7 Things Montrealers Find Embarrassing But No One Else Does

For shame.

Montrealers are a proud bunch, and who can really blame us, there's lots to be proud of. Our hubris is largely unrivaled regarding quality of life, culture, cuisine etc etc etc, but once in while, even a Montrealer gets embarrassed. Though we'll never willingly admit to these things, they do exist and even thinking about them makes us cringe.

But don't worry, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. We all get embarrassed by these things sometimes, the trick is hard denial.

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Losing to the Maple Leaf's

I realize as I'm writing this that losing to the Maple Leafs is an embarrassment to any city, not just Montreal, but as the Habs' arch rival and sworn enemy, a loss to the Leafs is truly horrifying and the shame it brings upon our house is almost tangible.

Photo cred - nicolasnova

Speaking French With A Horrible English Accent

It's tough living in a bilingual city when you are a little less than bilingual. You want to make an effort, but then the garbled mess of French words you manage to string together sounds horrible and you just pray no one really heard you.

Photo cred - Gavin James

Speaking English With A Horrible French Accent

Guess what? It works both ways. In a city with a heavy anglophone population, you can't really avoid speaking English sometimes. While you may be the one with the biggest English vocabulary among your French friends, your inability to correctly use them when speaking to an actual anglophone is not something you're proud of.

Photo cred - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Not Knowing Where TMR/Kirkland/Pointe-aux-Trembles Is

Montreal is a small place. A small island in fact, and if you think you know you're way around, but don't know where, say, Outremont is, you should be ashamed of yourself. Montrealers love giving directions, so if you don't know where places are on this tiny island, you should get on that asap.

Photo cred - jaxting

Any Association With America

Yes, our neighbours to the south are responsible for producing many a cool thing we know and love (and many more things we don't), like House of Cards for example, being confused with Americans is just embarrassing. Canada is very much not America, and while some other cities (*cough Toronto) may be little more open to the association, this makes a Montrealer extremely uncomfortable.

Youppi's Losing Bet

Hockey has always been a point of pride in Montreal, and an extremely strong one a that. With 24 Stanley Cup Championships to our name, failing to make the playoffs alone is something that we don't even want to think about. Thankfully, that hasn't happened in a while, and just last year, Montrelers were so confident the Habs would go all the way, they accepted a bet made by Jimmy Fallon during the Eastern Conference Finals with the New York Rangers. We unfortunately lost, and I don't want to talk about it.

The Big O

Even though the Big O is a very unique and recognizable landmark that had the honour of hosting the 1976 Summer Olympics, the truth is, it's kind of embarassing to Montrealers. The useless roof has always been a joke, and its ranking as the #1 Over-Budget Project In The World is not something to be proud of.

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Photo cred - Philippe Du Berger