6 ms·

Okay, TIL. However, if you look at the "language versions" of that Wikipedia page, that also explains my confusion: Deutsch: "US-Amerikaner" Español: "Estadoun

by rob74 4y ago

Okay, TIL. However, if you look at the "language versions" of that Wikipedia page, that also explains my confusion: Deutsch: "US-Amerikaner" Español: "Estadounidense" Italiano: "Statunitensi" ... so there are plenty of languages that do make a distinction between "American living on the American continent(s)" and "American from the US". Full disclosure: I'm from Germany...

j-bos 4y ago
Minor quible, but most spanish speakers I know refer to people from the USA as Americanos. Estadounidenses gets used as part of legalese and in the context of non US nationalism.
- pera 4y ago
  I'm a native Spanish speaker and most, if not all, people I know use "Estadounidenses" or "yankees" (colloquially). I do see "Americanos" used in translated media though.
  - golf_mike 4y ago
    Fun fact: an "Americano" also means an espresso with water added
    - dghlsakjg 4y ago
      Which is borrowed from Italian, not Spanish.
- mejutoco 4y ago
  One more data point. In my experience in Spain people definitely use estadounidense outside of legal documents. You could hear, or read, "la artista estadounidense", for instance. "Americano" is used too, as well as "afroamericano" (not "afroestadounidense").
- lou1306 4y ago
  Ditto for Italian: "Americani" is much more common than "Statunitensi".
JasonFruit 4y ago
It's funny: when Americans realize we're saying the name of a foreign city badly, like Peking for Beijing, Canton for Guangzhou, and others, we move to assimilate our naming to that of the natives. Why is it that everyone insists that we refer to ourselves by the wrong name? Is it even possible for us to be wrong about what we call ourselves?
- tombh 4y ago
  They're not insisting anything though right? They've only said it's funny and confusing. That you consider them to be insisting is interesting. I'm British so I've never been on the receiving end of any of that insistence, but from your response I assume it must happen frequently. What I really want to contribute here though is that your "we" from "what we call ourselves" doesn't include me. Like a lot of people outside the US, English is my native language and calling Americans Americans has always given me pause for thought. So I put it back to you: Is it even possible for us to be wrong about what we call you?
- woodruffw 4y ago
  Just as a note: Peking was a corruption by French missionaries, not Americans. In general, these kinds of errors come from historical limitations: orthography, linguistics, &c. At minimum, it’s respectful to try to adapt based on our better, contemporary understanding.
  - thaumasiotes 4y ago
    > Just as a note: Peking was a corruption by French missionaries, not Americans. What? Peking wasn't a corruption at all. It accurately reflects the pronunciation encountered by... most Europeans who interacted with Chinese. Mandarin received official status in the 20th century.

by rob74 4y ago

j-bos 4y ago

Minor quible, but most spanish speakers I know refer to people from the USA as Americanos. Estadounidenses gets used as part of legalese and in the context of non US nationalism.

pera 4y ago
I'm a native Spanish speaker and most, if not all, people I know use "Estadounidenses" or "yankees" (colloquially). I do see "Americanos" used in translated media though.
- golf_mike 4y ago
  Fun fact: an "Americano" also means an espresso with water added
  - dghlsakjg 4y ago
    Which is borrowed from Italian, not Spanish.
mejutoco 4y ago
One more data point. In my experience in Spain people definitely use estadounidense outside of legal documents. You could hear, or read, "la artista estadounidense", for instance. "Americano" is used too, as well as "afroamericano" (not "afroestadounidense").
lou1306 4y ago
Ditto for Italian: "Americani" is much more common than "Statunitensi".

JasonFruit 4y ago

It's funny: when Americans realize we're saying the name of a foreign city badly, like Peking for Beijing, Canton for Guangzhou, and others, we move to assimilate our naming to that of the natives. Why is it that everyone insists that we refer to ourselves by the wrong name? Is it even possible for us to be wrong about what we call ourselves?

tombh 4y ago
They're not insisting anything though right? They've only said it's funny and confusing. That you consider them to be insisting is interesting. I'm British so I've never been on the receiving end of any of that insistence, but from your response I assume it must happen frequently. What I really want to contribute here though is that your "we" from "what we call ourselves" doesn't include me. Like a lot of people outside the US, English is my native language and calling Americans Americans has always given me pause for thought. So I put it back to you: Is it even possible for us to be wrong about what we call you?
woodruffw 4y ago
Just as a note: Peking was a corruption by French missionaries, not Americans. In general, these kinds of errors come from historical limitations: orthography, linguistics, &c. At minimum, it’s respectful to try to adapt based on our better, contemporary understanding.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > Just as a note: Peking was a corruption by French missionaries, not Americans. What? Peking wasn't a corruption at all. It accurately reflects the pronunciation encountered by... most Europeans who interacted with Chinese. Mandarin received official status in the 20th century.