Subtle / obscure signs for identifying native CF

[trans]

How about whether you put periods, commas, etc. inside or outside of quotation marks/speech marks? Outside makes far more sense to me.

BTW, "smart quotes" are a real pain in the beehive for professional translators - they almost always get screwed up when using a translation database program.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Haven't seen it among the force institutions either. In fact, given that CIS is kinda homophobic, I don't expect seeing it in the nearest future/area.

It does happen in junior (1-4) school, and in the kindergarden before that.

Really? I thought I saw it among older civilian men in the street, maybe in Smolensk, in about 89.

I can't actually recall a mental image of it, but I do know I told my friends about it afterwards.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by trans

How about whether you put periods, commas, etc. inside or outside of quotation marks/speech marks? Outside makes far more sense to me.

BTW, "smart quotes" are a real pain in the beehive for professional translators - they almost always get screwed up when using a translation database program.

The average civilian will typically try to put the comma/period directly below the closing quote in handwriting. Which a teacher will of course point out as wrong.

In typing, people in casual speech skip periods entirely. Checking my recent conversations, I see a guy use "(text)", with the comma outside.

Speaking of symbol order, writing 5$ instead of $5 seems like a common Slavic habit.

[trans]

I write a lot here about my 11-year old son. Proud father, blah blah.
He and I still sometime hold hands when walking on the street. He's not quite so eager to do that as he used to be, but we are still generally pretty touchy-feely, as US citizens go. I mostly learned this from my maternal grandfather, who was 100% French Canadian.

Edit: and our relatives sent us a can of genuine maple syrup. Yum, yum!

One thing I have been wondering about is whether anyone has ever tried to introduce the sugar maple to Russia. The climate should be OK. And you can use the sap to make samogon :-)

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Purple Haze

North Americans eat with their fork in their right hand, only transfering it to the left to use their knife. Europeans eat with their fork in the left and knife in the right.

People in the United States assume everyone in North America acts the way they do. For example, they believe what Purple Haze posted.

No, Canadians as a rule do not eat with their fork in their right hand. (A few do, but it isn't the usual practice.)

[Purple Haze]

Originally Posted by robkelk

People in the United States assume everyone in North America acts the way they do. For example, they believe what Purple Haze posted.

No, Canadians as a rule do not eat with their fork in their right hand. (A few do, but it isn't the usual practice.)

Having lived at various times on Prince Edward Island, in Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver I can safely say that as a rule if one was born in Canada and speak English as one's first language one eats with a fork in one's right hand. I am often asked if I am left-handed for eating with my fork in my left, no just a secret francophone.

Other francophone tells, despite being right-handed, play hockey left-handed, bat left-handed (or switch hit), and golf left-handed.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Purple Haze

Having lived at various times on Prince Edward Island, in Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver I can safely say that as a rule if one was born in Canada and speak English as one's first language one eats with a fork in one's right hand. I am often asked if I am left-handed for eating with my fork in my left, no just a secret francophone.

Other francophone tells, despite being right-handed, play hockey left-handed, bat left-handed (or switch hit), and golf left-handed.

I was born in Canada and speak English as my first language. I eat with a fork in my left hand. So does everyone I know from St. John's, Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Sudbury, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. Maybe eating just like a Yankee is an Alberta thing...?

And I apologize for implying you were an American.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by robkelk

People in the United States assume everyone in North America acts the way they do. For example, they believe what Purple Haze posted.

No, Canadians as a rule do not eat with their fork in their right hand. (A few do, but it isn't the usual practice.)

I cannot trust my right hand with anything sharp. It has on a couple of occasions jerked for no reason and stabbed lefty. If I ever visited a left handed hating society, they will just have to suck it up. I ain't using righty for jack.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by RyanW

...
I for one wouldn't hold another man's hand in public, because to me (as a product of my upbringing) it is a romantic gesture, and I do not have romantic relationships with men*. I also wouldn't share such a gesture with women with whom I'm not in a romantic relationship.

* Not that I see anything wrong with those who do. If someone is homosexual, I do not assume they hate heterosexuals. It seems the opposite courtesy is occasionally seen as optional.**

** And do not get me started on how much I HATE the term "breeder."

I don't see anything automatically romantic about holding hands. I just don't like it. Then again, I don't like carrying things in my hands for very long either.
Breeder can be insulting toward indiscriminate child creating regardless of sexuality. I know a few of those I have derogatorily called that, and I'm hetero.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I cannot trust my right hand with anything sharp. It has on a couple of occasions jerked for no reason and stabbed lefty. If I ever visited a left handed hating society, they will just have to suck it up. I ain't using righty for jack.

I think we've established "handedness while eating" is not a reliable indicator of native CF...