Cheesus

Je t'en prie, mon fiston.

This might be the general 'best practice' today for plumbing, but even as recent as 1998 I wouldn't count on it. It was technically not against code in Canada around 5 years ago as long as the piping was done in fire-rated materials. Also it's pretty much impossible to not have at least some wiring in party walls.

Same, never heard 'aboot' in my life. However, I do tend to say '-eh' all the time, especially at the end of sentences as emphasis.

I don't know about that... In my family of Canadians there was always a little bit of anti-American sentiment growing up. Culturally, while close, there are definitely differences. They used to come up during salmon season and cheat the system by catching over the limit and canning it at night so the authorities couldn't count their catch. I would never say that all Americans are bad people, but the 'fuck you, I got mine' attitude seems to be much more prevalent south of the border.

Shampoo ? What's that?

People wash their hair waaaay too much. I use shampoo in my hair once a month; the rest of the time I just scrub it with water and my fingers, and I very rarely have dandruff. Mind you, my skin is quite oily, but when I was a teenager with super long hair I washed my hair with shampoo every day and my hair was fried as fuck. Also, I think it contributed a lot to my extremely bad acne, which I almost never get anymore.

"What's the bullshit?' = How are you?

N'importe quoi.

First of all, I'm not French, so take what I say with a grain of salt. My wife however is, and we've talked about this a lot aha. But no, I'd never be offended unless it was used in a way to belittle me, which has never happened. Both of us agree that continuing to use 'vous' with someone you know creates a certain barrier, even a statement if you will. In most situations, if you start to use tu with, for example a salesman/woman, they will reciprocate. It's kinda like as the customer, you've told them that you don't expect to be treated so formally and that you're more comfortable speaking as equals.

I have a great example of this, actually. My wife's parents are quite annoyed that their two daughters in law continue to use vous with them. We think they do it for a couple of reasons. My wife's parents are very Catholic, and all 3 of their children (and their spouses) are quite the opposite. It's almost as if they continue to use vous just to spite them for being so traditional. They also aren't married, tying into the theme. What's strange is my father in law has even said to them to use tu, and they refuse. In contrast, I think I started using tu after the second or third time of meeting them, because for me it's unnatural to speak so formally with people you consider family, and my father in law told my wife (then girlfriend) that it changed our (his and mine's) relationship completely (for the better of course.)

Anyways, as for Switzerland, I'm not sure. The Romands in the Geneva area tend to be a little more formal than the Savoyards in the bordering areas, but other than that I don't really know. This subject fascinates me so I'd love to know myself!

I'm in my 30s, and haven't lived here in France my whole life, but in general, yes. The only times I've been addressed with tu in a transactional situation was if either a) I knew the person, or b) in a very informal setting, like ordering a beer at a show that was in some farmers' field.

Only in Quebec would a cashier use 'tu' with a customer so freely... It's actually refreshing compared to the formality of everyday interactions in European francophone countries!

As a north american who lives in Europe, agreed. However, the gypsies do not help their own case. They show up in my region every summer, illegally camp wherever they want on private property, and leave huge piles of trash wherever they've been. I've personally seen them getting into all sorts of debauchery, including breaking into people's mail boxes and stealing bikes in plain sight. I have nothing against them and I'm sure their culture is extremely rich and interesting, but no one has the inherent right to just rip off the rest of society without consequences. Also, of course they aren't all stealing and misbehaving, but I understand where people's preconceived notions come from.