I think not said:
You miss the point entirely. There is no larger entity than the nation itself that can be called Australia, China, Indonesia, Brazil, etc. In the case of America, there is.
'America' vs. USA
- Thread starter Naci_Sey
- Start date
You miss the point entirely. There is no larger entity than the nation itself that can be called Australia, China, Indonesia, Brazil, etc. In the case of America, there is.
Re: RE: 'America' vs. USA
I thought I did, and I thought you're wrong. If you'd care to try fuller explanations, go for it, but until then, I stand by what I wrote.
jimmoyer said:
I thought I did, and I thought you're wrong. If you'd care to try fuller explanations, go for it, but until then, I stand by what I wrote.
Nobody's forcing you to contribute to it. If you think it's that dumb, ignore it.
Dexter Sinister said:
I didn't miss the point Dex, it's a formal name, even if you are to invoke geography, we are still located in the Americas are we not? I thought the issue was the reference to Americans, and I believe I answered that.
Then I must be misunderstanding you ITN. Yes we are located in the Americas, but in common parlance only citizens of the United States of America are Americans.
Dex, read up on the War of Jenkin's Ear. It was a war between the British Empire and Spain in Florida. The British in order to distinguish the 13 colonies started referring to the colonialists as Americans. This is the very root on how we became Americans. The British started using the phrase and the rest of Europe picked up on it. It has nothing to do with arrogance and everything to do with history and a little bit of linguistics (for other languages).
It's kind of a known international fact that Americans aren't very bright (by and large, no offense here ITN and Wednesday). They can deem me American all they want, I know better. I'm a Canadian, not an American.
Just to highlight my point, and for a few laughs, I was watching a show the other night on the border issue in the U.S. They had some hick who worked for U.S. border security and he spent 15 minutes ranting on why the border should be better secured against Canadians. At first I was expecting him to offer the usual concerns, terrorism, drugs, but alas no, this moron never even touched on this. According to this plod, the reasons for better security against Canada are:
1. Canadians come to the U.S. in droves for cheaper prescription drugs.
2. Canadians comes to the U.S. in droves for better medical treatment
3. Canadians bring in to the U.S. diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.
I shit you not folks, this guy actually sat there on national television and said these were serious problems affecting the U.S./Canadian border. The guy interviewing him kind of had this glazed look on his face by the end. I am in no way saying all Americans are this stupid, but it does go to highlight my point that by and large the populace of the United States of America live in a bubble.
Just to highlight my point, and for a few laughs, I was watching a show the other night on the border issue in the U.S. They had some hick who worked for U.S. border security and he spent 15 minutes ranting on why the border should be better secured against Canadians. At first I was expecting him to offer the usual concerns, terrorism, drugs, but alas no, this moron never even touched on this. According to this plod, the reasons for better security against Canada are:
1. Canadians come to the U.S. in droves for cheaper prescription drugs.
2. Canadians comes to the U.S. in droves for better medical treatment
3. Canadians bring in to the U.S. diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.
I shit you not folks, this guy actually sat there on national television and said these were serious problems affecting the U.S./Canadian border. The guy interviewing him kind of had this glazed look on his face by the end. I am in no way saying all Americans are this stupid, but it does go to highlight my point that by and large the populace of the United States of America live in a bubble.
I think not said:
The War of Jenkin's Ear? Jenkin's Ear?? Never heard of it, and that's gotta be the strangest name for a conflict I've ever heard. You have strongly piqued my curiosity, as you often do (bless the Web and its colourful denizens!), I'll check that out and get back to you.
It doesn't really bother me if people in the US say that their Americans. I've never said that, if people ask I tell them what state i'm from or that i'm a citizen of a pathetic country known as the United States.... Now back to your guys wonderful debate ^_^
:roll: This is indeed a marvelous topic for debate.
I call myself a Canukian, not to be confused with a Kentuckian.
But nary an American, nay never stars and stripes,
Sometimes I wonder whut the fuxxIam.
The old Canukain quandry
The pursuit of self identity
Started by Trudeau
you know
To get the people non thinking about
Anything but Franco-Canukiasim
Which he planned to foist
Upon us on a whim
Goddam im
Multi culturalism
Also on a whim
To garner votes
From shoeless immis.
From the shores of
Gawd noes where
An now we're stuck
Fxch
With turbans on some fools
Kirpans in schools
Jamicians who shoot each other
An sometimes us
On the streets of Terrona
The good.
For drug control.
And money
Honey]
It ain't the Canukistan
I learned ta love
God
damn
Liberal
idiots.
Wish Cortezzzz wuz here to do some good open verse.
And Haggis, to spread oil on the water.(good oil)
Ah well. If wishes were horsies, beggars would ride.
Ugg
I call myself a Canukian, not to be confused with a Kentuckian.
But nary an American, nay never stars and stripes,
Sometimes I wonder whut the fuxxIam.
The old Canukain quandry
The pursuit of self identity
Started by Trudeau
you know
To get the people non thinking about
Anything but Franco-Canukiasim
Which he planned to foist
Upon us on a whim
Goddam im
Multi culturalism
Also on a whim
To garner votes
From shoeless immis.
From the shores of
Gawd noes where
An now we're stuck
Fxch
With turbans on some fools
Kirpans in schools
Jamicians who shoot each other
An sometimes us
On the streets of Terrona
The good.
For drug control.
And money
Honey]
It ain't the Canukistan
I learned ta love
God
damn
Liberal
idiots.
Wish Cortezzzz wuz here to do some good open verse.
And Haggis, to spread oil on the water.(good oil)
Ah well. If wishes were horsies, beggars would ride.
Ugg
The problem here
is not that citizens of the U.S. want to call themslves "Americans", it is that they want that term, incorrectly, to apply only to them. "American", rightly applies to all people inhabiting North America, and South America too for that matter.
is not that citizens of the U.S. want to call themslves "Americans", it is that they want that term, incorrectly, to apply only to them. "American", rightly applies to all people inhabiting North America, and South America too for that matter.
Where's the problem? If one has a large enough dictionary, then the problem is already solved!
Nation:
A Usonian if of the USA.
Continents:
An American or Pan-American is of America or the Americas. Granted American and America are a little vague and thus ought to be avoided. The simple Pan- prefix solves that though. There you go, where's the problem.
So who here is a Usonian?
Nation:
A Usonian if of the USA.
Continents:
An American or Pan-American is of America or the Americas. Granted American and America are a little vague and thus ought to be avoided. The simple Pan- prefix solves that though. There you go, where's the problem.
So who here is a Usonian?
#juan said:Usonian
A Term describing housing designs by Frank Lloyd Wright beginning in the 1930s: typically smaller homes designed for the post-WWI smaller American family.
I guess I need a bigger dictionary.
The new Oxford Dictionary of Enlgish, ISBN 019861263
Primary definition:
adjective:
of or relating to the United States:
Example:
Usonian city
The definition you gave, Juan, is listed in this dictionary as a secondary definition as an adjective.
Another primary definition as a noun:
a native or inhabitant of the United States.
Secondary definition as a noun:
a house built in the 1930 by Frank Lloyd Eright.
Ha, you almost had me there.
#juan said:Usonian
A Term describing housing designs by Frank Lloyd Wright beginning in the 1930s: typically smaller homes designed for the post-WWI smaller American family.
I guess I need a bigger dictionary.
So I guess you need either a bigger or newer dictionary?
Hey, what a great thread... because it is one of my pet peeves, too. Well, myself, I have some backers here in Europe regarding the whole American vs. US-American thing. It's a well know fact (contrary to what the general US-American public may think) that "America" is around half of the world. Two continents and some inbetween.
Jimmoyer seems to think this thread is absurd, but its really not.. and the problem doesn't simply lie in the usage of the word American by US-Americans.. but the fact that whenever I meet an American in a nightclub, a tourist location, a beergarden, a shopping centre, anywhere you can think of here, I always ask for clarification when they say (and they always do say) "I'm from America". You know I really don't need to normally ask for clarification, because they usually have this patriotic glow and a kind of bragging attitude when they say it.
Anyhow, my response is usually "Well, America is two continents and takes up the western hemisphere.. Can you please be more specific? South, North, Brazil, Mexico, Canada??".
I've noticed that German newspapers are increasingly referring to US-Americans as US-Americans... instead of just the blanket term of Americans.
Jimmoyer seems to think this thread is absurd, but its really not.. and the problem doesn't simply lie in the usage of the word American by US-Americans.. but the fact that whenever I meet an American in a nightclub, a tourist location, a beergarden, a shopping centre, anywhere you can think of here, I always ask for clarification when they say (and they always do say) "I'm from America". You know I really don't need to normally ask for clarification, because they usually have this patriotic glow and a kind of bragging attitude when they say it.
Anyhow, my response is usually "Well, America is two continents and takes up the western hemisphere.. Can you please be more specific? South, North, Brazil, Mexico, Canada??".
I've noticed that German newspapers are increasingly referring to US-Americans as US-Americans... instead of just the blanket term of Americans.
#juan said:
Oxford, Cambridge, Mirriam Webster! Dictionaries, dictionaries everywhere, but not a standard in sight! So which dictionary's right? Now yo know what English teachers and EFL students go through. How are we supposed to debate this when there is no authoritative standard to which to refer? Damned English language!
#juan said:
Sorry Juan, I'm slow this evening. Now I get it. FREE download WORTH EVERY PENNY. :lol:
Sure is.