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You are welcome to remind people of this, but don’t expect that you’ll change anyone’s habits on an English-speaking USA-based forum.
by titanomachy 5mo ago
You are welcome to remind people of this, but don’t expect that you’ll change anyone’s habits on an English-speaking USA-based forum.
- defrost 5mo agoThe USAians are largely seemingly already convinced the name of their country starts with an A, those that live elsewhere generally have better geography chops, so you're correct - it's unlikely any minds will change.
- leereeves 5mo agoIt's possible for a name to refer to both a country and a continent (or two). Just as "New York" could mean the state or the city.
- defrost 5mo agoAre there any countries named after continents though? Aside from Australia?
- titanomachy 5mo agoI was taught that the continent is Oceania, not Australia
- bloak 5mo agoWe have a similar thing on this side of the Atlantic where people argue about whether it is acceptable to refer to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as "Britain". I feel it is, as an abbreviation, and it is my preferred abbreviation, along with "GB", because I like to look forward to the time when we won't have a monarchy any more and I therefore don't like the abbreviation "UK", and also, despite not having any strong Irish connections, I tend to feel that Ireland ought to be reunited. This may seem like the opposite of my opinion on the US/America question, where I prefer "US", and I suppose it is, but I have my reasons!
- jryb 5mo agoThere’s nothing to be reminded of. English has a word to describe North and South America together (“the Americas”). Other languages have different words for the same concept. It’s like reminding someone they shouldn’t say “bicycle” but should instead say “fahrrad”.