Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I went to school in Bulgaria which is in Europe. We were taught that there are two American continents - North and South. Also, everyone in Bulgaria calls citizens of US - Americans. When people from Russia, Serbia, England, Germany etc say Americans, they talk about citizens of USA. Nobody would ever think an American could be someone from Brazil. It's absurd.
LOL since you mentioned Brazil, check this:
America." The Oxford Companion to the English Language (ISBN 0-19-214183-X). The name America first appeared on a map in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, referring to the area now called Brazil]. Since the 16c, a name of the western hemisphere, often in the plural Americas and more or less synonymous with the New World. Since the 18c, a name of the United States of America. The second sense is now primary in English: ... However, the term is open to uncertainties: ..."
Please understand that because people in Bulgaria and the US don't use America to refer to the New World it doesn't mean other nations don't. If you don't like it, fine but that doesn't change reality: some South Americans refer to the whole region as America.
what about New Zealand citizens? Are they Australians?
... when they meet someone that doesn't get the geography, yes, New Zealanders (nice Dutch word eh) will say that they are from Australia. If all else fails, they claim that they are British, or United Kingdom, or English. I think that's a bit more like a reluctant thing when New Zealanders have to reference Australia and England to explain their accent, whereas anyone from the Americas is not reluctant to identify their nationality or continent ... not normally ... more like Europeans ... country or continent. I think what most of the Americas would prefer is that the United States accept their alien sounding designation of: United Statians. Perhaps it should be United Staters, like Netherlanders, but State - ers. What about United Statuois ... like, perhaps they'd like to join Quebec.
Speaking of economic standing. I believe the US government lost its triple A rating in the international financial markets after the last two party spat. Was that fixed, or is the US still lagging in terms of tremendous debt and political infighting? Why are there only two political parties in the US?
Why do people from the United States object to people from the Americas Continent describing themselves as american?
As I have already indicated I think the good citizens from the Americas (regardless of their citizenship) can certainly refer to themselves as Americans. In the event, however, of global difficulty or upheaval which may arise due to anti 'American' sentiment and let's be frank here, there is plenty of that to go around, even among our 'allies' and 'friends', what then? When and in what context will anyone then insist that they are an 'American'?
I would hope that when someone declares themselves as an American, in any capacity, they will be able to produce their passport so as not to endanger themselves or their family. Which 'American' will they be at that point in time? There are 30+ countries in the Americas with over 550 million citizens and I have to wonder if there is potential for confusion, mishap, and perhaps danger as well.
Wondering about why there is no outcry from our good neighbors to the north? I'm pretty sure that Canada is on the continent of the Americas and it does not appear to me that the citizens of Canada have any desire to be called American, rather they seem to be quite vocal and proud to be Canadian (as they should be).
If the entire population of the Americas are Americans then it only follows that the citizens of Canada should also call themselves American as well.
America." The Oxford Companion to the English Language (ISBN 0-19-214183-X). The name America first appeared on a map in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, referring to the area now called Brazil]. Since the 16c, a name of the western hemisphere, often in the plural Americas and more or less synonymous with the New World. Since the 18c, a name of the United States of America. The second sense is now primary in English: ... However, the term is open to uncertainties: ..."
Please understand that because people in Bulgaria and the US don't use America to refer to the New World it doesn't mean other nations don't. If you don't like it, fine but that doesn't change reality: some South Americans refer to the whole region as America.
Which is totally fine but let's be honest... I like peppers. If I go to a restaurant in China and say "I like peppers" they'll just stare at me, confused. If I'm speaking their language to communicate with them, I say "wo ai la jiao," which translates to literally the same thing.
If I engage a waiter or restauranteur by saying "wo ai peppers" and then explain to them that we call la jiao "peppers" in English so that's what I'm calling them in Chinese and they can't stop me, then I look like a somewhat-unstable, reactionary doofus, trying to enforce my own native language on people to suit my needs.
People from Latin American countries may call themselves "Americans" in Spanish (although in my experience, it seems as though they will refer to themselves by their nationality as opposed to Americans basically all the time), but the reality of the English language, whether anyone likes it or not, is that American refers to a US citizen or national in every English-speaking country, and transliterations of American are used to describe the same in many other languages - Chinese, Japanese, Russian, etc.
As I said before, anyone from outside the US who calls themselves an American is welcome to do so but they should be prepared to constantly have to explain why they chose to break vernacular and also be judged as a weirdo or contrarian in the process.
... when they meet someone that doesn't get the geography, yes, New Zealanders (nice Dutch word eh) will say that they are from Australia. If all else fails, they claim that they are British, or United Kingdom, or English. I think that's a bit more like a reluctant thing when New Zealanders have to reference Australia and England to explain their accent, whereas anyone from the Americas is not reluctant to identify their nationality or continent ... not normally ... more like Europeans ... country or continent. I think what most of the Americas would prefer is that the United States accept their alien sounding designation of: United Statians. Perhaps it should be United Staters, like Netherlanders, but State - ers. What about United Statuois ... like, perhaps they'd like to join Quebec.
But why should these people who are in other countries, speaking different languages from English, be the ones who decide the denonym
for a US citizen? Why should their frustration over a terminology in a language they likely rarely if ever use or even know require that the residents of the country in question, who speak a different language, adopt a term that is unnatural and awkward at best, and silly or goofy at worst? Why do their sensibilities take precedence? I have yet to read a compelling argument to this effect.
I went to school in Bulgaria which is in Europe. We were taught that there are two American continents - North and South. Also, everyone in Bulgaria calls citizens of US - Americans. When people from Russia, Serbia, England, Germany etc say Americans, they talk about citizens of USA. Nobody would ever think an American could be someone from Brazil. It's absurd.
The only thing I am learning in this thread is that South Americans live in there own little world.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
