Canadians

[James C Stalker]

 From 2004
Canadian n. bar staff slang for a non-tipper.
http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/05_04/05-04-drunk-talk.htm

 From 2001
canadians: restaraunt slang for non-tippers.
Example: damn justin, a bunch of canadians just sat down in your section.
http://www.slangsite.com/slang/C.html

 From 2000
canadians - Restaurant slang for non-tippers.e.g., Sorry, Justin, a bunch of
canadians just sat down in your section.
http://www.pseudodictionary.com/search.php?letter=c&browsestart=100

All spelling as copied from web sources.

Justin seems to be the original target for these Canadian non-tippers.  Web
slang dictionaries seem to recapitulate early dictionary history--just copy
from the last dictionary and add some new words.

JCS

Stefan Dollinger writes:

> The reported use of "Canadians" in Kansas rings a few bells over here at
> the
> DCHP-2 project (Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 2nd
> ed.).
>
> I'd surmise on three things:
>
> 1) this use apparently has more to do with "US" and "THEM", than with how
> Canadians tip. Canadians tend to be very polite, as can be seen in many
> Canadian comedy skits, where, because of politeness concerns, Canadians
> don't get what they originally came for...
>
> 2) if "inner-city" refers to African American, then we might have a new
> application of the 19th-century connection between the (originally French)
> Canadians and people of a darker skin colour that is very likely (as far
> as
> we know now) crucial in the development of "Canuck". Used as a term of
> pride
> and endearment in Canada today, "Canuck" has been used as a "racial" slur
> in
> the States. The more complete story for these semantic shifts can be read
> at
> www.dchp.ca (see Dollinger 2006)
>
> 3) Look at renditions of Canadians in the U.S. media - start with South
> Park, for instance. There always has to be a butt of a joke, and there
> seems
> to be a good tendency that "otherness" is often the sole reason for
> acquiring such designations. It's the perception of those who regard
> themselves as the "in-group" (i.e. the waiters in your example) and there
> often is no other link. Certainly, Canadians are very generous tippers in
> general.
>
> In general, my educated guess is that this may well be the recycling of a
> "racial" slur of yesteryear in a new form - from the U.S. meaning of
> "Canuck" (note again: it's a term of high prestige in Canada) to a new
> U.S.
> meaning of "Canadian" in this particular context. And again, this tells us
> more about the users and their perceptions of "out-group" and "in-group"
> than about Canadians
>
> I wonder if you collect some data on this and send it to us? dchp AT
> interchange.ubc.ca
>
> Stefan Dollinger
> Editor DCHP-2, UBC, Vancouver
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mircea Sauciuc" <msauciuc at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 6:33 PM
> Subject: Canadians
>
>
>> Hi -
>>
>> 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?
>>
>> --
>> Mircea Sauciuc
>> University of Kansas
>> Department of Linguistics
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University

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