I can't believe how dumb Canadians are

[rubberdinghy]

it's not really the same as the District...it just owns a bunch of land to make the capital look nice.

[bokonon]

The District of Columbia does not have the distinction of being a state as it lacks that level of government. The reasoning behind which is that if any state were to contain the nation's capital that state would be favoured in legislature.

Oh yeah, and there are 50 states, I talked to eleven Canadians who all said 52. This is something that North Americans should know by the time they are ten. There's fifty stars on the flag representing the current fifty states. There are thirteen stripes which represent the thirteen founding colonies. I was in absolute shock that they didn't know this incredibly basic fact about our nearest and most important neighbour. (I know I'm going to hear it about that statement!) And the "talking to Amercians" sketch was all I could think of. I had absolutely no clue that Canadians were just as ignorant as Americans. I really thought our education system was significantly better and would produce people that would know this bit of trivia.

And I won the thousand dollars, but it's not bloody likely that I'll ever see it.

[jayr]

Oh yeah, and there are 50 states, I talked to eleven Canadians who all said 52. This is something that North Americans should know by the time they are ten.

Is American geography taught in Canadian schools? Maybe I dropped out before that.......

[bokonon]

The very basic stuff is, I remember also learning about China, Africa, Europe and Russia and it's neighbours.

[bokonon]

And besides, you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media which Canadians consume.

[phorbesie]

so, it is neighbours with whom?

[Gr8FuL]

So is it 46 states and 4 common wealths or 50 states?

I dont even know why i posted that i really dont care.

For the record, i never learned one thing about any other countries than canada in the school system

Edited March 14, 2008 by Guest

[jayr]

And besides, you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media which Canadians consume.

True enough.

[Velvet]

The District of Columbia does not have the distinction of being a state as it lacks that level of government. The reasoning behind which is that if any state were to contain the nation's capital that state would be favoured in legislature.

Oh yeah, and there are 50 states, I talked to eleven Canadians who all said 52. This is something that North Americans should know by the time they are ten. There's fifty stars on the flag representing the current fifty states. There are thirteen stripes which represent the thirteen founding colonies. I was in absolute shock that they didn't know this incredibly basic fact about our nearest and most important neighbour. (I know I'm going to hear it about that statement!) And the "talking to Amercians" sketch was all I could think of. I had absolutely no clue that Canadians were just as ignorant as Americans. I really thought our education system was significantly better and would produce people that would know this bit of trivia.

And I won the thousand dollars, but it's not bloody likely that I'll ever see it.

Hey dumbass, I already explained to you that there is 46 states. It's like talking to a brick wall.

I can't believe how dumb girls are.

[AD]

I was in absolute shock that they didn't know this incredibly basic fact about our nearest and most important neighbour. I had absolutely no clue that Canadians were just as ignorant as Americans. I really thought our education system was significantly better and would produce people that would know this bit of trivia.

How statistically accurate was this poll you did?

[allison]

I really,really love Velvet right now.

When calling other people stupid it might be wise to spell "members" right.

[AWeeJig]

Velvet, I missed the beer store last night too. I walked there in the snow and was little saddened when I arrived to see the sign saying that it closes at 9pm. It was 9:30.

I'm going to the beer store now, grabbing a case, consuming atleast 12, getting a picture of the American flag and counting all the stars and stripes. Then puking on the picture and posting how many states I think there are. I plan on being stupid drunk and beligerant and my spelling may be a little off. However, I am a mambar of this sight and heav teh rite two poost whoteva Iy went.

[ForbinHood]

I played this game with my wife who is American last week actually... who can name all 50... we both got stuck at 47... when we read each others lists the 50 were complete...

[headymamamyrna]

I will be looking forward to reading your post tonight!

Today has been a bit weird here!

[AWeeJig]

I opted out of drinking tonight and decide I should save myself for Wassabi Collective tomorrow night. The come from a Canada State.

[headymamamyrna]

You are no fun then!

[hamilton]

And besides, you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media which Canadians consume.

...the massive amount of American media THAT Canadians consume.

I can't believe how many Canadians have poor grammar skills. Of course, maybe the problem is Brantford...

[AWeeJig]

You are no fun then!

The stupidity that I am plagued by more than takes it's toll on my ability to entertain. I'll spend the rest of the weekend at the library engorged in history books accompanied by a few flasks full of Mezcal mixed with Sammy Adams with a CC chaser on hand so I have the three largest countries in North America covered alcohol wise anyways.

[phishtaper]

And besides' date=' you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media which Canadians consume.[/quote']

...the massive amount of American media THAT Canadians consume.

I can't believe how many Canadians have poor grammar skills.

can someone please explain the grammer rules involved here?

[Birdy]

I can't believe how dumb girls are.

This is the best line of the whole thread.

There's 50 states, or there's 46 and four commonwealths. Who really cares? Think what you want, smile at your neighbour and drink lots of water.

[hamilton]

And besides' date=' you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media which Canadians consume.[/quote']

...the massive amount of American media THAT Canadians consume.

I can't believe how many Canadians have poor grammar skills.

can someone please explain the grammer rules involved here?

"Which" is used to introduce non-restrictive phrases. If you remove the non-restrictive phrase from the sentence, it should still make sense and the meaning of the sentence will still be the same, for example, "My favourite animal is the dolphin, which is a mammal." You can remove the "which" phrase and still have a logical sentence, but you can't replace "which" with "that" because you would end up with "My favourite animal is the dolphin that is a mammal" (as opposed to what - the dolphin that isn't a mammal? A reptile, perhaps?)

"That" is used to introduce restrictive phrases. Restrictive phrases are essential to the meaning of the sentence: "The dog that keeps me awake with its barking lives across the street." If you remove "that lives across the street" you fail to identify the dog properly - it could be *any* dog, not necessarily the one that barks all night.

An easier rule? If you could use commas, you should use "which"; if not, you should use "that".

Bokonon obviously meant that Canadians consume a lot of American media and that's why we should know how many states there are. Aside from the fact that "mass amounts" is grammatically incorrect, these two sentences mean different things:

"... you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media, which Canadians consume";

"... you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media that Canadians consume."

The knowledge can't just be picked up from American media; it needs to be picked up from the American media that we consume.

[hamilton]

Sweet Jebus, I'm a geek.

[Ms Zimmy]

And besides' date=' you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media which Canadians consume.[/quote']

...the massive amount of American media THAT Canadians consume.

I can't believe how many Canadians have poor grammar skills.

can someone please explain the grammer rules involved here?

"Which" is used to introduce non-restrictive phrases. If you remove the non-restrictive phrase from the sentence, it should still make sense and the meaning of the sentence will still be the same, for example, "My favourite animal is the dolphin, which is a mammal." You can remove the "which" phrase and still have a logical sentence, but you can't replace "which" with "that" because you would end up with "My favourite animal is the dolphin that is a mammal" (as opposed to what - the dolphin that isn't a mammal? A reptile, perhaps?)

"That" is used to introduce restrictive phrases. Restrictive phrases are essential to the meaning of the sentence: "The dog that keeps me awake with its barking lives across the street." If you remove "that lives across the street" you fail to identify the dog properly - it could be *any* dog, not necessarily the one that barks all night.

An easier rule? If you could use commas, you should use "which"; if not, you should use "that".

Bokonon obviously meant that Canadians consume a lot of American media and that's why we should know how many states there are. Aside from the fact that "mass amounts" is grammatically incorrect, these two sentences mean different things:

"... you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media, which Canadians consume";

"... you don't need to learn this fact in school, you can pick it up from the mass amounts of American media that Canadians consume."

The knowledge can't just be picked up from American media; it needs to be picked up from the American media that we consume.

Is that how you teach your kids

[bokonon]

Sweet Jebus, I'm a geek.

[color:purple]Actually it's Jesus. And shouldn't that be a semi-colon?