4 ms·

I'm not really sure I see the point. If you want to refer to the two continents, you can say "The Americas".

• CalRobert 10y ago
  The point is that saying someone or something is "American" shouldn't cause one to assume it's from or of the US.
  • aninhumer 10y ago
    I think that's a perfectly reasonable assumption, since it's by far the most common usage of the term. If someone uses the term "American" to mean "person from the Americas" they are being needlessly obtuse. And I don't think this usage is particularly "inconsiderate", it's just a quirk of language.
  • zeveb 10y ago
    > The point is that saying someone or something is "American" shouldn't cause one to assume it's from or of the US. That's seems like it's a pretty silly sentiment, since in common English speech that's exactly what 'American' implies. As you yourself note, USian could just as easily refer to someone from the United States of Mexico. I personally think it'd be salutary for our republic if my fellow Americans would refer to themselves as New Yorkers, Californians, Georgians, Texans &c. rather than as Americans (just as Germans, French, Dutch, Danish refer to themselves), but that's a different discussion altogether.
    • CalRobert 10y ago
      I actually prefer to call myself Californian in most contexts. I also think the word "state" is diluted by the US. Anyway, I'm not really advocating for one side or the other. In common usage "American" definitely relates to the US most of the time. I can understand the annoyance of people from other American countries, though. Surely Nigerians, Eritreans, etc. would have a reason to be frustrated if "African" came to refer particularly to "South Africa" and not to the continent.