People from Canada are Canadians.
People from Guatemala are Guatemalans.
People from the United States OF AMERICA are Americans.

The Canadians, Guatemalans, and MOST but not all of the Americans are from North America. Those people are North Americans, an identity that no one every really takes, apart from the South Americans. Similarly, South Africans are African but not all Africans are South Africans.

Hope that clarifies it.

What about Netherlands? It's called "the" Netherlands but it's only one country. But it is also called Holland. But the people are called Dutch? I don't get it.

The point made previously by someone else was that the using the word "America" to describe the United States is not really correct. But it is used extensively even by Americans. The use of the word "American" to describe a citizen and/or person living in the US is accepted.

Holland is completly messed up. There's hundreds of names for it, but they get a bit annoyed, just like the British, l suppose if you get the wrong name.

It's known as Holland as a sort of slang amongst most Europeans, however the official name is the Netherlands. Thats another completly different matter altogether.

Has anyone but me noticed that our country doesn't really have a name?

The United States? We're united and we are a bunch of states.

The United States of America? America is the continent. For United States, see above.

America? Again, that is the name of the continent.

Why don't we have a name?

Or do I have too much time on my hands?

GoTravel

You got the point about "America" and that's something.

Why don't you start a contest to rename the USA?

Cheers.

Neil sent me!
He feels we need eddicatin' or summat!

In last year's Rugby World Cup, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland all played as individual countries. The bloody Poms (England) took out cup away!

:(

Message: Glyn

You make the statement >>Holland is completly messed up. There's hundreds of names for it, but they get a bit annoyed, just like the British, l suppose if you get the wrong name.

It's known as Holland as a sort of slang amongst most Europeans, however the official name is the Netherlands. Thats another completly different matter altogether.<<

Glyn, you might want to get in touch with the Netherlands Board of Tourism to tell them they're wrong because when you open its website it says: Welcome to Holland. One can gain entry to the site by going through The official Holland Site - Netherlands Board of Tourism.

http://www.visitholland.com/

A slap on the wrist with a wet noodle for the Netherlands Board of Tourism and an OBE award to you for your research.

Was this thread for real? Neil sent me too although I am a Canadian.

People from Holland prefer the country to be called 'Holland' and rather it to be called The Netherlands.

The Tourism board are probably calling it Holland since that is the name most people associate with the country. The official name for it is the Netherlands, and not Holland - this is slang.

There's no point in using the Netherlands as the website, since most people call it Holland.

So l'll take that OBE thanks.

Your answer is beyond me. I give up (until I have more official word that Holland is slang."

You shouldn't give up, you should agree to my answer. Giving up is a sign of weekness, my good friend.

If you don't understand something, then you should ask.

I can't stop laughing. I know now this question and your answers are a hoax. The kind that some people post just for a reaction. Good work Glyn.

The fact that this post was misplaced on the US board is interesting. The fact that so far 94 responses have been gathered by it on the wrong board says a whole lot. My only problem is, I can't figure out exactly what that fact DOES say.

I have read all the posts on this issue. I am hoping there is no quiz to follow. I don't think I would pass. By the way..I'm an American...from Ohio.

Well if you believe that this message was posted on the wrong forum, which maybe it was, then it's proven to be more popular on here than it was on the Europe boards.

The fact can be seen in my very first message, Patrick. This is simply to raise awareness of the fact there is more in the UK than England, and that England does not consist of 4 countries. This is not trying to cause controversy, but it is simply to raise awareness of a problem that l experienced during my world travels, especially in America and Asian countries.

Hope that gives you a better understanding in the reason as to why l posted on this board.

So i may sound really stupid asking this but my friend and I keep arguing over whether england is a country or not. I say it is, but she is trying to convince me otherwise. She says that the UK is a country and england is just a part of it. Who is right???

Neil Wasn't it QEII appointed Governor General who offed Gough Whitlam. You really should become a republic In case there is ever a Labour PM again.

After the last US election there was a lot of talk about forming the United States of Canada, an amalgam of Canada and the blue states. As that hasn't happened I'm moving to Victoria, BC

A/D

I have to wonder how these Americans came to ask the question, "What part of England are you from?" That doesn't strike me as a likely first question, more likely would be something like, "Oh, are you English?" To which a staunch nationalist might respond, "I'm Welsh, actually." (Then you can explain that Wales isn't part of England. It flows nicely.)

Most Americans think "England" based on the accent, which they recognize as an "English accent." The honest mistake that even educated people make here, and that you probably encountered, is that except in the case of a really broad Scots accent, they really have no perception of variant accents from different areas of the UK. You can tell Swansea from Geordie from Oxbridge, but they generally cannot. (BTW, I didn't read the whole thread, so I didn't catch which home nation you are actually from; I'm just using Wales as an example.) If to the listener you sound English, England would seem to be a good first guess.

Can you differentiate by accent between New York and New Orleans, or tell New Mexico from Michigan? We don't expect foreign vistors to be able to accurately guess what region of the US we are from; for that reason I don't think it is realistic to expect the average American to be able to guess what region our foreign visitors are from, either.

Oh, please. Glyn neglects to point out that other Europeans also do the same thing. Speaking any kind of English in France, no matter what the accent is, and the French will assume you are "anglais." Launching into a prissy lecture about Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland will elicit an indifferent shrug, not the floods of apologies Americans will offer. Ditto for Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, etc.
Perhaps one day the Glyn Williams of the world and their ilk will remember that Americans who come from below the Mason-Dixon line are not Yanks!

hopefully Northern Ireland someday will be part of Ireland again.

I always thought that the derisive song of the soldiers-from-across-the-water (whom we called redcoats)titled "Yankee Doodle Dandy" referred to all the colonists (e.g., including Virginians)of the original 13.

BTilk: I looked up "Yankee" (origin unknown) and the first definition was "resident of U.S.," the second was "resident of New England colonies."

It's an outdated reference. There are few residents of those former colonies below what became the Mason-Dixon line who publicly consider themselves Yanks. These days, at most, Yankees refer to New Englanders and members of a certain NY baseball team (and perhaps, by extension, their fans). Most modern-day Americans are no more Yanks than most Brits are "limeys" or "redcoats."
Whenever I hear a European refer to all Americans as "Yanks" (and I live in Europe), then I know they are pretty clueless about Americans.

"Publicly?" You therefore consider "yank" a perjorative?

http://members.aol.com/gordonkwok/yankee.html
note the reference to Yankees as "hideous creatures."

99% of Europeans who call Americans "Yankees" or even worse, "Yanks" have no idea what the word means or where the term originates. When I hear Europeans blethering about Yanks this and Yanks that (usually in a derisive and/or condescending tone), anything they have to say on the subject is immediately suspect.

Even worse offenders, though, are Americans who like to refer to *all* their fellow citizens as "Yanks" in the misguided assumption that it makes them sound European.

I know that in all the WW2 movies, other english-speaking non-U.S. soldiers always sounded pretty happy about Yanks being around (and don't forget "the Yanks are coming" for WW1). So, what do you prefer? Cracker? It also has English colonial origins...

Well, Sylvia, life in Europe today is not like that shown in a 60 year old WW II propaganda movie. When today's Europeans speak of Yanks, it's hardly in the cuddly, admiring, rose-tinted way you're imagining. Come on over and live in Europe for a few years and hear how 21st century Europeans talk about "Yanks"--and no, I don't want to be called a cracker either. I prefer being called an American (or an expat). I don't call Brits limeys, I don't call the French frogs or Frenchies.

I'm with Sylvia3 on this. In WW II the Brits were Tommys, while the Americans were Yanks. I don't consider it a pejoritive term at all.

You've responded while I was writing. I will add that Yank can be used in a negative sense, as in Yankee go home, but I still don't think that, in and of itself, it is like frog or gook, or any of the bad names we put on groups. I'm not sure Limey is really a negative word, either. I think it was used during the Napoleonic Wars by the English themselves. I guess word use can change over time, but WW II was not that long ago in my recollection.

You know, as recently as thirty years ago, the term "Brit" was considered insulting. It was what the IRA called British people in an effort to insult, saying the whole word was too much trouble. You have no hesitation using it now.

hmmm--I just conducted an informal poll of college sophomores (engineering majors of stellar character); not a single one thought that "Yank" was an insult, so I suppose you're living in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Though, from your posts, I don't think the 1940s were your cup of tea, either...)

sylva, Your informal poll is meaningless if you asked 19-20 year olds whether or not "Yank" is a pejorative.

Stellar characters aside, it's kind of like asking middle aged Brits about Barney. Out of date and out of context.

Get real.

Sylvia, that is a completely pointless poll. Their "stellar character" is also completely irrelevant.
By the way, do you often badger college students with personal, non class-related questions on Sunday night? Kind of intrusive, don't you think?

Go back to your students and ask them these questions:
1. If you meet a group of Europeans for the first time, do you identify yourself as an American or as a Yank?
2. Do you think Southerners refer to themselves as Yanks when traveling overseas?
3. How much time have you spent traveling overseas and listening to or reading international news AND commentary on American lifestyles, business and government affairs?
4. Which European news and commentary programs do you follow on a regular basis?
5. How much time have you spent traveling and living overseas, out of the usual tourist hotspots?

Those questions will give you answers that actually have some relevance to the discussion.

I looked over the Sunday British papers yesterday and found several condescending or negative "Yank" comments in everything from the international affairs to the fashion and entertainment sections. I read the British and Belgian press almost everyday--most references to things Yankee or Yank are NOT complimentary.

When I worked for a communications agency in Switzerland, I was the only American--all the others were British or Swiss. Any references to something the "Yanks" did were ALWAYS negative. Saying that something or other was American (rather than Yankee) tended to be neutral in tone.

However, Sylvia, if in your overseas travels someone smirks and tells you something you do or say is "typical Yank", go ahead and take it as a compliment. You will be glowing over what you think is flattery and you will give the European a good laugh. A win-win situation.

Barbara, that's an interesting point about Brits. It may have been an insult, but the British themselves now make frequent references to Brits in a non insulting way (but sometimes as an insult, too). I hear it every day one way or another on British TV or out and about here in Berkshire. OTOH, I DON'T hear Americans, at home in the U.S., referring to themselves as Yanks in ordinary conversations.

BTilke, it is quite interesting. It doesn't bother me or my siblings, but my mother's generation really dislike it and do consider it insulting. At the same time, her generation is the WWII generation that doesn't think of "Yanks" as an insult.

BTilke, such a chip on your shoulder! I asked the younger generation ("stellar character" was of course facetious; I meant to imply that they were literate, newspaper-reading thoughtful people, but didn't want to run on, as you did)to see if their opinion was similar to yours, mine, or the WW2 folks. I've certainly traveled, but not to Europe since our disgraceful invasion; having never been referred to as a "Yank" I certainly can't speak to whether it's meant derogatively (I wouldn't be surprised). I think you consider it so, regardless of contest or tone, because you are a "southerner." I have never referred to myself as a "northerner," nor have I ever heard someone from north of the Mason-Dixon line do so. The Civil War is over. You lost. Get over it.

Oh, and to set the matter straight: no one has ever called me typical anything, and I think I can tell when I'm being sneered at, and I never glow with pride. However, you seem very familiar with the phenomenon.
To sum, no need to get personal and snotty, just because I didn't think "yank" was a bad 4-letter word.

When I moved to Texas from Minnesota they referred to me as a yankee. They also cosider a Minnesotian to be the same as a New Englander. Seattle to Boston are all the same Yankees in their minds and they are serious about it. I would love to see the look on a Texan's face when he goes to England and is referred to as a Yankee!

Sylvia, in another correction to your many false assumptions, I am not and never have been a southerner.
Jorr, for some reason, hardly anyone in Europe says Yankee any more but they do say Yanks. I HAVE seen Texans called Yanks in Europe and the expressions on their faces is pretty amusing.
Anyway, I'm done with this thread! I have some articles to finish, post a much overdo trip report to Vienna, and then get ready for a short trip to Paris, Brussels and Brugge....