What's new
Anthro World Forum

This is an anthropology forum where we cover all sorts of topics and discussions. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts. Register today to become a member!

Canadian Accent Gets Dragged

SavannahCatGiannis

Active member
Country
Canada
The Toronto accent does have some Jamaican influence, with the odd Somali word thrown in there just to throw you for a loop. For example, the Somali word kawal, which means "to make crazy", in Canada means to trick or deceive somebody. For example, if you forge a doctor's note to get time off work, you're kawaling your boss.

Also a lot of people there, even people not of Jamaican descent, can speak at least basic Patois.

Here’s a politician speaking it (he got in trouble for this, considering he was using the word that Jamaicans probably find the most offensive)

 
Last edited:

Carlito's Way

Well-known member
Country
Mexico
The Toronto accent does have some Jamaican influence, with the odd Somali word thrown in there just to throw you for a loop. For example, the Somali word kawal, which means "to make crazy", in Canada means to trick or deceive somebody. For example, if you forge a doctor's note to get time off work, you're kawaling your boss.

Also a lot of people there, even people not of Jamaican descent, can speak at least basic Patois.

Here’s a politician speaking it (he got in trouble for this, considering he was using the word that Jamaicans probably find the most offensive)


LOL @ the video, damn, at least whites in Canada seem more welcoming when it comes to learning other cultures
super rare to find something like that in America due to their stupid mentality of "this is America, speak english"

There is a Canadian YouTube couple, no joke but the man's accent would trip me out, I didn't know if he was Jamaican, Irish or what because his accent was all over the place, during that time I didn't know they were from Canada since I had never watched him and found them searching for a video on YouTube, the man is a white dude so his accent made me so confused

A lot of Americans would think he was Jamaican, others would claim he sounded Irish
Until he said he was from Toronto and his accent a Toronto accent
it blew my mind lol
 

Carlito's Way

Well-known member
Country
Mexico
What you said: mostly "a bit Jamaican mix with British".

Do you live in Canada?



Btw, I am for years (more than 20 !!! years) a huge fan of Sean Paul. Nobody beats his accent.





Sean Paul is my favorite Jamaican, I use to listen to his music a lot
No, I dont live in Canada but I wish lol, I have family in British Columbia though but I have been wanting to travel to Toronto for a while now
 

SavannahCatGiannis

Active member
Country
Canada
LOL @ the video, damn, at least whites in Canada seem more welcoming when it comes to learning other cultures
super rare to find something like that in America due to their stupid mentality of "this is America, speak english"

There is a Canadian YouTube couple, no joke but the man's accent would trip me out, I didn't know if he was Jamaican, Irish or what because his accent was all over the place, during that time I didn't know they were from Canada since I had never watched him and found them searching for a video on YouTube, the man is a white dude so his accent made me so confused

A lot of Americans would think he was Jamaican, others would claim he sounded Irish
Until he said he was from Toronto and his accent a Toronto accent
it blew my mind lol

I wouldn’t call it welcoming as much as just being around people. Many Jamaican immigrants moved into working-class areas of Toronto so if you were a white person growing up in one of those neighborhoods, you probably had a lot of Jamaican friends as a kid and picked up the accent and patterns of speaking from those friends.

It goes both ways, though. I remember you asked me why most black people in Canada vote Conservative and it’s probably because a lot of the white people in those areas also vote Conservative. Probably if you were a Jamaican immigrant who just became a citizen and were trying to learn about politics in order to make a decision on whom to vote for, you probably learned a lot from the white people in the neighbourhood because they were there longer and their leanings rubbed off on you.

Although Canada is more welcoming to immigrants than many other nations according to polling data. I have honestly no idea why exactly that is... I can only speak for myself and I am personally neutral on immigration. I know that we have labour shortages in some sectors of the economy so we need immigrants to fill them, but on the other hand, when I was in Africa a guy told me about how he wanted to move to Canada and I just had to level and be honest with him: it will be hard, and it will suck your first few years... it’s harder for immigrants to get jobs at times because nepotism is actually a big problem in Canada. So, if you’re not born here, it’s hard because you don’t have connections.

One interesting thing I have noticed over the years is this though: countries are either open to immigrants or tourists, but rarely both. Canadians generally don’t like tourists, but have no problem with immigrants. However, if you travel to a country that has a reputation of not being open to immigrants, they love tourists. Weird huh?
 
Last edited:
Top