Living Reporter
We pick our noses when we think no one's watching.
We bite our nails, chew on pens and pencils. Some of us nervously suck the tips of our hair.
But we have a few habits that are distinctly Canadian. We're polite to a fault, won't push in line, can't stop whining about the weather.
And, of course, there's this:
"You say `eh,'" says Margaret Wilcox, 68, a tourist in town from Virginia. "I don't think it's a weird habit, but I love to hear you say `eh.' There's something about it. It's the opposite of our `y'all.'"
Adding that extra word to the end of our sentences is a habit that makes hosers unique. It's akin to bowing in the Japanese culture, being hospitable in the Maritimes. Or the wild gesticulating that accompanies conversations in many European countries.
Steve Joordens, a University of Toronto Scarborough psychology professor, says such habits help us fit in – even if the most enduring ones aren't as sexy as "eh."
We've probably picked up a lot of our tendencies by copying others, he says, but habits are not things we consciously perform. "It just happens when we're not thinking about it."
These unconscious actions – twisting our hair or sucking our thumbs – might satisfy some primitive need to rid ourselves of extra energy. Our conscious selves probably won't allow us to dispose of it any other way, Joordens says.
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