Travel Expert Tucker Carlson Tells Why Americans Should Pretend They're Canadian
Apr 18th, 2006, 07:42 PM
#4
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Oh. It was just a re-hash of "speak softly and learn to say <i>bonjour</i>."
Never mind.
(By the way, I totally disagree with a lot of his positions, but I don't think it's accurate to characterize him as "stupid." Not by a long shot.)
Never mind.
(By the way, I totally disagree with a lot of his positions, but I don't think it's accurate to characterize him as "stupid." Not by a long shot.)
Apr 18th, 2006, 08:28 PM
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<font color="green"> Is he the guy with the red bow-tie? If so, I agree with the above poster...seems like he gets attention because he is a bit abbrassive...but is he abbrassive to find out a true story, or abbrassive because it is "in" in so-called news television now? Sort of like that guy who was on Hard Copy and now has his own show.....very right wing guy...can't remember his name. Is it Pat something? </font>
Apr 18th, 2006, 10:24 PM
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I don't always agree with conservative commentary, but I always enjoy and learn from people like David Brooks, William F. Buckley, George Wills, Lou Dobbs, and so on. Tucker Carlson is so far from having the mental acumen of those guys, it's pathetic.
His outrages are too many to mention, but here's an example:
On the December 15 edition of his show, he said of Canada, after Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's remarks criticizing U.S. global environmental policies:
"Here's the problem with telling Canada to stop criticizing the United States: It only eggs them on. Canada is essentially a stalker, stalking the United States, right? Canada has little pictures of us in its bedroom, right? Canada spends all of its time thinking about the United States, obsessing over the United States. It's unrequited love between Canada and the United States. We, meanwhile, don't even know Canada's name. We pay no attention at all."
Later:
"First of all, anybody with any ambition at all, or intelligence, has left Canada and is now living in New York. Second, anybody who sides with Canada internationally in a debate between the U.S. and Canada, say, Belgium, is somebody whose opinion we shouldn't care about in the first place. Third, Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice, but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada."
And you are trying to tell me that guy is not an idiot?
His outrages are too many to mention, but here's an example:
On the December 15 edition of his show, he said of Canada, after Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's remarks criticizing U.S. global environmental policies:
"Here's the problem with telling Canada to stop criticizing the United States: It only eggs them on. Canada is essentially a stalker, stalking the United States, right? Canada has little pictures of us in its bedroom, right? Canada spends all of its time thinking about the United States, obsessing over the United States. It's unrequited love between Canada and the United States. We, meanwhile, don't even know Canada's name. We pay no attention at all."
Later:
"First of all, anybody with any ambition at all, or intelligence, has left Canada and is now living in New York. Second, anybody who sides with Canada internationally in a debate between the U.S. and Canada, say, Belgium, is somebody whose opinion we shouldn't care about in the first place. Third, Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice, but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada."
And you are trying to tell me that guy is not an idiot?
Apr 18th, 2006, 10:40 PM
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I haven't caught his act, and won't if it involves turning on a TV, but would encourage the Speak Softly message from anyone. I'm thinking there must be quite a few people who haven't heard that one yet.
Apr 18th, 2006, 11:22 PM
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This is the first I've heard of this person, but I'm getting the impression that he's the type of person media companies hire with the specific aim of generating interest (i.e. outrage). Whether they themselves believe the rubbish they spout is often questionable, but it doesn't matter. Does he even exist? Who'd name a baby "Tucker" anyway? (Maybe the sort of people who'd name a girl baby "Murphy" ... better leave that line of thought.)
This pretend-you're-Canadian stuff is getting pretty tired. While my opinion of the current US administration isn't for the ears of young children, I'd form a low opinion of any American who'd be such a wimp as to do that. My opinion of my own government is about the same, but I'm not about to stick a New Zealand flag on my shirt. Who could tell the difference anyway?
This pretend-you're-Canadian stuff is getting pretty tired. While my opinion of the current US administration isn't for the ears of young children, I'd form a low opinion of any American who'd be such a wimp as to do that. My opinion of my own government is about the same, but I'm not about to stick a New Zealand flag on my shirt. Who could tell the difference anyway?
Apr 18th, 2006, 11:56 PM
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Neil, do people from New Zealand have an accent quite different than those from Australia? My son's father-in-law is a retired Boeing engineer born and raised in New Zealand, and he has a very cultivated, pleasant accent, not at all like the grating accent of the crocodile hunter guy seen on US television.
Most US and Canadians could pass for each other's nationalities abroad, in my opinion, so long as no one asks the US traveler to say certain words like "schedule" or "garage."
Most US and Canadians could pass for each other's nationalities abroad, in my opinion, so long as no one asks the US traveler to say certain words like "schedule" or "garage."
Apr 19th, 2006, 02:40 AM
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Mary_Fran, the crocodile hunter guy and his partner in crime Paul Hogan are we call a "professional Australians". Their accent is typically Ausralian only to the extent that Gomer Pyle's is typically American. During our travels through America my wife and I were frequently assumed to be English, and I can only put that down to the influence of those clowns. In fact if you heard TV newsreaders from Australia, NZ and the south of England you probably wouldn't notice a lot of difference.
Josser, you're right, and that vowel shift is actually a recent phenomenon. It's most marked among Maori and Pacific Islander peoples, and younger people. When I first visited NZ in the early '70s I found the local accent only subtly different from ours, sometimes not distinguishable at all. Now fish and chips have become fush and chups, sex has become sux, six sex etc.
That reminds me of the Australian tourist who walks out of a country pub in NZ and sees a local leading a sheep down the road. "Well, shearing, then?" he asks. The farmer steps in front of his sheep and replies indignantly "No bloody way! Git yer own!"
Sorry, Robespierre, yet another hijack.
Josser, you're right, and that vowel shift is actually a recent phenomenon. It's most marked among Maori and Pacific Islander peoples, and younger people. When I first visited NZ in the early '70s I found the local accent only subtly different from ours, sometimes not distinguishable at all. Now fish and chips have become fush and chups, sex has become sux, six sex etc.
That reminds me of the Australian tourist who walks out of a country pub in NZ and sees a local leading a sheep down the road. "Well, shearing, then?" he asks. The farmer steps in front of his sheep and replies indignantly "No bloody way! Git yer own!"
Sorry, Robespierre, yet another hijack.
Apr 19th, 2006, 03:06 AM
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We travelled coast to coast in the US.
As soon as we got beyond New England, I was assumed to be a Bostonian and my Scottish husband became Canadian.
I remember somebody saying that they didn't normally like Bostonians because they were stuck-up.
I found myself bristling until I said to myself, "Hang on, you're English!"
As soon as we got beyond New England, I was assumed to be a Bostonian and my Scottish husband became Canadian.
I remember somebody saying that they didn't normally like Bostonians because they were stuck-up.
I found myself bristling until I said to myself, "Hang on, you're English!"
Apr 19th, 2006, 03:24 AM
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Anybody that advises anyone to pretend to be something they are not is a HUGE IDIOT....and anybody that listens is an EVEN BIGGER IDIOT.
I also agree w/previous poster: Canadian flags on backpacks and pockets aren't fooling anybody. If Tucker Carlson is advising to do that, I am now certainly convinced how moronic the whole thing is.
I also agree w/previous poster: Canadian flags on backpacks and pockets aren't fooling anybody. If Tucker Carlson is advising to do that, I am now certainly convinced how moronic the whole thing is.
Apr 19th, 2006, 03:53 AM
#20
Neil_Oz -
Well said. I like how you think.
Mary_Fran -
I've traveled in NZ and OZ quite a bit and I have a hard time telling Aussies and Kiwis apart based on their accents. Once in awhile I get it right, but not often.
Very recently I had a conversation with an Australian woman who shuddered at the thought of being mistaken for a Kiwi, yet admitted she couldn't tell Americans from Canadians based on their accents. I can usually pick out a Canadian if I listen long enough, but it's not easy. The "eh" at the end of a sentence is a dead giveaway though.
No idea who this Tucker guy is, but sounds like I'm not missing much.
Well said. I like how you think.
Mary_Fran -
I've traveled in NZ and OZ quite a bit and I have a hard time telling Aussies and Kiwis apart based on their accents. Once in awhile I get it right, but not often.
Very recently I had a conversation with an Australian woman who shuddered at the thought of being mistaken for a Kiwi, yet admitted she couldn't tell Americans from Canadians based on their accents. I can usually pick out a Canadian if I listen long enough, but it's not easy. The "eh" at the end of a sentence is a dead giveaway though.
No idea who this Tucker guy is, but sounds like I'm not missing much.
