When I am abroad, would it be wrong if I say I am American when asked? (crimes, school)
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Why would the locals be getting hostile? What are you doing?
And why do you think lying is a good way to quell hostilities?
Quite a few Americans are infatuated with the idea that people in foreign lands hate their guts because "they're Americans". For some people bad press is better than no press.
My fallback position if the locals get a little hostile is to say I’m Canadian.
Why would the locals be getting hostile? What are you doing?
And why do you think lying is a good way to quell hostilities?
If memory serves me correctly, I believe it's already been explained to you in the past why there are so many Americans who, while travelling abroad, have found it's safer to claim to be Canadians. Even to the extent of having little Canadian flags stitched onto their jackets or hats or luggage or backpacks as identifiers. This is common knowledge and the practise has been going on since at least the late 1960's.
"American" means that you are from the United States of America.
If anybody doesn't know that, then your polite duty is to educate them on that subject matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident
Yeah, but nobody says “I’m a citizen of the United States” in a casual conversation. They would likely say “I’m from the US” or “I’m American”.
I don’t follow your logic. What exactly do you say then? “I’m originally from Russia” (in your case). Otherwise, why would it be dumb to say that you’re American. Outside of Latin America, it is understood that the term America refers exclusively to the United States.[/quote]
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQConvict
"American" is not an ethnicity, it is a citizenship status. If you are a citizen of the United States, you can rightfully call yourself American.
*with a notable exception*
[i]The further south you get in South America, you will run into many people who, even though they will understand you mean a citizen of the USA when you say "American", will jump at the opportunity to argue with you that everyone in the Western hemisphere is 'American' and insist you call yourself something else. Argentina is the absolute peak of this.[/I]
When something goes wrong in the world it is likely due to the "Americans" otherwise......NO! OR, OR if something goes extremely and perfectly correct it is likely to the credit and efforts of the other Americans.
I have personally been involved with various threads of this nature...unfortunately I must either play dumb and go along with it or get myself into an untenable conversation and surrender, which honestly, is preferable
If memory serves me correctly, I believe it's already been explained to you in the past why there are so many Americans who, while travelling abroad, have found it's safer to claim to be Canadians. Even to the extent of having little Canadian flags stitched onto their jackets or hats or luggage or backpacks as identifiers. This is common knowledge and the practise has been going on since at least the late 1960's.
I would go so far as to say that if someone is a U.S. citizen, then they are an American whether they like it or not.
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...NO! OR, OR if something goes extremely and perfectly correct it is likely to the credit and efforts of the other Americans.
