3 ms·

> That's a USofAian "suburb" .. not a well designed suburb. If you don’t want to say “American”, you could use Usonian, a term coined by Lloyd Wright himself:

by rmccue 2y ago

> That's a USofAian "suburb" .. not a well designed suburb. If you don’t want to say “American”, you could use Usonian, a term coined by Lloyd Wright himself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usonia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usonia

defrost 2y ago
I'm familiar with Wright's coinage, props for raising it! I'm happy with US citizen, USian, USofAian, etc, I've used all of them since pre WWW Usenet days. It's interesting how some like to regulate the language of others.
- scld 2y ago
  Society "regulating" the language of others is almost entirely how languages develop. USofAian is almost unreadable and unrecognizable in text to the general public when compared with American.
  - defrost 2y ago
    And yet in 40+ years I've yet to exchange text with anyone that didn't understand it.
    - kennysoona 2y ago
      That you've been using it that long is pretty bizarre to me. I guess it was just a way to stand out? Express some personality with a bit of semantic flair? I get that. And no, in answer to your deleted replies, I'm not American, just someone that doesn't like seeing ambiguity created unnecessarily or misinformation spread, but I see now you were doing it more for stylistic reasons.
      - defrost 2y ago
        > That you've been using it that long is pretty bizarre to me. Obviously. > I guess it was just a way to stand out? No. > Express some personality with a bit of semantic flair? Again, no. > I get that. Do you have examples of semantic flair that you use to stand out? > just someone that doesn't like seeing ambiguity created unnecessarily What ambiguity? Which other citizens of which other country did you honestly think I was referring to? > or misinformation spread, What misinfomation? I honestly and in good faith have no idea what "misinformation" you are referring to. > but I see now you were doing it more for stylistic reasons. For the third time. No. Stop trying to make your contextual PoV a thing Gretchen. This is literally no more than a useful contraction of "United States of America citizen"
        kennysoona 2y ago
        > Obviously. Yup. Should be obvious most people would share my stance also. > Again, no. Hmm. So why, then? > Do you have examples of semantic flair that you use to stand out? I don't try to stand out by being contrarian or via other semantic scheming. > What ambiguity? > What misinfomation? It's confusing to at the least ESL speakers who may think it is a reasonable way to refer to people from the US and it is misinformation to suggest it is. > For the third time. No. Hmm. > Stop trying to make your contextual PoV a thing Gretchen. Not sure what Gretchen refers to, but I was just trying to assume good faith and that was the only reason I could muster. I look forward to your clarification. > This is literally no more than a useful contraction of "United States of America citizen" It's not useful, though - it's harmful. It creates ambiguity where this is none, and tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
        defrost 2y ago
        > Should be obvious most people would share my stance also. Yes. Most people like you share your point of view. Odd that. > So why, then? Check your hoistory, that appears to be the first time you haven't weighed in with nothing but your PoV, preconception, and desire to impose your conclusions as the motivations of others. Congratulations. You're evolving. > I don't try to stand out by being contrarian or via other semantic scheming. But you assume others do? And that makes sense to you. Okay ... > It's confusing to at the least ESL speakers ... Is it? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42969214 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42969214 suggest that not all ESL folk think that way. > but I was just trying to assume good faith There's been no sign of good faith and assuming the best from your comments since the first one (that appears edited) that patronisingly informed me that I should conform to your way of writing English. > It's not useful, though - it's harmful. Who is bleeding? > It creates ambiguity Again, what ambiguity? What country did you think that I was referring to?
    - scld 2y ago
      For what its worth, the top google result for USofAian is literally this thread.
  - bombcar 2y ago
    And anyone else who might technically be called an American doesn’t want the name anyway. “USian” could apply to Mexico as they’re the United States, too, and since they’re in America they could also be “USofAians”.
    - defrost 2y ago
      > and since they’re in America they could also be “USofAians”. That's a stretch, the country they live in is United Mexican States which doesn't abbreviate to USofA. Mexico in short doesn't have the ambiguity of America.
      - kennysoona 2y ago
        'America' doesn't have the ambiguity you talk of either, not in 99.99% of contexts.
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
- kennysoona 2y ago
  > It's interesting how some like to regulate the language of others. No one is trying to regulate anything lol, you're as free to use whatever non-standard terms or words you like, you can even use irregardless if it's your hearts desire to do so. You just have to keep in mind that people using a silly term to make a silly point ultimately just end up making themselves look silly. Using a term like 'USofAian' is certainly a silly term since it tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist, and actually creates instances of the problem trying to be avoided.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]

by rmccue 2y ago

defrost 2y ago

I'm familiar with Wright's coinage, props for raising it! I'm happy with US citizen, USian, USofAian, etc, I've used all of them since pre WWW Usenet days. It's interesting how some like to regulate the language of others.

scld 2y ago
Society "regulating" the language of others is almost entirely how languages develop. USofAian is almost unreadable and unrecognizable in text to the general public when compared with American.
- defrost 2y ago
  And yet in 40+ years I've yet to exchange text with anyone that didn't understand it.
  - kennysoona 2y ago
    That you've been using it that long is pretty bizarre to me. I guess it was just a way to stand out? Express some personality with a bit of semantic flair? I get that. And no, in answer to your deleted replies, I'm not American, just someone that doesn't like seeing ambiguity created unnecessarily or misinformation spread, but I see now you were doing it more for stylistic reasons.
    - defrost 2y ago
      > That you've been using it that long is pretty bizarre to me. Obviously. > I guess it was just a way to stand out? No. > Express some personality with a bit of semantic flair? Again, no. > I get that. Do you have examples of semantic flair that you use to stand out? > just someone that doesn't like seeing ambiguity created unnecessarily What ambiguity? Which other citizens of which other country did you honestly think I was referring to? > or misinformation spread, What misinfomation? I honestly and in good faith have no idea what "misinformation" you are referring to. > but I see now you were doing it more for stylistic reasons. For the third time. No. Stop trying to make your contextual PoV a thing Gretchen. This is literally no more than a useful contraction of "United States of America citizen"
      - kennysoona 2y ago
        > Obviously. Yup. Should be obvious most people would share my stance also. > Again, no. Hmm. So why, then? > Do you have examples of semantic flair that you use to stand out? I don't try to stand out by being contrarian or via other semantic scheming. > What ambiguity? > What misinfomation? It's confusing to at the least ESL speakers who may think it is a reasonable way to refer to people from the US and it is misinformation to suggest it is. > For the third time. No. Hmm. > Stop trying to make your contextual PoV a thing Gretchen. Not sure what Gretchen refers to, but I was just trying to assume good faith and that was the only reason I could muster. I look forward to your clarification. > This is literally no more than a useful contraction of "United States of America citizen" It's not useful, though - it's harmful. It creates ambiguity where this is none, and tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
        defrost 2y ago
        > Should be obvious most people would share my stance also. Yes. Most people like you share your point of view. Odd that. > So why, then? Check your hoistory, that appears to be the first time you haven't weighed in with nothing but your PoV, preconception, and desire to impose your conclusions as the motivations of others. Congratulations. You're evolving. > I don't try to stand out by being contrarian or via other semantic scheming. But you assume others do? And that makes sense to you. Okay ... > It's confusing to at the least ESL speakers ... Is it? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42969214 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42969214 suggest that not all ESL folk think that way. > but I was just trying to assume good faith There's been no sign of good faith and assuming the best from your comments since the first one (that appears edited) that patronisingly informed me that I should conform to your way of writing English. > It's not useful, though - it's harmful. Who is bleeding? > It creates ambiguity Again, what ambiguity? What country did you think that I was referring to?
  - scld 2y ago
    For what its worth, the top google result for USofAian is literally this thread.
- bombcar 2y ago
  And anyone else who might technically be called an American doesn’t want the name anyway. “USian” could apply to Mexico as they’re the United States, too, and since they’re in America they could also be “USofAians”.
  - defrost 2y ago
    > and since they’re in America they could also be “USofAians”. That's a stretch, the country they live in is United Mexican States which doesn't abbreviate to USofA. Mexico in short doesn't have the ambiguity of America.
    - kennysoona 2y ago
      'America' doesn't have the ambiguity you talk of either, not in 99.99% of contexts.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
kennysoona 2y ago
> It's interesting how some like to regulate the language of others. No one is trying to regulate anything lol, you're as free to use whatever non-standard terms or words you like, you can even use irregardless if it's your hearts desire to do so. You just have to keep in mind that people using a silly term to make a silly point ultimately just end up making themselves look silly. Using a term like 'USofAian' is certainly a silly term since it tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist, and actually creates instances of the problem trying to be avoided.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]