[denton-scratch]

The law in both the UK and the USA is that it's a crime to tell other people to commit violence. I think these are sensible laws.

[Edit] I'm no censorship maximalist! But populist politicians can stir up real violence just by speaking through their megaphone, and people die as a result. I think it's perfectly proper to forbid speech that exhorts violence.

[nradov]

So are you stating that President Roosevelt (a populist politician) should have been forbidden from telling other people to commit violence against German and Japanese people during WW2?

[denton-scratch]

I have not made any such statement. I have opinions about how USAians might better organize their affairs, but it's not my place to express them.

[tekknik]

> USAians

we call ourselves Americans.

[denton-scratch]

You are free to call yourselves whatever you like; I prefer to distinguish between inhabitants of the USA, inhabitants of Canada, and inhabitants of Guatemala.

And for clarity: no - I'm not trying to wind anyone up.

[tekknik]

Canadians, and Guatemalans, respectively. There’s also Central Americans and South Americans.

USA = United States of America, hence Americans.

Do we really have to be this woke?

[denton-scratch]

"We" can speak for ourselves, I guess. I think anyone that knew me would laugh at the suggestion I was "woke".

Yes, I understand the derivation of "American" from USA. Thanks for explaining it to me, though; I'm sure most people here had no idea that's how it is derived.

And yes, there are other ways to refer to various different inhabitants of the American continent. "Chileans", for example.

I'm not telling others how to speak; they can speak however they choose. I was berated for referring to inhabitants of the USA as USAians, because I consider "Americans" to be the inhabitants of the American continent.

Feel free to call me a pedant. I'm a proud pedant. You can even call me "woke" if you like; it's water off a duck's back.

[MichaelCollins]

He knows, he's trying to get a rise out of Americans.