Originally Posted by
chollie
OK, fair enough.
At least in this instance, you either have met a very different set of Americans than I have or you judge much more harshly than I do, particularly strangers.
As for Americans 'faking' Canadian accents, as GUWonder noted, some of us, particularly in some northern states, mingle with Canadians regularly and watched Canadian TV before cable. Goes both ways, too - I've encountered Canadians south of the border 'attempting' a 'fake' American accent by (gasp!) saying 'abowt'.
I don't see anything wrong with that either.
Canadian, American, whatever, if it's the way one naturally speaks then carry on. If you are faking it to blend in or in an attempt to be funny then you're a goof. I've never heard an American who was faking it get the use of "eh" right. What they hear as "aboot" isn't the way Canadians hear it and it only sounds ridiculous when they fake it. Equally ridiculous is a Canadian visiting the southern U.S. and saying "y'all, howdy" or "thang."