Canadians

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 4/27/07, Mircea Sauciuc <msauciuc at gmail.com> wrote:
> I was speaking with a friend last night who last summer worked in
> Kansas City as a waitress.  She said that fellow workers used to use a
> name for inner-city families that were known to not leave a tip:
> Canadians.  "Hey, we have a table of Canadians...they're all yours."
>
> Anyone know the reference or heard this said?  Is it made to actual
> Canadians because they're cheap (I'm not making that claim, just using
> it as a possibility) or is the term derived from something else?

Here are two forum threads where participants identify "Canadians" as
restaurant lingo for "(poor-tipping) blacks" (no regional info given):

http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread/t-187466.html
http://www.edmplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2301347


--Ben Zimmer

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