blame Canada

English

WOTD – 1 July 2017

Etymology

The national flag of Canada

From “Blame Canada”, a song from the satirical 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /bleɪm ˈkænədə/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: blame Can‧a‧da

Verb

blame Canada (third-person singular simple present blames Canada, present participle blaming Canada, simple past and past participle blamed Canada)

1. (US, idiomatic, humorous) A catch phrase for shifting attention away from a problem or serious social issue by humorously laying responsibility on Canada. [from c. 1999.]
   • 2004, The Mockingbird Foundation, comp., The Phish Companion: A Guide to the Band and Their Music, 2nd edition, San Francisco, Calif.: Backbeat Books, →ISBN, page 113:

     So, if you don't like this performance, blame Canada!

   • 2007 November 14, Lewis Lazare, “Ads are ‘sno’ big deal; Reebok spot gives Bears chance to sparkle”, in Chicago Sun-Times:

     We surely can't blame Canada. Nike, we suspect, is where we must point the finger for what has become the somewhat too familiar norm in television advertising put forth by major global sporting goods brands. As we all know by now, it was Nike and the agency's longtime marketing partner Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Ore., that became famous for delivering a steady stream of soft-sell advertising that sold mood, atmosphere and brand image with minimal reference to the actual goods a particular television commercial might have been created to push.

   • 2013 April 22, “hopefulmom11”, “Blame Canada?”, in What to Expect: Pregnancy and Parenting, Every Step of the Way‎^[1], archived from the original on 1 October 2015:

     Basically, instead of blaming the U.S. government or society or poor parenting for the way our children behave (poorly), we'll just blame Canada. Everything is Canada's fault.

   • 2015 October 9, Siobhan Smith, “9 things couples in healthy relationships probably do – and it’s OK”, in WOW247‎^[2], archived from the original on 14 November 2015:

     Blame their partner for something bad that happened […] It really depends on the circumstances for this one. If the something bad that happened was your dog getting run over, by your partner, then they might deserve to be blamed for it. Especially if they were drunk at the time. This doesn't necessarily mean you’re in an unhealthy relationship. Sometimes people are at fault. And if in doubt, just blame Canada.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blame,‎ Canada.
   • 2005, Howard F. Lyman, Glen Merzer, Joanna Samorow-Merzer, “Is Mad Cow here to Stay?”, in No More Bull!: The Mad Cowboy Targets America's Worst Enemy, Our Diet, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, pages 22–23:

     A few days after the sick Holstein was identified, Dr. DeHaven announced that the cow had been part of a herd of seventy-four cattle shipped from Alberta, Canada, more than two years earlier. […] The National Cattlemen's Beef Association immediately resorted to a blame-Canada-first strategy, suggesting that U.S. trading partners should now reopen their borders to unfairly maligned American beef.

   • 2009, Jeff Rose-Martland, Game Misconduct, [Raleigh, N.C.]: Lulu, →ISBN, page 83:

     So even if we were letting these people into Canada, and I'm not saying that's true, shouldn't the Yanks be keeping them out of the US anyway? […] It seems like every time the US can't get its act together, instead of looking at themselves to solve the problem, they blame Canada.

See also

• scapegoat

Further reading

• “Blame Canada” (song) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia