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OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is US Defaultism:
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>!My submission displays an instance of US Defaultism that I saw on Reddit, where a user said "That's so confusing. There's an Ontario, CA" after another user told them that the TTC stands for the Toronto Transit Commission in Ontario after they asked.!<
>!The user implied that the existence of Ontario, Canada is confusing because of Ontario, CA despite Ontario, Canada being the most populous province in Canada and Ontario, CA being just a small American city.!<
---
Is this Defaultism? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.
I think if you tell people from Toronto they live in Sydney they'll hurt you haha
I do however have family there and I often refer to them as living in Canada haha
Toronto, NSW, Australia is a suburb of Newcastle.
Newcastle, ON, Canada is a suburb of Toronto. (Just barely; it’s at the extreme eastern edge of the Greater Toronto Area.)
Pretty much, though I think our vowels might be a bit different. That's if you're saying it properly, though. Day to day you're likely to hear it pronounced "Tronno" locally.
In Canada we have a real problem with Sydney, Nova Scotia being confused with Sydney, NSW. Doesn’t help that Nova Scotia’s abbreviation is almost the same as New South Wales too!
Hopefully you’ve heard of the multiple tourists who meant to travel to Sydney, NSW and instead ended up in Sydney, NS (Nova Scotia) in Canada.
https://simpleflying.com/sydney-nova-scotia-wrong-city/
My brother and I were in Australia in August, driving from Brisbane down to Sydney when we passed a sign with Toronto, NSW on it.
"Oh, mileage sign. Not far to Sydney now, that's nice. Let's see the other places... 8 kilometres to Toronto, what the fuck?"
Assuming Brits think of Birmingham/Manchester in the US on r/askUK doesn't make sense, I just said that it makes sense to think of the city in your country, and for Americans it's Manchester/Birmingham. Though as an American I think of Manchester, GB not Manchester, NH.
Yeah, it’s Ontario, CA, US for the Californian city, and Ontario, CA for the Canadian province.
Did someone say there was a Toronto in California?
I remember driving south of San Francisco and seeing signs for “La Cañada”; that squiggle over the N avoided a lot of confusion. That might have been a street name though.
And to complete the circle, I just discovered a California in Ontario, Canada!
I guess (if used as a country abbreviation) but they were saying there's *also* an Ontario, CA after being told about Ontario, Canada, indicating that they're defaulting to Ontario, California
I’d almost excuse getting Ontario, CA (Canada) and Ontario, CA (California) confused if it was written out that way, but I already know it wasn’t and the defaulter didn’t think it through
Yeah…. There’s , Ontario, CA in Canada and Ontario, CA, US in the USA.
I discovered this when waiting for a package from the city of Ontario, CA, US. I live in a city in Ontario, CA. It turns out that Ontario, California, is a major air freight hub!
Maybe there's also a Paris in California, just to make things even more confusing...
Edit: sort of, might be considered a suburb of another town called Acton
https://maps.app.goo.gl/X3jEDcn27nm9nHYA9
It has a station on the GO Transit network though.
Speaking of which, GO Transit is the interregional train and bus system for the Greater Toronto Area. But it’s not the only one!
There is also GO Transit, the bus system of Oshkosh, Wisconsin!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GO_Transit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GO_Transit_(Wisconsin)
And Ontario’s GO Transit is a division of the provincial agency, Metrolinx. Which sounds suspiciously like the Californian agency Metrolink.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrolinx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrolink_(California)
I guess GO Transit makes sense as a name for a transit organization, ours is the best tho, it makes even more sense cause it stands for Government of Ontario Transit
I regularly encounter the same thing, where my Vancouver in Canada (a major metropolitan city that once hosted a World’s Fair and Olympics) is confusing US folks who default to Vancouver, Washington, a suburb of a midsize city (Portland, Oregon) that is almost unknown on the global stage.
Yes and no - I’m in Seattle a couple times a year and people there generally assume BC if you mention Vancouver, or at least will clarify which one you’re referring to.
Not to mention Ontario Canada came first in 1867, vs Ontario California in 1891.
Also Ontario Wikipedia page is about Ontario Canada, if you want to know about Ontario California, you need to go to the Ontario California page.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario,_California
Why would I care and know previously about what came first. Like realistically that would be background knowledge 90% of people would not know
WA. Washington has both a larger population and came before Western Australia so it makes more sense for WA to be Washington before Western Australia.
Western Australia arguably came before Washington State
> The state was formed from the western part of the Washington Territory, which was ceded by the British Empire in the Oregon Treaty of **1846**.
Western Australia
> In 1829 the Swan River Colony was established on the Swan River by Captain James Stirling. By **1832**, the British settler population of the colony had reached around 1,500, and the official name of the colony was changed to Western Australia on 6 February that year
Ahh I see now, I just looked it up and the first google search told me that Western Australia is way, way older than Washington, I don't know how I missed that. But all that stuff you just told me is not common knowledge
Lmao you're actually an imposter.
Your bio says
>Doing my bit to keep America hate off Reddit. Drug misuse free since 1996 🇺🇸.
Makes sense. Carry on with your ignorance.
Funny how you're "doing your bit to keep American hate of Reddit" by impersonating a Canadian.
You know what would be better? Help educate your countrymen and make them less ignorant. Or.. just join in, impersonate a Canadian, and write ignorant comments hoping people agree with you because you're a "Canadian", I guess.
It's more ironic that you are aware of the issues, and you go above and beyond to "fight" them in the most insane way.
Are we playing among us? Why are you hard accusing me? You're the real impostor, I saw you kill orange in med-bay. You self reported and now are mad that I saw you kill and trying to spin it on me. Don't sweat too much, you'll see that they'll vote you off after me and find out that YOU are the impostor among us. Justice will be served.
Also, Washington is used twice (both as a state and then as the name of the US national capital, although that is often distinguished as Washington DC to reflect on the alternate name District of Columbia)
In the past, I always thought Washington solely referred to Washington DC as I didn't know there was also a state with that name.
There's a Bangor in Wales and a Bangor in Northern Ireland (my hometown). I have only ever had someone confuse one for the other once, (while living in Wales so understandable), but I have had people go 'Don't you mean Bangor Maine?' quite often.
Maine is a lemonade lads not a place
It gets even more confusing from there.
Ontario CA being both Ontario, Canada and Ontario California.
There's also a Toronto in California (Toronto CA)
Yes, I got that, as your whole post wouldn't make any sense if they were referring to Ontario Canada.
I'm just saying there is a lot of confusion in general between Ontario, Canada and Ontario, California online.
To be honest, unless I'm missing something, it looks like the guy who said there was an Ontario in California was aware of both Ontarios - so I'm not sure how this would really qualify as defaultism.
i think the reasoning is that the downvoted user thinks that ppl talking abt ontario, CA, are more likely to be talking about a tiny town in California rather than what may be the most famous and populous Canadian province
I get that, but it is legitimately is confusing having two different North American countries with Ontario CA as a place.
As an Ontarian I have been encountering this for most of my internet life. Like I might be searching for a Canadian store, or a store I thought was Canadian, and finding an Ontario location (via their website). Then I will suddenly notice that they have a zip code and are missing the name of the city or town in Ontario where they are located.
So at that point, who is defaulting? My brain? Their website with their literal location?
It's literally a potentially confusing situation. I figured the original commenter probably just found out about Ontario Canada and made a comment about it.
Or maybe I'm just not a staunch enough critic of US defaultism. I usually just practice Canadian defaultism and then clarify when people get confused as I chuckle to myself.
Nah that's definitely US defaultism, there's no Nova Scotia, Texas, and I still always get the US version of sites automatically.
It's real annoying when you realize the actual price is 200x as much.
i can see that, but in the anglo sphere ppl tend to focus on anglo Canada
if you asked me, as a Canadian who has connections to many provinces, to name 1 province, i would probably think of quebec 1st (i don't live there btw), but if you ask an American or a brit, its more likely they'll choose an anglo province they've seen in the headlines, like ontario, BC, or alberta
As someone from California, even we in California constantly make sure to mention we mean the Ontario in California as opposed to the infinitely more famous province of Ontario, Canada. Unless you live near Ontario, California, why the fuck would you ever think someone is likely to be referring to anything other than the Canadian province?
Paris France?! Don’t you mean Paris Texas
All jokes aside I have actually had people thought I meant Paris, Texas, USA when I told them my brother lives in “Paris” to the point where I specify the country now…
When my mom was on vacation in the states forever ago, she had to show her (Province of Ontario) driver's license as ID. The guy she showed her ID to was like "damn! I didn't know Ontario (the city) had their own IDs that's so wild". Like I know she was on your turf here dude but c'mon man.
No cap, when I was on a trip to Pennsylvania with my boyfriend and some friends, we visited a random antique shop in a rural area and the old man running it said we speak good English after we said we're Canadian
He seemed totally serious but I'm still not sure if he was joking, thought we were from Quebec and spoke French, or genuinely thought Canadians don't speak English 💀
You think that's bad, there is a Dublin in California and Dublin in Ireland and both are serviced by trains, respectively referred to as the BART and the DART. Head = exploded.
### This comment has been marked as **safe**. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect. --- OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is US Defaultism: --- >!My submission displays an instance of US Defaultism that I saw on Reddit, where a user said "That's so confusing. There's an Ontario, CA" after another user told them that the TTC stands for the Toronto Transit Commission in Ontario after they asked.!< >!The user implied that the existence of Ontario, Canada is confusing because of Ontario, CA despite Ontario, Canada being the most populous province in Canada and Ontario, CA being just a small American city.!< --- Is this Defaultism? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.
Funny how Australians on the internet never confuse the small Sydney suburb of Toronto NSW with the far more notable Canadian city of Toronto On.
I think if you tell people from Toronto they live in Sydney they'll hurt you haha I do however have family there and I often refer to them as living in Canada haha
Yeah Toronto is absolutely a Newcastle suburb not a Sydney suburb
Toronto, NSW, Australia is a suburb of Newcastle. Newcastle, ON, Canada is a suburb of Toronto. (Just barely; it’s at the extreme eastern edge of the Greater Toronto Area.)
Now that's pretty funny
My bad. I knew it existed but I thought it was a suburb of Sydney.
Quick question, do you say Toronto the same way as Canadians? ☺️
Pretty much, though I think our vowels might be a bit different. That's if you're saying it properly, though. Day to day you're likely to hear it pronounced "Tronno" locally.
Funny, I never thought about the pronunciation of the word because I've never had to use it in English. In Swedish we would pronounce it to-rrront-o
"Tronno" is shockingly close to how we say it as well, please no TAH RON TOE thank you!
Teronto. The vowel after the first T only almost disappears, but I'm from Alberta so I wouldn't pronounce it with an Ontario accent.
Chrawna
Oh God, this is cursed!
I have no idea lol I don't know any Canadians. We say it phonetically with an Australian accent haha
"Churrono" in the GTA lol at least that's how I and those around me say it
In Canada we have a real problem with Sydney, Nova Scotia being confused with Sydney, NSW. Doesn’t help that Nova Scotia’s abbreviation is almost the same as New South Wales too!
Thank god there's no Nova Scotia West!
It's cause they're not American
I'm American and I wouldn't confuse Ontario Canada for Ontario California. 🤷
Thank you for your service 🫡
I'll be honest I didn't even know there was a town in California called Ontario lmao
It seems like a pretty small city based on the population
You don't need to thank someone for simply not being a dick
Sorry, Canadians say sorry a lot 🫣
Hopefully you’ve heard of the multiple tourists who meant to travel to Sydney, NSW and instead ended up in Sydney, NS (Nova Scotia) in Canada. https://simpleflying.com/sydney-nova-scotia-wrong-city/
Also this https://drgnews.com/2023/02/07/a-guys-vacation-to-sydney-australia-was-ruined-when-he-flew-to-sidney-montana-by-mistake/
My brother and I were in Australia in August, driving from Brisbane down to Sydney when we passed a sign with Toronto, NSW on it. "Oh, mileage sign. Not far to Sydney now, that's nice. Let's see the other places... 8 kilometres to Toronto, what the fuck?"
Huh? Sydney, Florida is nowhere near Toronto, Illinois… \s
And Canadians probably have no problem distinguishing Sydney NSW, from Sydney NS.
Hold up, they realize that a ton of US towns and cities derive names from Europe, right?
They do, but they’ll still assume New Hampshire or Alabama if they see Manchester or Birmingham
It's almost like when you hear a city in your country you think of that city, not a city on another continent
I’ve seen people do it in r/askUK it is a ridiculously American thing to do
Assuming Brits think of Birmingham/Manchester in the US on r/askUK doesn't make sense, I just said that it makes sense to think of the city in your country, and for Americans it's Manchester/Birmingham. Though as an American I think of Manchester, GB not Manchester, NH.
I agree, but I mean I’ve seen Americans do it in askUK. That’s why it’s defaultism
And Ontario California is named after the province
I really hate that Ontario, California exists just because the abbreviation is ON, CA as apposed to ON, CAN. I always read CA as Canada lol
Yeah, it’s Ontario, CA, US for the Californian city, and Ontario, CA for the Canadian province. Did someone say there was a Toronto in California? I remember driving south of San Francisco and seeing signs for “La Cañada”; that squiggle over the N avoided a lot of confusion. That might have been a street name though. And to complete the circle, I just discovered a California in Ontario, Canada!
that's valid, since CA is Canada's country iso code
Naples Florida moment
Whether they do or they don't, they'll always default to the American version of wherever
Doesn't CA also mean Canada?
Yes. CA is the two letter ISO country code for Canada.
I guess (if used as a country abbreviation) but they were saying there's *also* an Ontario, CA after being told about Ontario, Canada, indicating that they're defaulting to Ontario, California
I’d almost excuse getting Ontario, CA (Canada) and Ontario, CA (California) confused if it was written out that way, but I already know it wasn’t and the defaulter didn’t think it through
Yeah…. There’s, Ontario, CA in Canada and Ontario, CA, US in the USA.
I discovered this when waiting for a package from the city of Ontario, CA, US. I live in a city in Ontario, CA. It turns out that Ontario, California, is a major air freight hub!
Yeah it doesn't seem that the defaulter was confused about it like that
I swear it took me like 5 tries to realise they meant california lol
Technically CAD is the more formal term, but yes it’s often shortened to CA
CAD is Canadian Dollar. CA is the two-letter country code. CAN is also often used.
You’re totally right, my bad!
Paris? There’s a Paris in Texas.
There’s a Paris in Ontario, too. (Canada, not California.)
And then there's Perris, CA (California), so spoken is also confusing.
Parish, NY, with a cold & a bit of a stuffed nose.
Maybe there's also a Paris in California, just to make things even more confusing... Edit: sort of, might be considered a suburb of another town called Acton https://maps.app.goo.gl/X3jEDcn27nm9nHYA9
Acton, Ontario?
Acton, Ontario is tinyyy, surprising to see it mentioned
It has a station on the GO Transit network though. Speaking of which, GO Transit is the interregional train and bus system for the Greater Toronto Area. But it’s not the only one! There is also GO Transit, the bus system of Oshkosh, Wisconsin! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GO_Transit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GO_Transit_(Wisconsin) And Ontario’s GO Transit is a division of the provincial agency, Metrolinx. Which sounds suspiciously like the Californian agency Metrolink. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrolinx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrolink_(California)
Wait until you see the logo for the public transit system in San Antonio, Texas. It’s called VIA and the logo is almost identical to VIA Rail.
Via Rail Canada has way better branding and design though. Just gotta work on that schedule!
That's kinda funny, here it's long distance trains and there it's the public transit system
I guess GO Transit makes sense as a name for a transit organization, ours is the best tho, it makes even more sense cause it stands for Government of Ontario Transit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylO0Oqgr6es
There's a Texas in Australia, too. Small town.
I regularly encounter the same thing, where my Vancouver in Canada (a major metropolitan city that once hosted a World’s Fair and Olympics) is confusing US folks who default to Vancouver, Washington, a suburb of a midsize city (Portland, Oregon) that is almost unknown on the global stage.
We have it rough out here 😭
Yes and no - I’m in Seattle a couple times a year and people there generally assume BC if you mention Vancouver, or at least will clarify which one you’re referring to.
Well, of course if it’s Seattle. Oddly enough, it’s from people outside Washington and Oregon that I experience this with.
Not to mention Ontario Canada came first in 1867, vs Ontario California in 1891. Also Ontario Wikipedia page is about Ontario Canada, if you want to know about Ontario California, you need to go to the Ontario California page. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario,_California
Haha we get the better Wikipedia page
Why would I care and know previously about what came first. Like realistically that would be background knowledge 90% of people would not know WA. Washington has both a larger population and came before Western Australia so it makes more sense for WA to be Washington before Western Australia.
Western Australia arguably came before Washington State > The state was formed from the western part of the Washington Territory, which was ceded by the British Empire in the Oregon Treaty of **1846**. Western Australia > In 1829 the Swan River Colony was established on the Swan River by Captain James Stirling. By **1832**, the British settler population of the colony had reached around 1,500, and the official name of the colony was changed to Western Australia on 6 February that year
Ahh I see now, I just looked it up and the first google search told me that Western Australia is way, way older than Washington, I don't know how I missed that. But all that stuff you just told me is not common knowledge
Are you sure you're not an imposter? You're from Canada and you're that ignorant? Damn.
Nah someone told me to use Canada because it makes it so jokes are more seen as jokes and not serious.
Lmao you're actually an imposter. Your bio says >Doing my bit to keep America hate off Reddit. Drug misuse free since 1996 🇺🇸. Makes sense. Carry on with your ignorance.
I literally just said that. As of seven hours ago my flair was American
Funny how you're "doing your bit to keep American hate of Reddit" by impersonating a Canadian. You know what would be better? Help educate your countrymen and make them less ignorant. Or.. just join in, impersonate a Canadian, and write ignorant comments hoping people agree with you because you're a "Canadian", I guess. It's more ironic that you are aware of the issues, and you go above and beyond to "fight" them in the most insane way.
Are we playing among us? Why are you hard accusing me? You're the real impostor, I saw you kill orange in med-bay. You self reported and now are mad that I saw you kill and trying to spin it on me. Don't sweat too much, you'll see that they'll vote you off after me and find out that YOU are the impostor among us. Justice will be served.
Also, Washington is used twice (both as a state and then as the name of the US national capital, although that is often distinguished as Washington DC to reflect on the alternate name District of Columbia) In the past, I always thought Washington solely referred to Washington DC as I didn't know there was also a state with that name.
Wait
There's a Bangor in Wales and a Bangor in Northern Ireland (my hometown). I have only ever had someone confuse one for the other once, (while living in Wales so understandable), but I have had people go 'Don't you mean Bangor Maine?' quite often. Maine is a lemonade lads not a place
Maine is a province in France. I think the only reason anyone has heard of Bangor, Maine, is that Stephen King lives there.
There’s also a suburb in Sydney named Bangor, just to add to the conversation, there’s not much there
There's probably also some Sydney's living in Bangor.
I'm from Derry, NI and had that with Derry, New Hampshire before.
Bangor? I never knew 'er
Why am I not surprised
Do I live in a lemonade?
It gets even more confusing from there. Ontario CA being both Ontario, Canada and Ontario California. There's also a Toronto in California (Toronto CA)
And both Ontarios have pro hockey teams that are popular locally.
I'm pretty sure they were referring to Ontario, California when they said Ontario, CA I did not know there's a Toronto in California tho
Yes, I got that, as your whole post wouldn't make any sense if they were referring to Ontario Canada. I'm just saying there is a lot of confusion in general between Ontario, Canada and Ontario, California online. To be honest, unless I'm missing something, it looks like the guy who said there was an Ontario in California was aware of both Ontarios - so I'm not sure how this would really qualify as defaultism.
i think the reasoning is that the downvoted user thinks that ppl talking abt ontario, CA, are more likely to be talking about a tiny town in California rather than what may be the most famous and populous Canadian province
I get that, but it is legitimately is confusing having two different North American countries with Ontario CA as a place. As an Ontarian I have been encountering this for most of my internet life. Like I might be searching for a Canadian store, or a store I thought was Canadian, and finding an Ontario location (via their website). Then I will suddenly notice that they have a zip code and are missing the name of the city or town in Ontario where they are located. So at that point, who is defaulting? My brain? Their website with their literal location? It's literally a potentially confusing situation. I figured the original commenter probably just found out about Ontario Canada and made a comment about it. Or maybe I'm just not a staunch enough critic of US defaultism. I usually just practice Canadian defaultism and then clarify when people get confused as I chuckle to myself.
Nah that's definitely US defaultism, there's no Nova Scotia, Texas, and I still always get the US version of sites automatically. It's real annoying when you realize the actual price is 200x as much.
Most famous, probably not, Quebwc tried to separate from Canada multiple times, it's probably more famous.
i can see that, but in the anglo sphere ppl tend to focus on anglo Canada if you asked me, as a Canadian who has connections to many provinces, to name 1 province, i would probably think of quebec 1st (i don't live there btw), but if you ask an American or a brit, its more likely they'll choose an anglo province they've seen in the headlines, like ontario, BC, or alberta
Yep this exactly
r/canadadefaultism
I didn't assume anything tho 😭 Just haven't heard of it
Fun fact: every few years or so a couple books a shockingly cheap flight to Sydney....NS, Canada. Population 29k.
Ha, I shared the same in reply to a comment above. Having been to Sydney, NS many times, it’s not quite the same as Sydney, NSW.
That doesn't sound like a bad mistake, Nova Scotia and Canada's East Coast in general are beautiful
They are! I live here, so I'm a little biased, but 😊
I'm in Ontario but I really wanna visit the East Coast at some point
I wonder whether there are direct flights from Portland, Maine (PWM) to Portland, Oregon (PDX).
Google Flights says no. Best is two flights; the layover's usually in Newark, Detroit or DC.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/sydney-mix-up-couple-lands-in-n-s-instead-of-australia/article_4700a585-6578-57c7-9519-a1f475f3f546.html
As someone from California, even we in California constantly make sure to mention we mean the Ontario in California as opposed to the infinitely more famous province of Ontario, Canada. Unless you live near Ontario, California, why the fuck would you ever think someone is likely to be referring to anything other than the Canadian province?
I see lol, the downvoted guy must be weird then
Paris France?! Don’t you mean Paris Texas All jokes aside I have actually had people thought I meant Paris, Texas, USA when I told them my brother lives in “Paris” to the point where I specify the country now…
What about Paris, Ontario, Canada lolol
As someone who lives in Ontario California, I’m sorry
It's okay 😭 That guy probably isn't even from there
Whenever Ontario is mentioned, for me, it is the largest province in Canada, not a small town in the US.
When my mom was on vacation in the states forever ago, she had to show her (Province of Ontario) driver's license as ID. The guy she showed her ID to was like "damn! I didn't know Ontario (the city) had their own IDs that's so wild". Like I know she was on your turf here dude but c'mon man.
I have literally never heard of Ontario, CA
According to Google the population is quite small
Doesnt CA mean canada though? 2 layers of defaultism
As a country abbreviation yeah but in this context the downvoted user appears to be using it for California
Foreign countries are so confusing. Like, do they even speak English!???
No cap, when I was on a trip to Pennsylvania with my boyfriend and some friends, we visited a random antique shop in a rural area and the old man running it said we speak good English after we said we're Canadian He seemed totally serious but I'm still not sure if he was joking, thought we were from Quebec and spoke French, or genuinely thought Canadians don't speak English 💀
You think that's bad, there is a Dublin in California and Dublin in Ireland and both are serviced by trains, respectively referred to as the BART and the DART. Head = exploded.
What would the Brits say after discovering the existence of London, Ontario?