Canadians

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:25 PM -0400 4/28/07, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>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

...where we see that the etymythological derivation of "tips" < "To
Insure Proper Service" is alive and well

LH

>http://www.edmplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2301347
>
>
>--Ben Zimmer
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org