On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Russell Chapman wrote:

> OK - this must be another case of the message being lost without a
> specific cultural background. Why is this funny? I would have thought
> that with the longest coastline in the world, Canada would be expected
> to have a significant navy. Is there some sort of US cultural thing that
> suggests Canadians are wussy, or pacifists?
> I'm familiar with US humour which refers to the Italian penchant for
> losing wars, the French proclivity for surrender, and the Australian
> predilection for treating a war like a bar-room brawl, but I've never
> seen a reference to the Canadians.

I think the joke based on the idea that Canadians are simply too polite to
have warships.  :-)

Marvin Long
Austin, Texas

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