are almost 50% more for us because of the exchange rate. However our dollar has been rising greatly the last few days so it should help us financially when we visit the U.S., which we do several times a year.