mikelg

Bellastar: take it easy, I just intended to know if there was any good reason for this (to me) incorrect use of the word American, as its meaning is much wider.

I do not pretend to call anybody arrogant or anything, just pointed out an "anomaly" in the language. Imagine being a Chilean, going to the USA and when answering about your origin "I am American" (absolutely true under any point of view), you would get a very odd face from the other person, the "real" American. Nothing to do with politics and much to do with language and generalization of terms.

Continents: to me, 5. To most, 7. To some: 6. That's why I've been taught and (I guess) the normal answer in Europe (5). Europe and Asia are different continents based mostly in historic reasons, not on geographical, as it seems. In any case, I do not understand why Greenland is not a continent in itself...

Don't take this too seriously, anyway.
Best regards from a European-Spaniard-Basque.

rockhopper7

>Imagine being a Chilean, going to the USA and when answering about your origin "I am American" (absolutely true under any point of view), you would get a very odd face from the other person, the "real" American.<

And you know this to be true exactly how?

mikelg

rockhopper7: you are absolutely right, I am sorry about the simplistic phrase on the Monroe doctrine and had nothing to do with the topic discussed.

FlyFish

mikelg - perhaps after this wonderfully informative thread dies a natural death you could similarly enlighten us by settling once-and-for-all just how many angels can indeed dance on the head of a pin?

mikelg

it's happened to the sons of my Mexican relatives, in Boston, MA, during a meal with held at the US division of their company. The discussion that followed was as interesting (or dull) as this one.

Ryan

Mikelg,
If you looked at a Peters map instead of a Mercator map, you'd recognize the Greenland isn't nearly as large as you think it is.

As to why it isn't a continent, perhaps it falls within the North American plate or they simply have far to few people to successfully lobby the world's foremost geographic experts for their due.

Tallulah

OK, I gave up geography when I was 13 so am probably hopelessly wrong (and got a bit bored reading the overlong reasoning of many posters above - sorry!) but doesn't it have something to do with continental shift or the like? So a continent in today's geographical and/or political terms doesn't necessarily bear any relation to the 'original' geological continent?

Hopelessly wrong? Thought so!

I see it that a country is defined by common laws and governance; therefore America/USA/US/them-across-the-water counts as one country, one political entity and is therefore separate from Mexico/Argentina/Chile etc (which in turn are different from each other). The fact that it's often called America is neither here nor there. By all accounts that's not something that originated in the US anyway....

I don't say that I live in Europe, I say that I live in England; and I rather doubt that anyone walking down the road in Lima is thinking to themselves 'I live in America'... Were anyone I know to start saying that they live 'in Europe', I wouldn't start accusing them of arrogance!

Keith

Americans didn't take the name of the continent. The continent is North America. When residents of the continent refer to themselves, they are North Americans.

Yes it is two continents. North & South America or the Americas.

Bored today?

Keith

easytraveler

"United Queendom" - I like that! Very ingenious!

mikelg: wait another 100 years. Either the US will have taken over the rest of the world in the name of democracy and we'll all call ourselves "Americans" or

The "blue States" will have joined Canada and we'll call ourselves "The United States of Canada" versus the "red" States which will probably become "Jesusland".

Just kidding!

ncgrrl

First, life isn't fair. Anyone who tells you that is lying to you. And if you believe life is fair, you need to change your beliefs.

Well, at international athletic events (like the Olympics) the chant of the crowd is U-S-A. So I guess we (USAers, Americans, whatever) do know the full name of our country.

In the grand scheme of things "America" is shorter and faster to say, and most people internationally know where we refer of.

Outside of crossword puzzle solvers (and dedicated fans of geography), who knows the boundary between Europe and Asia?

ssachida

I rather like 'United Statesman', that someone said that Dickens said. Politically incorrect or not, it sounds so elite
I'm going to try that next time. The reactions should be fun!

thomthumb

From the books that I've read, it was the "Europeans" that started calling us "Americans". Up until 1865, the "United States" was a plural term, like, "the US. are...", but now we say "the US. is..."
Many people prior to the civil war considered themselves Texans or Virginians etc. before they considered themselves American. Much like some of you have predicted will happen in the EU.

tcreath

When I travel outside the United States, I usually name the city or state I live in as opposed to saying that I am American or I live in the US. In my experiences, its mostly the Europeans who refer to us as "Americans". When we were in Italy and Austria this past March, several people asked where we were from. When we said either Illinois or the U.S., they would answer by calling us Americans. It's just easier to refer to us as Americans then to call us "Illinoisians", "Missourians", etc.
The United States of America is one country, as opposed to, say, Chili, which is a country in itself. If Illinois were its own separate country, I'm sure I would be dubbed an "Illinoisian" by most, But because its not, its just simpler to use the term "American".

kswl

Habit.

Ryan

"The United States of America is one country, as opposed to, say, Chili, which is a country in itself."

That you Dan Qualye?

travelactually

because it is, that's why. It was sort of a stupid question, don't you think!

laverendrye

Here's a North American perspective from outside the U.S.A. In Canada, we rarely use the term "America", but refer to the country as the U.S. or more commonly, "the States". I notice that "America" is often used by the British and other Europeans to refer to the U.S.A.

On the other hand, the citizens of the U.S.A. are universally referred to as "Americans" here in Canada, and no Canadian would dream of referring to him or herself (or anyone else from outside the U.S.) as an American, despite living in North America.

In Mexico, however, I understand that the term "norteamericano" or even more commonly "gringo" (not always in a pejorative way) are used as well as "estadounidense". "Americano" is, logically, anyone from the Americas.

However, logic and consistency has never been a hallmark of the English language, and that is one of its joys. Those of us in English-speaking North America have no problems with this logical inconsistency.

ahhnold

I find it troubling that something so silly "puzzles" many of you in Europe.

And they think 59 million Americans are stupid because they voted for Bush.

April

If nothing else, I now understand why I've been so confused about the continents.

ron

What I have always thought odd was why the United States was never able to come up with a name for the country. They quickly developed a brilliant constitution, an equally brilliant bill of rights, a stirring national anthem, a badly-designed, overly busy flag, but never got around to naming the country.

Whenever I am asked, when I am Europe, what part of America I am from, I answer, "the Canadian part". For some reason I fail to understand, this almost always elicits an apology from the questioner.