--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Not until I came to Canada did I realize…" description: "\"Not until I came to Canada did I realize that snow was a four-letter word.\" — Alberto Manguel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alberto-manguel-2467_canada_not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize_1081783.jpg" --- # Not until I came to Canada did I realize that snow was a… ![“Not until I came to Canada did I realize that snow was a four-letter word.” quote by Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alberto-manguel-2467_canada_not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize_1081783.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alberto-manguel-2467_canada_not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize_1081783.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alberto-manguel-2467_canada_not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize_1081783.jpg) > “Not until I came to Canada did I realize that snow was a four-letter word.” [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author humorously notes that living in Canada changes perception of snow from benign to intimidating. **In simple terms:** Snow feels threatening after experiencing it. Key Takeaway Respect local climate realities. Themes culture shock environment language Mood reflective lighthearted Type cultural observational When to use this quote - moving to cold climates - travel planning - climate education Key Concepts weather adaptation language perception Questions to Reflect On - How does environment reshape language? - What coping strategies help with new climates? A Different Perspective Humor may downplay genuine hardships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Canada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canada/) [Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snow/) ## Related quotes > [There's still a lot of Americans who think that those who perpetrated the attacks on 9/11 came from Canada, which is absolutely and totally incorrect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-fadden/there-s-still-a-lot-of-americans-who-think-that-those-who-perpetrated/) Richard Fadden > [My parents are two academics that came to Canada to pursue academic opportunities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simu-liu/my-parents-are-two-academics-that-came-to-canada-to-pursue-academic/) [Simu Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simu-liu/) > [I'm so proud of how well Canada did at the Games here. It think we're going to do even better in 2010.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-klassen/i-m-so-proud-of-how-well-canada-did-at-the-games-here-it-think-we-re/) [Cindy Klassen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-klassen/) > [I went to a wrestling school in Canada. That did not work out well, I think I was out there for like a week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyrus/i-went-to-a-wrestling-school-in-canada-that-did-not-work-out-well-i/) [Tyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyrus/) > [When I started out in Canada, I did a lot of voice-overs and commercials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-martin/when-i-started-out-in-canada-i-did-a-lot-of-voice-overs-and/) [Andrea Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-martin/) > [I'm from Canada, so I did a lot of camping and rafting growing up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caterina-scorsone/i-m-from-canada-so-i-did-a-lot-of-camping-and-rafting-growing-up/) [Caterina Scorsone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caterina-scorsone/) > [We came to Canada as refugees from Africa and worked hard for everything we have. I think my life can show people that a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonso-davies/we-came-to-canada-as-refugees-from-africa-and-worked-hard-for/) [Alphonso Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonso-davies/) > [We came to a great country like Canada that took us in, which is amazing looking back at it. At that time, I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonso-davies/we-came-to-a-great-country-like-canada-that-took-us-in-which-is/) [Alphonso Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonso-davies/) > [I came to Canada at a young age and I've been here for most of my life, so being able to play for this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonso-davies/i-came-to-canada-at-a-young-age-and-i-ve-been-here-for-most-of-my/) [Alphonso Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonso-davies/) > [My wife and I came to Canada for the 1994 Commonwealth Games and we really liked the B.C. lifestyle and environment. The following year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-brown/my-wife-and-i-came-to-canada-for-the-1994-commonwealth-games-and-we/) [Jonathan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-brown/) > [I came from Canada, where it's freezing cold for seven months out of the year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachelle-lefevre/i-came-from-canada-where-it-s-freezing-cold-for-seven-months-out-of/) [Rachelle Lefevre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachelle-lefevre/) > [I came from Canada when I was about 10 years old, and our family settled in Cleveland, Ohio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-shuster/i-came-from-canada-when-i-was-about-10-years-old-and-our-family/) [Joe Shuster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-shuster/) > [“When I first came to Canada, I thought it was going to be easy to be a Canadian; like so many stupid Americans, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/when-i-first-came-to-canada-i-thought-it-was-going-to-be-easy-to-be-a/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [Yeah, I'm a young immigrant and I came to Canada with nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmad-balshe/yeah-i-m-a-young-immigrant-and-i-came-to-canada-with-nothing/) [Ahmad Balshe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmad-balshe/) > [I was born in India, and we came from a poor family and lived in a rural village. My dad came over to Canada…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/i-was-born-in-india-and-we-came-from-a-poor-family-and-lived-in-a/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) ## More by Alberto Manguel > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [At different times and in different places I have come to expect certain books to look a certain way, and, as in all fashions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/at-different-times-and-in-different-places-i-have-come-to-expect/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feelings-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Then one day, from the window of a car (the destination of that journey is now forgotten), I saw a billboard by the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/then-one-day-from-the-window-of-a-car-the-destination-of-that-journey/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The shelves of books we haven't written, like those of books we haven't read, stretches out into the darkness of the universal library's farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-shelves-of-books-we-haven-t-written-like-those-of-books-we-haven/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“I have no feeling of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feeling-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-books-that-we-have-known-but-not-possessed-cross-our-path-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God's creatures, ordered alphabetically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ordered-by-subject-by-importance-ordered-according-to-whether-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The starting point is a question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-starting-point-is-a-question/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Ljubav je imbecilna izvesnost pomoću koje naša fantazija stvara verodostojnu utvaru.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ljubav-je-imbecilna-izvesnost-pomo-u-koje-na-a-fantazija-stvara/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I know that something dies when i give up my books, and that my memory keeps going back to them with mournful nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-know-that-something-dies-when-i-give-up-my-books-and-that-my-memory/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/maybe-this-is-why-we-read-and-why-in-moments-of-darkness-we-return-to/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/as-centuries-of-dictators-have-known-an-illiterate-crowd-is-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) [Explore all 159 Alberto Manguel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## More Canada quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [Plant flowers in others' gardens and your life becomes a bouquet! Submitted by Lisa Letto, Coordinator, Nutrition Resource and Volunteer Centre, College of Pharmacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/plant-flowers-in-others-gardens-and-your-life-becomes-a-bouquet/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [Our country has shown a lack of will to resist its own disintegration .. . Canada is practically the only country left in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/our-country-has-shown-a-lack-of-will-to-resist-its-own-disintegration/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Purchasing items made in the U.S. for our stores here or Canadian goods for our stores in Canada makes good business sense because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-mcmillon/purchasing-items-made-in-the-u-s-for-our-stores-here-or-canadian/) [Doug McMillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-mcmillon/) > [One of the things that I miss about Canada is that even the strangers, you have an immediate rapport, there's just an understanding that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/one-of-the-things-that-i-miss-about-canada-is-that-even-the-strangers/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [I've never been invited to do an exhibition or do a talk in England, except once, about 10 years ago. I've given talks all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-wildsmith/i-ve-never-been-invited-to-do-an-exhibition-or-do-a-talk-in-england/) [Brian Wildsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-wildsmith/) > [Canada has become such a staging area for Chinese money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kwan/canada-has-become-such-a-staging-area-for-chinese-money/) [Kevin Kwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kwan/) > [“To be honest, it's a real relief to go to Canada where I can be among my relatives. Just the kind of break I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-puddicombe/to-be-honest-it-s-a-real-relief-to-go-to-canada-where-i-can-be-among/) [Ken Puddicombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-puddicombe/) > [When I left Canada for Bayern, people said, 'You'll never make it. You'll be back in a year.' I stopped going to school because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-hargreaves/when-i-left-canada-for-bayern-people-said-you-ll-never-make-it-you-ll/) [Owen Hargreaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-hargreaves/) > [LEGO has announced that they are shutting down their U.S. factory and moving it to Canada. LEGO employees say it's their fault because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/lego-has-announced-that-they-are-shutting-down-their-u-s-factory-and/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [It's so Canada. On some level, you laugh, but on another level, it's just depressing. We pride ourselves: We're not like the bad old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-backhouse/it-s-so-canada-on-some-level-you-laugh-but-on-another-level-it-s-just/) [Constance Backhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-backhouse/) > [The movement across Canada to fight toxic chemicals is a women's movement. It's a concern about health; it's very intimate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/the-movement-across-canada-to-fight-toxic-chemicals-is-a-women-s/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [I grew up working in Canada so everything was low budget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-page/i-grew-up-working-in-canada-so-everything-was-low-budget/) [Ellen Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-page/) [Browse all 1,873 Canada quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canada/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Not until I came to Canada did I realize that snow was a four-letter word.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alberto Manguel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize-that-snow-was-a-four-letter/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Canada" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize-that-snow-was-a-four-letter/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alberto-manguel-2467_canada_not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize_1081783.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alberto-manguel-2467_canada_not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize_1081783.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alberto-manguel-2467_canada_not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize_1081783.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Not until I came to Canada did I realize that snow was a four-letter word.” — Alberto Manguel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alberto Manguel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Not until I came to Canada...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize-that-snow-was-a-four-letter/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/not-until-i-came-to-canada-did-i-realize-that-snow-was-a-four-letter/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```