Can we still refer to our good neighbours to the south as “Yanks” even though they hail from south of the Mason-Dixon Line?
I mean, Washington D.C. itself is south of that 18th century boundary line. We get a lot of Americans visiting at this time of year with schools on “March Break”.
Anyhow, the Mason-Dixon Line today merely represents a cultural demarcation between the Northern and Southern U.S. But we think the cultural boundry is the Canada/U.S. border! So “Yanks” they are! And “Canucks” we be!
With the Olympics just finshed in Vancouver, this is a great time for Americans to visit. We can (and do) take the opportunity to remind them of how happy we are that both their Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams are silver medalists! (We needn’t remind them about who won the GOLD!)
We’ve got a group of young students from North Carolina who made the drive to Toronto via Philidelphia and Washington D.C. They remarked on how “clean” our city is.
Well sure, But it is faint praise if you are comparing Toronto to Philidelphia or D.C.!
We are pretty sure we will be getting more American students visiting during March break. After all, the age-of-majority (read: legal beer drinking age) in Ontario isonly nineteen! It is twenty-one everywhere in the U.S.A.
So welcome! And cheers!