[PhasmaFelis]

I eventually figured out that this is largely an issue with terminology.

In Central/South America, it's generally taught that everything from Nunavut to Cape Horn is a single continent, America. When the US calls itself "America," that's seen as a deliberate attempt to claim primacy over the whole continent.

In English-speaking North America, it's generally taught that "America" is the country and "North America/South America" are the continents, so we're befuddled by the irritation.

This is why Canada, actually, doesn't appear to have an issue with the "America" thing.

[romwell]

>in English-speaking North America, it's generally taught that "America" is the country and "North America/South America" are the continents

aaaaaand you don't see any problem here, no?

Let's try again. With that logic, there'd be no problem with Germany calling itself "Europe":

"What's the problem? When we say 'Europe', we mean our home country, a large part of the region known as 'Western Europe', and disjoint from 'Eastern Europe' - everybody here is befuddled by why the Greeks are upset! The Austrians are totally on board with it, by the way."

[pseudalopex]

Words can mean different things in different languages and different contexts.

In English-speaking cultures, North and South America are separate continents. "America" is understood to mean the USA. The polite term for someone from the USA is "American". Calling a Canadian "American" is impolite.

In Spanish-speaking cultures, América is a single continent. "Estados Unidos" is understood to mean "de América", not "Mexicanos". People from the USA are commonly called "estadounidense", "norteamericano", or "americano". It's polite for outsiders to use "estadounidense".

Neither language is indigenous to the Americas, so why not just use the polite words in each language?