Canada, the world’s second biggest country when measured by land mass, is a diverse environment
with fresh water lakes, mountains, and other areas of outstanding natural beauty.
They speak both French and English, and like all countries, have their own peculiar quirks
when it comes to society and culture.
From hilarious place-names to curious cocktails, when it comes to weird and wacky, the Canadians
have it all.
Let’s take a peek into the weird and wonderful world of all things Canada, in Today’s episode
of the Infographics Show – Canadian Things Everyone Finds Weird.
So here we have at.
A list of things that Canadians find pretty normal but outsiders consider a little strange.
First up, let’s look at linguistics.
Although not totally unique to Canada (New Zealanders have a similar linguistic quirk)
the use of the interjection “eh” has puzzled outsiders for many years.
Just what does “eh” mean?
Is it used as a statement, an exclamation, a command, does it replace a question mark,
or is it polite particle?
Well, the Canadian “eh” is a versatile non-word used to perform all of these grammar
points and is a well-established part of the vocabulary, eh.
On to leadership, does Canada have a queen?
Yes, Elizabeth II.
But isn’t Canada an independent sovereign nation?
Yes, again.
Well that’s kinda weird.
Indeed.
Canada broke away from British rule in 1867, and became a totally sovereign nation in 1982.
Their political setup was based around the Westminster British model, including the appointment
of the queen, and as time soldiered on, nobody got around to changing that appointment.
So weirdly enough, Canada has itself a queen.
With Trumpian shenanigans occurring beneath their border, its little wonder Canadians
live in hope that there’s more intelligent life out there in space.
And although no compelling evidence has been officially confirmed, the Canadians have built
a landing pod for UFOs to park on if Aliens feel the need to make their presence known.
Weird and cool at the same time, this tourist attraction is totally out there and again
proof that things are a little weird in Canada.
Then there are those winter sports.
While most of the world stay indoors during a cold snap - perhaps toasting marshmallows
over an open fire, or snuggling up under a blanket with a good book, Canadians like to
venture out and celebrate arctic conditions by playing sports.
Ice Hockey is played widely in Canada, however Lacrosse is the national sport.
There’s nothing Canadians love more than getting out in the freezing cold and cheering
on a bunch of guys freezing their nuts off on a winter’s day.
Then there are those strange place names.
Nestled in eastern Quebec, the town Saint Luis Du Ha!
Ha!
must be a contender for one of the weirdest place names on the map.
The name is supposed to represent the French word ha-ha meaning obstruction of view, but
it’ll always be ha-ha funny to us outsiders, because we secretly think the Canadians are
a bit weird.
On to Bathtub racing.
Why not attach a kick-ass motor to the back of your bathtub and hit the waves for some
serious racing?
While most of us sit back and relax with a long hot soak in the tub at the tail end of
a long hard grind, the Canadians have devised a way of turning the humble bathtub into some
kind of weird sport.
The event takes place each year in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and is strangely growing
in popularity.
Admittedly, that does sound fun.
And then there is the Sour Toe Cocktail.
This bizarre sundowner is served with a human toe bobbing around inside of it.
The first toe donated to the drink belonged to miner and rum smuggler Louie Liken who
had his toe amputated after suffering frostbite almost a hundred years back.
The toe was discovered in 1973 by Yukon local Captain Dick Stevenson who dreamt up the idea
for the Sour Toe Cocktail at the Sourdough Saloon.
Now and again the toe is swallowed by eager patrons and another amputated toe is found
to keep this weird tradition alive.
And while the rest of the world prefer their milk in a cardboard carton or a glass bottle,
Canada is totally weird when it comes to packaging that most popular of dairy products.
Throughout eastern Canada, the majority of milk is sold in a plastic bag.
Usually you have three 0.35 gallon bags of the good stuff inside one bigger bag.
The bags are then placed into milk bag holders and the corners snipped away.
Milk in a bag?
What could be weirder than that?!
Well, that’s our short list of Canadian weirdness.
Can you think of other weird Canadian things that we failed to mention?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to watch our other video called – Average American vs Average Canadian.
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!