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I don't really think I'm irrational though. I just don't find it that uncommon for anyone to say "Americano". I agree that you probably wouldn't see "Americano" on the news in Chile, but you also would never see them say "Gringo" on the news either.
I don't find it THAT uncommon for someone in South America to say Americano. I do hear Gringo a lot more though.
However, I never hear them refer to themselves as Americanos.
I've never had a Latin American be confused by me saying Americano, nor have I had one be offended if I call myself one.
Yes gringo (and yankee lately) is usually the colloquial term and they would never print those. You would use "estadounidense" in more formal settings like school or work.
I never used gringo though. I find the word tacky. I prefer "norteamericano" personally if I am speaking with someone in Spanish who is not familiar with US culture. In the US, I use "Americano" and in Europe "US citizen" It's all about context. I am used to speaking to people from different cultures and adjusting my word choice.
I never heard anybody in Latin America or in the US complaining about the "American" demonym personally. They usually complain about other things like NAFTA, external debt or foreign policy.
Yes gringo (and yankee lately) is usually the colloquial term and they would never print those. You would use "estadounidense" in more formal settings like school or work.
I never used gringo though. I find the word tacky. I prefer "norteamericano" personally if I am speaking with someone in Spanish who is not familiar with US culture. In the US, I use "Americano" and in Europe "US citizen" It's all about context. I am used to speaking to people from different cultures and adjusting my word choice.
I never heard anybody in Latin America or in the US complaining about the "American" demonym personally. They usually complain about other things like NAFTA, external debt or foreign policy.
Yankee is 100% derogatory. I have never seen it used in a way that isn't.
In Asia, I said American.. they basically call anyone who looks white an American.
I have never been to Europe, but any European I come across says American.
In Colombia, I heard Americano more than in Chile. Argentina, it never even came up. I've found most people just don't care about these things.. unless they are on the internet and have some sort of hatred towards the United States.
I don't know if I can now- I did study Spanish literature( from Latin America and Spain) for at least 6 years. Also studied Spanish in Spain for a year.
One of the most challenging classes I took was graduate level Cervantes. I still have my book and most pages are higlighted to the max with translations! It was insane.
There is definitely a lack of knowledge of the world and world history. More amazing is how instead of having an open conversation and learning, it has turned into never ending squabbles.
Cervantes is hard. I read the Quixote in high school but did not understand anything. Besides the difficult old Spanish I felt I didn't have enough background information to understand what he was talking about(like for example I had never read chivalry romance novels) I also remember reading other old books like "the Book of Good Love" that felt like they were written in another language.
I think reading the Canterbury tales was probably easier for me than reading old Spanish book even though English is not my mother tongue.
I think reading the Canterbury tales was probably easier for me than reading old Spanish book even though English is not my mother tongue.
I think perhaps it is a trick your mind plays. Because you think Old Spanish is going to be like modern Spanish you get more frustrated. I studied ancient Greek, and some of the students were fluent in modern Greek. They were so shocked that they couldn't read a single sentence.
The other possibility is that Middle English is closer to Modern English than Old Spanish is to Modern Spanish. If you ever hear Old English you can barely recognize a single word.
The fifteen most common verbs in English are all derived from Old English, and only #16 is derived from Old French. But while we use Old English words most of the time, most of the vocabulary in Modern English comes from French.
1 be
2 have
3 do
4 say
5 get
6 make
7 go
8 know
9 take
10 see
11 come
12 think
13 look
14 want
15 give
16 use
This is still one of my favorite quotes in this thread. Can we all agree at the very least this post is uneducated?
I think my posts were well balanced. I agree that the identification of America and Americans developed in a natural and non-malicious way, and there were no other independent countries in the Western Hemisphere at the time. Since the country was very small at the time, the charge of Imperialism makes no sense.
I also agree that it is now a natural part of language. Both American English, Canadians, most of northern Europe and a good part of Asia identifies with this convention.
I also believe that "Estadounidense" may be worthy of putting on a form, but it is far too cumbersome to say except in bureaucratic settings.
But the education system that teaches that American is a word that should not be co-opted by citizens of the USA, is far reaching into France, Italy, Spain, Greece, and much of South America and Central America. It's not a fringe concept.
Like most people I have modified the words that I use, because they are no longer widely accepted. Some words like Eskimo, I never thought of as offensive. I never dreamed that "Middle East" was a bothersome word, but it is just as easy for me to say "Western Asia". I still say "Sub-Saharan Africa" because I can't think of a better term, and I don't always mean "Africa". Personally, I would think that black people would be deeply bothered by the phrase African-American, but I still use it because it has been deemed the most acceptable word.
And yes, "African-United Statesian" is one of the most horrifying demonyms I have ever heard.
I just don't get the big deal out of respecting their education and saying "I'm from the USA". About 90% of the time, if you are from the US, it isn't necessary to tell people your home country. Your not being emasculated, nor are you giving away your birthright.
And there is no reason to mock people. To tell them they are close minded, and that Latin is a dead language.
I agree with you completely here.
I just feel like, in your regular day conversation with two normal non-aggressive people that conversation wouldn't go like the OP. The OP would have said he is American, that person would have said "Oh we call ourselves American too" The OP would then respond "oh ok, yeah we call ourselves Americans and it is how we're usually addressed"
The person would then respond "oh ok yeah that makes sense"
There leader, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. Mostly because the Mexican government was not anxious to lose the press of the newly signed NAFTA treaty, they chose to treat this invasion in a low key manner. Most of the people who showed up where US journalists from the southern cities.
The US journalists soon realized that they were more or less in a costume drama. The local craft sellers realized they could command more money for their dolls, by putting a little make on them on claiming they Subcommander Marcos dolls.
One American journalist did ask one of the revolutionaries from Guatemala what he thought was going to happen. He replied that there was going to be a great uprising in Mexico City as the masses were inspired by their example. The journalist points out that he just came from Mexico city and people are talking about soccer, and this story is on the last page.
But he was a young kid who spent his whole life listening to revolutionary radio in small towns in Guatemala.
Even something as seemingly minor as the name of continent can inflame people.
Yankees is very old. The British took over New York from the dutch in 1665 when the colonies were roughly 100K people total. The Dutch used to call the English in Connecticut Yankees.
The British used it against the colonists in the war, and Mexico started using it just before the Alamo.
Yankees is very old. The British took over New York from the dutch in 1665 when the colonies were roughly 100K people total. The Dutch used to call the English in Connecticut Yankees.
The British used it against the colonists in the war, and Mexico started using it just before the Alamo.
Yeah, I'm really confused how this became a derogatory term for Americans.
That's what people from the South say to mock Northerners.
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