11 Ways Piss Off a Canadian
Do you say “aboot?” I don’t. I’m SURE I don’t.
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Do you say “aboot?” I don’t. I’m SURE I don’t.
Aboot is actually "A-boat".
The following is an explanation from raised-in-Canada Ross MacDonald's 1959 detective novel, The Galton Case.
Dr. Howell: …"There's the question of his speech, for instance. He represents himself as an American, born and raised in the United States."
Archer: "You're not suggesting he's a foreigner?"
"I am though. National differences in speech have always interested me, and it happens I've spent some time in central Canada. Have you ever listened to a Canadian pronounce the word 'about'?"
"If I did, I never noticed. 'About'?"
"You say aba-oot, more or less. A Canadian pronounces the word more like 'aboat'. And that's the way [suspect character] pronounces it."
"Are you certain?"
"Of course I'm certain."
Archer: "About the theory, I mean?"
– Chapter 20 extract.