14 ms·

You can call us just "Americans". The US is unnecessary, thank you.

by I_am_uncreative 2y ago

warmlander99 2y ago
[flagged]
- mc32 2y ago
  People from those continents call themselves south americans or north americans. Just as you have european and asians, people don't call themselves eurasian. Furthermore, both people from north and south america understand that american means a person from the USA. It doesn't refer to a person that may be from either one continent or the other. Also people don't call themselves western hemispherian or eastern hemispherian either. What does African refer to? a person from Nigeria and Zimbabwe or also a person from Egypt or Algeria, or are they north-africans? Are algerian-americans african-americans? Who is a 'new yorker', someone from manhattan, or new york city, or new york state? Sometimes things are blurry.
- I_am_uncreative 2y ago
  In the English Language, "American" refers only to people from the US. Try referring to a Canadian as an "American", I dare you.
  - jolmg 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- BuckRogers 2y ago
  This is not true, as there is no continent called ‘America’. There is only ‘North America’ and ‘South America’. American is used by people in the US because the USA stands for the United States of America. Just like how the Mexicans use that term because the UMS stands for the United Mexican States. Being offended at the use of American just for people from the US is simply due to a lack of education. The term you are looking for is Pan-American.
  - jolmg 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - BuckRogers 2y ago
      /* https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/America https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/America Not all countries see North America and South America as 2 continents. Rather, they're regions of a single continent called America, like South Asia is a region of Asia. There's more to education than the US-American perspective. */ Consulting with people's opinions in the Spanish-speaking world really does not matter, because they're still wrong. The Darién Gap physically separates North and South America. There's a better argument that Eurasia is a single continent, than there is North and South America.
      - jolmg 2y ago
        Whatever your personal criteria on what a continent is, historical convention bears more weight. You yourself recognize this if, despite your criteria, you're not willing to correct other people and tell them that Europe and Asia are not continents. America was first a single continent. That's why it's not "The United States of North America" nor "The United States of the Americas". "America" in "USA" refers to the New World, like it continues to do today in the Spanish-speaking world.
        BuckRogers 2y ago
        //America was first a single continent. Only out of ignorance of where they landed, and what it was. As we learned more this evolved, at least it did in the Anglosphere. No one was ever ignorant of the fact that Europe and Asia were one. That's a very different historical origin as to why each is divided and referred to as they are today. It would be like naming all bodies of water the Atlantic, at one point that would have been accepted. It would not only be wrong, it would also be as culturally imperialistic to do to everyone else as forcing North and South America to be 'America'. This is the first map of the New World, and at the time I would have agreed that America would have made sense. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Map_Juan_de_la_Cosa_outline_Davies_1976.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Map_Juan...
jessekv 2y ago
The tone of this comment makes me question if it was made in good-faith. But I will add my perspective. I see this debate all the time, I've seen it since I was young, and not just on the internet. It stems from a language difference, in Latin American Spanish, words like america and its relatives like americano, latinoamericano, panamericano, etc is inclusive of North and South America. In English, globally, America refers to the USA. It is context dependent, but to describe the continents you would normally say "the Americas." This distinction naturally annoys native Latin American Spanish speakers, especially because it is compounded by historical, geopolitical, and economic dynamics. If someone chooses to be over-explicit in English, it's better to let it pass. Correcting the language can come off as dickish, especially when you consider the historical context. Additionally, the person on the other end is sometimes making this mistake on purpose, trolling for a pointless argument. If it were up to me, I would add this topic to the list of things HN mods should ban.
miles 2y ago
Cannot hear "US-Americans" without remembering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

You can call us just "Americans". The US is unnecessary, thank you.

warmlander99 2y ago

[flagged]

mc32 2y ago
People from those continents call themselves south americans or north americans. Just as you have european and asians, people don't call themselves eurasian. Furthermore, both people from north and south america understand that american means a person from the USA. It doesn't refer to a person that may be from either one continent or the other. Also people don't call themselves western hemispherian or eastern hemispherian either. What does African refer to? a person from Nigeria and Zimbabwe or also a person from Egypt or Algeria, or are they north-africans? Are algerian-americans african-americans? Who is a 'new yorker', someone from manhattan, or new york city, or new york state? Sometimes things are blurry.
I_am_uncreative 2y ago
In the English Language, "American" refers only to people from the US. Try referring to a Canadian as an "American", I dare you.
- jolmg 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
BuckRogers 2y ago
This is not true, as there is no continent called ‘America’. There is only ‘North America’ and ‘South America’. American is used by people in the US because the USA stands for the United States of America. Just like how the Mexicans use that term because the UMS stands for the United Mexican States. Being offended at the use of American just for people from the US is simply due to a lack of education. The term you are looking for is Pan-American.
- jolmg 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - BuckRogers 2y ago
    /* https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/America https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/America Not all countries see North America and South America as 2 continents. Rather, they're regions of a single continent called America, like South Asia is a region of Asia. There's more to education than the US-American perspective. */ Consulting with people's opinions in the Spanish-speaking world really does not matter, because they're still wrong. The Darién Gap physically separates North and South America. There's a better argument that Eurasia is a single continent, than there is North and South America.
    - jolmg 2y ago
      Whatever your personal criteria on what a continent is, historical convention bears more weight. You yourself recognize this if, despite your criteria, you're not willing to correct other people and tell them that Europe and Asia are not continents. America was first a single continent. That's why it's not "The United States of North America" nor "The United States of the Americas". "America" in "USA" refers to the New World, like it continues to do today in the Spanish-speaking world.
      - BuckRogers 2y ago
        //America was first a single continent. Only out of ignorance of where they landed, and what it was. As we learned more this evolved, at least it did in the Anglosphere. No one was ever ignorant of the fact that Europe and Asia were one. That's a very different historical origin as to why each is divided and referred to as they are today. It would be like naming all bodies of water the Atlantic, at one point that would have been accepted. It would not only be wrong, it would also be as culturally imperialistic to do to everyone else as forcing North and South America to be 'America'. This is the first map of the New World, and at the time I would have agreed that America would have made sense. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Map_Juan_de_la_Cosa_outline_Davies_1976.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Map_Juan...

jessekv 2y ago

The tone of this comment makes me question if it was made in good-faith. But I will add my perspective. I see this debate all the time, I've seen it since I was young, and not just on the internet. It stems from a language difference, in Latin American Spanish, words like america and its relatives like americano, latinoamericano, panamericano, etc is inclusive of North and South America. In English, globally, America refers to the USA. It is context dependent, but to describe the continents you would normally say "the Americas." This distinction naturally annoys native Latin American Spanish speakers, especially because it is compounded by historical, geopolitical, and economic dynamics. If someone chooses to be over-explicit in English, it's better to let it pass. Correcting the language can come off as dickish, especially when you consider the historical context. Additionally, the person on the other end is sometimes making this mistake on purpose, trolling for a pointless argument. If it were up to me, I would add this topic to the list of things HN mods should ban.

miles 2y ago

Cannot hear "US-Americans" without remembering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww