[oehtXRwMkIs]

Some are obvious and others surprising to me, but I'm very glad they mention the way "American" is used in the US. It always ticked me off but I never felt like I could mention it due to how widespread it is. Now I have somewhere to point to if I want to bring it up, kind of like how French people can point to the DGLFLF if someone uses the term nègre nowadays.

[TMWNN]

>Some are obvious and others surprising to me, but I'm very glad they mention the way "American" is used in the US.

The United States of America is the only country in the world with the word "America" in its name.

[umanwizard]

In English (not just in the US), “American” means someone or something from the USA. Yes, it originally meant something different, but the meanings of words drift over time in all languages.

[bentley]

Why does it tick you off?

It seems to me like a simple cultural/language difference related to how we count the continents. In the Anglosphere (not just the USA) children are brought up thinking of seven continents, including North and South America, while in Spanish‐speaking countries they think of six, including simply America. Neither is really right or wrong, because there’s no formal definition of what a continent is—it’s merely convention. (Some people consider Eurasia a single continent, some people don’t consider Antarctica a continent…)

Because of this difference in convention, the word “América” in Spanish is more accurately translated to English as “the Americas” than “America.”

Is this actually a problem that needs fixing in English? Is it a problem at all? Are there any Canadians out there offended at not being called Americans despite making up a major part of [North] America?

The suggested alternative of using “United States” to refer to America‐the‐country overlooks that there is another country (even another North American country!) with that name: Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

[richbell]

> How could two whole continents

> Lose their name to one constituent

> Where were we when the U.S. went

> And took the word American away

> But to be fair to them

> Their other name options

> Like U.S.A.ers and United Statesians

> Were pretty bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7iqSMy4CzE