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Is anyone else bothered by the term "American" eclipse? I don't think astronomical events have any notion of nationality.
by brndnmtthws 9y ago
Is anyone else bothered by the term "American" eclipse? I don't think astronomical events have any notion of nationality.
- rdiddly 9y agoI object to the phrase "great American" because it's hackneyed & trite.
- KGIII 9y agoThis is America. You can complain, if you want. You have that right. We also have the right to laugh at you. It was a pretty great eclipse.
- rdiddly 9y agoYeah. I get it. It was great, like every eclipse is great. And it was visible in America. So strictly speaking it was indeed a "great American eclipse." But not everything that's technically true deserves to be turned into a Cheesy Marketing Buzzword Made Of Wishful Thinking. America is on the down-slide of greatness. You can tell this by taking an honest look around, but also just by listening to the widespread shrill insistence on how great it still is. So "Great American This" and "Great American That" is not only played-out as I said, but probably inaccurate as there become fewer and fewer great things to be found in America. Anyway. The phrase "Great American Eclipse" also sounds just a tiny bit like America is taking credit for the eclipse, when of course the eclipse didn't need any help from America. America just happened to be underneath it this time around. Finally it reeks of the same old American self-congratulation (for things that are not at all unique to America) that you can see almost anywhere in America, including your comment, patronizingly reminding me of my rights.
- KGIII 9y agoYeah, I think you're reading that into it.
- jedberg 9y agoIt was called that because it hit all of North America, and very little outside of North America. It's not really so much nationalistic as it is descriptive.
- asteli 9y agoThere are lots of examples of Americentrism, but I don't think this is one. The eclipse was basically only visible from the United States. For reference, here's the chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SE2017Aug21T.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SE2017Aug21T.png
- paulgb 9y ago> There are lots of examples of Americentrism Such as the fact that that word refers to the USA and not the whole of the Americas :)
- 24gttghh 9y agoThe USA is the only country with America in it's name as far as I'm aware.
- paulgb 9y agoBefore the USA, North America was called America and all of its inhabitants (or at least the British-descended ones -- any history buffs?) were "American". It is a little tongue-in-cheek, but I find it amusing that the history of the word itself is an example of what it describes.
- adventured 9y ago> Before the USA, North America was called America and all of its inhabitants (or at least the British-descended ones -- any history buffs?) were "American" History is overflowing with perpetual name changes for countries, regions, cities, etc. There's nothing unusual about it other than that in this case it applies to the US, which as the sole superpower is a magnet for over-inflating such ridiculous non-issues.
- KGIII 9y agoI am seated beside the Ambien Wallrus and we both agreed that image moved. We watched it for a good five minutes. It's not just me, the Wallrus confirmed it.
- poopoopoopoo 9y agoNope. Not one bit.
- colecut 9y agoIt was the first Total Solar Eclipse to be seen over North America since the 70's...
- UnfalseDesign 9y agoThe total eclipse of July 11, 1991 was seen in Mexico which is part of North America.
- jrochkind1 9y agoFirst total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous U.S. since 1979. Not first over North America if Mexico is in North America. Mexico in 1991.
- eesmith 9y agoThe August 1, 2008 total eclipse started in northern Canada.
- tjbiddle 9y agoNot just that - but the first total solar eclipse where everyone in all of the Americas would be able to see it in a century!
- jrochkind1 9y agoyeah, me too. I even saw it _in_ the U.S., but I didn't see American nothing, I saw an astronomical event that has nothing to do with borders.
- jrochkind1 9y agoapparently HN does not agree with us and are patriotic Americans or something, I dunno!
- mikeash 9y agoIt's a short, accurate description of where it happened....
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- rflrob 9y agoDo you think that naming things the "Tunguska event" or the "Chelyabinsk meteor" unduly favor Russian sites? It's an accurate descriptor of where it happened. You could, I suppose, take issue with the "Great" adjective, but compared to the '79 eclipse, where totality was visible only in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, this one was much more accessible.
- erAck 9y agoStupid title indeed. On the other hand it certainly eclipsed America. At least part thereof.