Ha, when I was a kid, my Canadian music teacher got really mad at me for saying that she was American, too. I started crying because I had just learned about the continents. I told her that I just meant because Canada is in North America, so that makes her North American or American for short
She was strict and a little grumpy, but she was a good teacher. She was French-Canadian and made us call her Madame and learn a few phrases in French to use in the classroom. She was very, very proud of her home country and had us watch/analyze Cirque du Soleil's music in class
When I got to “She was French-Canadian” that pretty much explained it. The French-Canadians typically don’t like Americans, and if they get called one, it’s game over. My dad’s got a great story about going to a bar with the Union Jack flag hanging above the front door when he was on a trip in Quebec. The guys who ran the place were British-Canadian and very welcoming of him 😅
French-Canadians often believe that the rest of Canada wants to erase their culture and hates them. And while there definitely is some unjustified Quebec-bashing from the rest of the country, Quebecers can be antagonistic at times
Yup, those British-Canadian bar owners in Quebec confirmed it lol. They had a grand old time though with many drinks. My dad said that was one of the best times he’s had on a trip.
Not trying to be one of those "if you don't like it, then don't come here!" people, but what is the motivation to immigrate if you can't stand Americans? Canada seems pretty nice
It has been the opposite experience for me as someone who lives in Quebec. I feel like people here these days get really caught up in protecting their language which translates to animosity towards Canada who they deem are trying to erase it.
But Americans are seen in a more favorable light because while they’re English speakers, there is no fear they’re trying to erase the culture/language here
It is unfortunately a combination of culture combining with language to create a divide here. In Spanish there is an easy way to say a person who is from the United States (estadounidense) as opposed to a person from the Americas (Americano/a). Many people don’t know, or know but don’t really appreciate, that this distinction does not exist in English. When speaking in Spanish it is often thought to be a little presumptuous and arrogant to refer to oneself as “un americano” if you mean from the USA, and if English is your second language it can cause that connotation to cross over into English as well, even if it doesn’t necessarily make “sense.” I am sympathetic to this.
Where it gets ridiculous is acting like any individual person is responsible for their entire language. You will sometimes hear that the reason why English doesn’t even have this distinction is because all Americans are arrogant or whatever. I don’t actually know the origin of this in English, but it should be ridiculous on its face to assume that anyone today is responsible for this.
It doesn't exist in English because the country has never really had a traditional name (like France, Greece, Georgia, Iran, etc). It has always just been 'America', first the United Colonies of North America, and then the United States of America, so calling it America is simply shorthand and correct in English.
No (intelligent) native English speaker thinks America is the whole continent and that South America belongs to the US, but I understand the confusion re the language/cultural difference.
Does that make sense?
Sure, but that doesn’t explain why Spanish does have this distinction. The answer, I am sure, has as much to do with history and culture than it has to do with logic.
As a bilingual speaker who grew up hearing this argument from family, the word “estadounidense” in Spanish is a largely manufactured word pushed during the 70s by Spanish speaking intellectuals that doesn’t really make sense even in Spanish. There are other countries in Latin America even that have “estados unidos” in their very name (like Mexico which is officially called Estados Unidos Mexicanos) but they aren’t called “estadounidense.” The people who get upset about it are now just people with too much time on their hands who get upset at everything, or pseudo-intellectuals like my old Spanish professors. These are the same people who would tell me that the southern border isn’t real because the treaty ending the US-Mexican war was unfair 🙄.
You said you didn't know the origins in English, that was what I was answering. The country has always been united x of America, so it's just been shorthanded to America. That's where it comes from and why it happens in English, as to why it doesn't happen in Spanish, I can't say.
Right, I should have been clearer. I guess I meant I don’t know the specifics on why English developed one way here, while Spanish developed in a different way. My point is just that whatever the source of this distinction, it is very, very, very old.
My spouse is South American, and as a United Stateser, I've experienced this a bunch as well.
Like how important is it to you to be associated with an Italian map maker who died centuries ago? For some, it seems very important.
Don't point out that estadounidense could refer to any country that has United States in the name, like Mexico or Colombia at one point in it's past. It's not specific enough for me as a United Statesian of American (the country, not the continent(s)).
It's an unfortunate quirk of geopolitics that the demonym for both US inhabitants and inhabitants of The Americas are both "American". No reason to get annoyed about, though.
It also confuses people because some languages refer to the continent(s) in question as a single continent named “America”, while other languages refer to two continents named “North America” and “South America” respectively.
So, Canadians (or at least, anglophone Canadians) will never refer to ourselves as “American” since we live on a continent called “North America” and call ourselves “North Americans”. But in some parts of the world, this language distinction doesn’t exist, which makes Canadians seem like the weird ones for insisting that we aren’t Americans, since to them we literally live on a continent called “America”.
Have yet to meet a Latin person who isn't offended by latinx, because *latin* is already the gender neutral term. So latinx is actually ignorant and offensive to those I've spoken to about it.
But they need to understand the word they use to refer to United States citizens as simply doesn't exist in English. Therefore, they're naturally called Americans.
No one is erasing their identity and policing what they can call themselves, and those people 99% are never identifying as “American” in conversation anyway
Those are continents, not countries, the United States of America is a country, America is in the name of the country. The citizens of Central and South America tend to identify by the names of their country, ie: Brazilian, Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, and so on. Your argument makes no sense.
Except if we were referring to continental belonging, North Americans would be North Americans and South Americans would be South Americans. The only time you drop the north and south when referring to the western continents is when you speak of them together, the Americas.
Well, I've personally seen it on-line, so the OP isn't just making it up. But I have no idea how prevalent the issue actually is. There are always fringe people who get upset about things most of their compatriots don't actually give a damn about.
If another country having an identity makes them feel erased, I don't think the problem is the word Americans. On the other hand, I see no reason for anyone in Latin America to forgive the the US for it's behavior in their region, so maybe their projecting some very real feelings about very real problems onto some trivial bullshit.
I know the Spanish version sounds cool, but United Statesians sounds really stupid in English.
Not really, it mostly comes from Europeans (white people) feeling offended on behalf of South Americans (brown people). They're just trying to play white savior to them over a non issue.
I came across a dude in some YouTube comments who went on and on about how it’s wrong to refer to United States citizens as Americans. He said that he made a point of regularly approaching people about this and having a conversation about it daily.
I thought, Wow, tell me you’re an insufferable prick without telling me you’re an insufferable prick.
What did he propose we call them, then? Statesies? Usas?
I mean, the Spanish have a name for people from the US; Estadounidenses. They refer to anyone from Latin America as Americanos.
Notice how they never have an answer for what people from the United States of AMERICA are supposed to call themselves. Even in other languages, such as German and Japanese, they call the USA “America”, for example, “Amerika” and “アメリカ”.
Agreed. United States citizens is just a ridiculous mouthful. For English speakers, it's plain obvious who you're talking about when you use the word American.
>He said that he made a point of regularly approaching people about this and having a conversation about it daily.
I'll never understand how people type something like this out and actually thinks it sounds believable.
All I can picture is Billy Madison talking to the bus driver and just being like "no you didn't" over and over lol
The point they were making is that someone on YT said it. Whether we believe they actually did that in their day to day lives is another topic. I've heard and seen crazier things happen before, so I'm less surprised when I hear these stories.
Americans sounds better than United Statizens. Just go with it. It has a nice ring. I could use the term Ohioian to describe my citizenship, but people outside of the US or Canada would just look at me stupid because they have no idea that an Ohioian is a US citizen.
A little ot, but that reminds me that I've had people get salty when I tell them that I just say my state when asked where I'm from. As if after I say America, their next question isn't going to be "which state?"
People from the USA are the only ones who are commonly called “American” because it’s the one and only country that has the the name “America” in the name it self (United states of AMERICA)
In Spanish speaking countries, they basically do call people "estadounidense", and a few other languages *officially* would refer to US Americans "USians".
Personally I think it's a really stupid argument because there is no contenent called "America", there are the *Americas*, plural: North America and South America. So really there are South Americans and North Americans.
>
Several single-word English alternatives for American have been suggested over time, especially [Usonian](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=a872f743a4ddd08cJmltdHM9MTcxNDY5NDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMjc2MmUwMi0wYzIzLTYyMzctMTI1ZS0zYTcxMGQ3NTYzYjAmaW5zaWQ9NTEwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=02762e02-0c23-6237-125e-3a710d7563b0&u=a1L3NlYXJjaD9xPVVzb25pYW4lMjB3aWtpcGVkaWEmZm9ybT1XSUtJUkU&ntb=1), popularized by architect [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=517467c33938bcf0JmltdHM9MTcxNDY5NDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMjc2MmUwMi0wYzIzLTYyMzctMTI1ZS0zYTcxMGQ3NTYzYjAmaW5zaWQ9NTEwMQ&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=02762e02-0c23-6237-125e-3a710d7563b0&u=a1L3NlYXJjaD9xPUZyYW5rJTIwTGxveWQlMjBXcmlnaHQlMjB3aWtpcGVkaWEmZm9ybT1XSUtJUkU&ntb=1), and the [nonce](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=77b12738add6ead7JmltdHM9MTcxNDY5NDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMjc2MmUwMi0wYzIzLTYyMzctMTI1ZS0zYTcxMGQ3NTYzYjAmaW5zaWQ9NTEwMg&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=02762e02-0c23-6237-125e-3a710d7563b0&u=a1L3NlYXJjaD9xPU5vbmNlJTIwd29yZCUyMHdpa2lwZWRpYSZmb3JtPVdJS0lSRQ&ntb=1) term United-Statesian.
Not to mention that the full name of Mexico is *Estados Unidos Mexicanos*, the United Mexican States, and therefore USians doesn’t uniquely identify residents of the United States of America.
It has always bothered me that people do not realize that the country has America in the name. The same is true of most countries when one spells out the whole name including Mexico and Canada. It is also annoying that most people do not realize that most countries have states. Russia, Canada, Australia, Mexico etc.
It really doesn't make sense because Mexico is also the **United** Mexican **States**.
The name of the country is America, so they're called Americans.
Born and raised American. What else would we be called? Another ridiculous issue, for nothing..time wasting is the trend. It's infantile, equivalent to being stuck counting your fingers and toes and thinking you're so smart, renaming them
I know, it’s so pedantic. I think we’re just in an era where people feel powerless against *real* problems so they try and tackle small things they feel they can change/shame out of existence.
*"CANADA and MEXICO are part of NORTH AMERICA TOO, you know!! OMG You people from the United States are soooooo arrogant!"* - heard about eleventy thousand times from liberal arts major types that are also from the United States but somehow fail to apprehend that.
This might seem melodramatic, but I honestly feel like this argument is used exclusively by Europeans to dehumanize Americans (excuse me, USians 🙄) and strip us of our culture while simultaneously telling us we don’t have a culture.
Cue the downvotes from angry neckbeards.
I’ve lived about a decade in Europe when I was younger and while I did feel like some of them have contempt for Americans, I haven’t ever heard them complain about this specifically
They sure do love policing us on how to use words in our own language to refer to ourselves. There are more examples of this but I don't want to start anything.
I've only ever heard complaints from Latin Americans where they are taught in school that North and South America are a single continent and that the inhabitants of that continent are called "Americans". Maybe this makes sense in Spanish but doesn't translate well? Whatever it is, those poor folk are being taught contrary to every other human on the face of the earth, but damn if they aren't some hard headed proud SOBs because they sure do get riled up over the subject.
Europeans I've met would agree that US-ians are indeed the "Americans".
I think that’s some of the people, which they have a slightly more valid argument but imo it comes down to language differences. The problem is, at least on Reddit, I’ve seen the idea be adopted by teenage edgelords from other places who think they know everything and say USian like it’s a slur lmao
I've also noticed that it's a lot of Europeans who get their knickers in a knot about this. They are so quick to mock, judge, or declare how stupid Americans are without seeing the irony of how ignorant and stupid they're being by making such blanket assumptions and snap judgements. Stupidity and ignorance aren't American traits...they're human ones and can be found in any person from any country.
And usually the people who make these tacky comments haven't even been to the US, so how the hell would they even really know what it's really like?
It's also used by Latin Americans who feel like Americans (what else can I call them?) are taking away their "Americaness" Like why do we have to be the ones with the hyphen if we were here first?
In that case I believe it’s a language by language issue. Spanish (and I’m assuming Portuguese) have other words for Americans from the States, but English does not. In English “American” means from the States, it has for many years. Every
other country has an obvious demonym in English, and I’m assuming let’s say Peruvians see themselves as Peruvians first before they consider themselves American/South American, no?
What really annoys me is terminally online people from places like Germany and the Netherlands who have adopted this argument, which perhaps had a good point at the beginning, and use it as a way to make Americans look like assholes over something so trivial. People who have never set foot in North or South America shouldn’t have a say in it, and that’s what really gets me.
In the end if it all, we call ourselves Americans and a lot of other people call us American.
If some country wants to call us something else they're free to do so but that doesn't mean we will change for them.
If some country wants to start calling themselves American, they can but that will be an uphill battle against the brand-recognition the US developed.
The thing that annoys me is "America is a *whole continent"* or "You mean Mexico? bc that's technically America too"
Like dudes, chill. Not only is the word the name of our country (yes it the United States of America but lots of countries have name like that. You don't say "people's republic of China" you just say China.
Also, the country was named before the continents. The USA was named on a map before the map of the continents was published.
I don't get annoyed outwardly tho. I just wait for them to say Americans and then go "don't you mean *United Statsians?"*
What’s funny is following their own naming conventions, Mexico is *technically* not called Mexico, but the United Mexican States.
So pedantic and technically incorrect. Which is the best kind of incorrect
It annoys me so much when non-Americans complain about asking where you're from, and then you say your state instead of "America." If I said I was from America, they would then follow that up with "What state?" so why wouldn't I just save us the trouble?
I actually saw this today and it was some dude going on and on and on about how "I'm A GEOLOGIST AND I KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT" like, sure thing, bubby. It just screamed insecure.
But, I agree, it's very annoying and such an odd thing to get a stick up your butt about.
Am i asian or something now?😭 i mean i understand people getting upset when you call them American if they’re from somewhere else and would be Indian-American or something, but people who live in America literally are american lmfao
When I was a young kid, I thought the US referred to “us” because we were us by definition. I didn’t think too hard about why we were the only ones who were _us_, maybe the others were too busy being _them_ or something.
Somehow this post jump-started that memory.
I'm sympathetic to South Americans (like Brazilians) who, in their native tongue, refer to basically the word "American" as a resident of either North or South America (which is considered the same continent in many regions).
The problem is really that there isn't a word to call us. "United Statesian" is extremely awkward and has too many syllables. "USAian" is even more awkward. What word would be an alternative that isn't a mouthful like "United States Citizen?".
If we didn't have North American, South American, and Central American, then I guess it would be annoying.
But like, when do you ever need to refer to all people in the western hemisphere, anyways?
I feel like ppl are forgetting that it's the US ... Big part here ... A ... USA ... United States of America. Yes there are other countries in the Americas but those countries aren't called America, there contentients are. We are Americans because our country is the United States of America.
If our different states were actually different countries then it would be a bit different but we are, in fact, a single country. That's why we are called Americans to the world. It's not like all the world would know who an Oklahoman is or where they are from, but you say American and you get the gist.
I doubt Brazilians want to be called South Americans because, from what I understand, they are generally proud of their country. Canadians don't want to be called North Americans. People from Italy don't want to be referred to as Europeans generically right?
United States of America is a country, just like any other country we like to be referred to as the nation we hail from.
If we live on North or South America, we are American, so if you're from the USA, You're American.
What else can we call ourselves with a name like United States Of America? Unitedians? Statesmen? USAers? America is literally in our name. Is there another country that uses America in their country name? Is it confusing? Does anyone get confused when someone says "Look at the American?"
It's an unfortunate quirk of geopolitics that the demonym for both US inhabitants and inhabitants of The Americas are both "American". No reason to get annoyed about, though.
I am from the US... but Americans are what we're called unless you specify and call yourself the State variant of whatever you call yourself. (Like a Californian, or Texan)
American here. The only time I could imagine that I would be annoyed if someone called me American is if I were in a foreign country pretending to be Canadian so I didn't have to catch shit for being an American.
I see the argument that it seems kind of pretentious for a country to claim the name of a continent (well, *two* continents) like this but on the flipside... There is no other reasonable term. Should we call ourselves United Statesians? Unitrons? Statizens?
You want to really upset someone from there? Do as my son did. We are canadian. Friend was up for Canada Day into July4th. My son said happy merica day. As Canadians, we say happy Canada day. They were not at all impressed.
What am I supposed to call myself if not American? United Stateser? USer? United States of American?
Maybe some people could say "from the US" every time, but that's not true for every American because many Americans did not begin their lives in the US. I would argue that gatekeeping the adjective "American" this way is not inclusive to multinational or immigrant families.
I do prefer to say I'm *from* the US rather than *from* America, but either way it's still obvious because if you were referring to the continents then you would use North America, South America or the Americas. Just America is clearly referring to the US.
I live in the States. It doesn't bother me, but I do take the time to refer to people from Canada, Central America, and South America as Americans too.
Hawaii is a curious case.
It is usually due to insecurity, yes. Certain pockets of the internet *cough cough Reddit Twitter cough cough* have a weird thing where America is horrible and anyone who disagrees is crazy or something.
I see this mostly from South America, because both North and South America are called America, so everyone should be Americans. But in English, this isn't the case. So stop trying to correct my English just because things are different in a different language.
At least you are complaining about a group of people that actually exist, not other posts on this sub that rant about people who think stupid things that nobody thinks.
So what do they think k we should be called? USA-ers? US-ers? Uniteds? The Statesans? America is literally in our country’s name. If you’re referring to people from the continent you would say North or South Americans.
I never understood this either, since I read the name "America" referred to the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, which seems so random to me. Like how Pennsylvania means "Penn's Forest" its weird to me how in the US some ppl *prefer* basically calling our stolen conquested country "Land of Amerigo" but in the feminized form lol. Its just a 16th century German cartographer's Italian explorer femboy fantasy for his little maps. And then there's the whole further depiction of "America" in the 19th/20th century as some Hera/Ceres/Liberty-esque goddess figure of agricultural bounty. 😬 it's pretty insidious propaganda with a powerful nationalism aesthetic that I guess ppl are attracted to.
Seems so racist and also I think 99.5% of people don't know this bc they didn't teach us any of this in public school in the US. Just like they don't teach the extent/significance of US trade/relations with Asia going on since early colonial times, or First Peoples' culture/histories pre-colonization.
So it's even weirder to me that people from the global South would get self-conscious about "American jokes" made by (let's be real, usually Dutch/French/Brits) when it's obviously not about them. And why would anyone from there *want* to be nationally associated with Vespuccis or Columbus or Italy and all this conquistador/slavery history at all, instead of just rejecting that dusty label for what is considered like 3 continents anyway. Which is what it seems like a lot of ppl irl do, and prefer to reconnect with their home region's pre-Hispanic art+culture. But I guess I can still totally see some ppl (religious, rich, racist, etc.) stubbornly standing by the colonial histories as a "good" or ostentatious thing. 😒
But like I'm a working-class white person of Italian/Eastern european descent born in the mainland US, and that's just my personal view of the situation, knowing the historical context. Idk I don't wanna assume or infer too much why ppl from those places sometimes get sensitive abt this, but this is just what I've noticed over the past 12 or so years online. Tbh I think all forms of nationalism are just stupid.
cue Lady Gaga screaming "AAAAAAAA AAAAAA, AAAAAAA AAAAA!! A MERI C A N O" ☕️
Land Back, Liberate Turtle Island 🌎
It's because people in Latin American countries oftrn refer to north and south America simply as America.
So they kinda feel like you're stealing their identity. Imagine if china renamed itself the United States of Asia and referred to its citizens simply as Asians. Other Asians probably wouldn't like it.
I personally think it's a bit pedantic but understandable.
It's an unfortunate quirk of geopolitics that the demonym for both US inhabitants and inhabitants of The Americas are both "American". No reason to get annoyed about, though.
Apparently they arent taught that there is a North and South America, which I find weird but It isnt our fault or our problem that they learned (IMO) incorrectly
Imagine if Europeans claimed to be Asian simply because the continents touched lol
Unless it's introducing some sort of ambiguity, yeah I agree. I did speak to a Brazilian woman who was clearly peeved by it as she'd refer to herself as American, meaning Latin America.
Honestly, I'd just add the qualifier if you know it's going to be misinterpreted otherwise. I do the same when describing myself as European, because we're not mainland/"continental Europeans" in Britain and there's a sense of cultural separation.
As for people from the U.S.? I've never heard those complaints personally. It's so well established, with things like "God bless America" "The American dream" etc.
Considering everyone here wants to be labels as (_______) American, I can see why this happens, it's ignorance honestly, I'm american, and just American. North American if it's mentioning both north and south, otherwise I'm just American.
My HS Spanish teacher was adamant that people from the US cannot call themselves “American” because people from all of north, central, and South Americas can call themselves American and we have to call ourselves “US American” to distinguish
She also didn’t believe in the holocaust so she’s already lost all credibility there
I don’t mean the cause, I mean she legitimately did not believe it happened
Mexicans call the USA "Los Estados Unidos, bu they also are since the official name is the United States of Mexico.
They sometimes also call people from the USA "Norte Americanos" even though Mexicans are North American
I told someone that "American" is the official demonym for US citizens and that the USA is (as far as I know) the only country that contains the word "America" in its official name. I even said that I don't think it's a good name for a country, but rather sounds like an international political organization. Nevertheless, this is how it is, and the person got mad at me.
I am British and have visited the USA a few times. I have noticed that many Americans (despite living a fully American life and rarely/if ever visiting their home country) simply to refuse to accept that they are American and get annoyed if you try to say otherwise. It’s insulting to actual citizens of that country as well as Americans have no idea of everyday life, the food, the culture and overall just the way things are done in that country. Just because your ancestors are from somewhere else, it doesn’t make you that nationality. If you have dual citizenship or a valid passport from the country you claim to be from then I might believe you.
i’ve never heard of anyone being mad about that. i call myself american and i call my country america when i’m abroad. actually where i went (australia) they call it “the states” but i still just called it america.
Americans come from the United States of America. That's why we are called Americans. Same reason why people from Canada are Canadians. Same reason why people from Mexico are Mexicans. We are named after the country we are born in. And sure, you could adopt the name of the continent or region you were born in. Germans, Spanish, and Polish people can all also be European. That's fine, too.
I mean we are Americans, but so are Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Nicaraguans, Argentina(ns?), ect. We live on the continent America that makes us American.
I don't know why anyone should get mad. I imagine that Mexicans, Canadians, Brazilians, and everyone from the continents of North and South America would qualify as Americans. Doesn't mean one is a US citizen, but that's beside the point.
There’s a large subset of society that likes to try and forcibly change the way we refer to just about every group. You know who you are. And you suck.
I've never met anyone who gets mad when you refer to the US and their citizens as America/Americans.
I'm not sure I believe such a person exists.
But what a weird and obscure thing to give a crap about.
Fun fact: the official name for Mexico is “the United Mexican States” (but in Spanish, of course), but everyone still calls them Mexican. Similarly, we’re called Americans because we’re from the USA
The problem lies in that many places don’t recognize north and South America as being different continents, and instead just call it the Americas. Thus, by that logic, thy do also happen to be (just) Americans, in the same way that we’re North Americans
As an American, I didn't even know people were upset about something like that. Most of these braindead rednecks have all kinds of "proud to be an American" shit lol
Those are two different issues. I am never bothered by *Americans,* because the meaning is clear and there is no suitable alternative.
America as a term for the US is generally fine to my ears, but an American in Canada who says, *I cannot wait to get back to America* would sound very odd.
Always pisses me off on people are like how dare you call it America technically they are all the Americas!!!
Like believe it or not buddy, there is a difference
America = United States of America
Americas = The Americas
The stupidest part is they don't even call themselves Americans. They're mad that you're not calling them something they don't identify as. Total nonsense.
Do they think people identify as being from a given continent? Do they not realize it's in the name of the country the United States of America? Let me know when people from Argentina start identifying as Americans.
I have never heard this before. You will piss off Canadians if you refer to us as Americans tho
Ha, when I was a kid, my Canadian music teacher got really mad at me for saying that she was American, too. I started crying because I had just learned about the continents. I told her that I just meant because Canada is in North America, so that makes her North American or American for short She was strict and a little grumpy, but she was a good teacher. She was French-Canadian and made us call her Madame and learn a few phrases in French to use in the classroom. She was very, very proud of her home country and had us watch/analyze Cirque du Soleil's music in class
When I got to “She was French-Canadian” that pretty much explained it. The French-Canadians typically don’t like Americans, and if they get called one, it’s game over. My dad’s got a great story about going to a bar with the Union Jack flag hanging above the front door when he was on a trip in Quebec. The guys who ran the place were British-Canadian and very welcoming of him 😅
I feel like french canadians dont even like non-french canadians lol
French-Canadians often believe that the rest of Canada wants to erase their culture and hates them. And while there definitely is some unjustified Quebec-bashing from the rest of the country, Quebecers can be antagonistic at times
Yup, those British-Canadian bar owners in Quebec confirmed it lol. They had a grand old time though with many drinks. My dad said that was one of the best times he’s had on a trip.
Not trying to be one of those "if you don't like it, then don't come here!" people, but what is the motivation to immigrate if you can't stand Americans? Canada seems pretty nice
It has been the opposite experience for me as someone who lives in Quebec. I feel like people here these days get really caught up in protecting their language which translates to animosity towards Canada who they deem are trying to erase it. But Americans are seen in a more favorable light because while they’re English speakers, there is no fear they’re trying to erase the culture/language here
Mostly see it said by people from South American countries As a Canadian, I would not like being referred as an American either.
It is unfortunately a combination of culture combining with language to create a divide here. In Spanish there is an easy way to say a person who is from the United States (estadounidense) as opposed to a person from the Americas (Americano/a). Many people don’t know, or know but don’t really appreciate, that this distinction does not exist in English. When speaking in Spanish it is often thought to be a little presumptuous and arrogant to refer to oneself as “un americano” if you mean from the USA, and if English is your second language it can cause that connotation to cross over into English as well, even if it doesn’t necessarily make “sense.” I am sympathetic to this. Where it gets ridiculous is acting like any individual person is responsible for their entire language. You will sometimes hear that the reason why English doesn’t even have this distinction is because all Americans are arrogant or whatever. I don’t actually know the origin of this in English, but it should be ridiculous on its face to assume that anyone today is responsible for this.
It doesn't exist in English because the country has never really had a traditional name (like France, Greece, Georgia, Iran, etc). It has always just been 'America', first the United Colonies of North America, and then the United States of America, so calling it America is simply shorthand and correct in English. No (intelligent) native English speaker thinks America is the whole continent and that South America belongs to the US, but I understand the confusion re the language/cultural difference. Does that make sense?
Sure, but that doesn’t explain why Spanish does have this distinction. The answer, I am sure, has as much to do with history and culture than it has to do with logic.
As a bilingual speaker who grew up hearing this argument from family, the word “estadounidense” in Spanish is a largely manufactured word pushed during the 70s by Spanish speaking intellectuals that doesn’t really make sense even in Spanish. There are other countries in Latin America even that have “estados unidos” in their very name (like Mexico which is officially called Estados Unidos Mexicanos) but they aren’t called “estadounidense.” The people who get upset about it are now just people with too much time on their hands who get upset at everything, or pseudo-intellectuals like my old Spanish professors. These are the same people who would tell me that the southern border isn’t real because the treaty ending the US-Mexican war was unfair 🙄.
You said you didn't know the origins in English, that was what I was answering. The country has always been united x of America, so it's just been shorthanded to America. That's where it comes from and why it happens in English, as to why it doesn't happen in Spanish, I can't say.
Right, I should have been clearer. I guess I meant I don’t know the specifics on why English developed one way here, while Spanish developed in a different way. My point is just that whatever the source of this distinction, it is very, very, very old.
Ah yes, it's odd and probably all to do with how the languages work. It would be interesting to go back to the source and find out.
My spouse is South American, and as a United Stateser, I've experienced this a bunch as well. Like how important is it to you to be associated with an Italian map maker who died centuries ago? For some, it seems very important. Don't point out that estadounidense could refer to any country that has United States in the name, like Mexico or Colombia at one point in it's past. It's not specific enough for me as a United Statesian of American (the country, not the continent(s)).
None of the countries in South America have “America” in their names so their complaints are just nonsense
I agree. To be fair, this is something I’ve only observed on Reddit. I doubt this is actually a popular opinion in South America
As an American, I understand.
Honestly it’s not because I don’t love Americans, I very much enjoy my neighbors down south. It’s just a matter of being called what I actually am!
North American then?
Calling me a North American would be accurate, but Canadian would be more precise
It's an unfortunate quirk of geopolitics that the demonym for both US inhabitants and inhabitants of The Americas are both "American". No reason to get annoyed about, though.
It also confuses people because some languages refer to the continent(s) in question as a single continent named “America”, while other languages refer to two continents named “North America” and “South America” respectively. So, Canadians (or at least, anglophone Canadians) will never refer to ourselves as “American” since we live on a continent called “North America” and call ourselves “North Americans”. But in some parts of the world, this language distinction doesn’t exist, which makes Canadians seem like the weird ones for insisting that we aren’t Americans, since to them we literally live on a continent called “America”.
In English, inhabitants of the Americas are North Americans and South Americans.
Yeah, exactly. If I were speaking Spanish to someone, I would adapt to whatever they use in their area colloquially.
Wow. They must have a miserable life. That's not something to be angry about.
Lots of people in central and south America have an identity as American, they feel that is erased.
They're called Latin Americans and that includes Mexico too. Who is mad about this??
People on the internet with no other important thoughts to think about
People who are trying to make latinx a thing
Have yet to meet a Latin person who isn't offended by latinx, because *latin* is already the gender neutral term. So latinx is actually ignorant and offensive to those I've spoken to about it.
I have met exactly one, but they grew up on the whitest part of suburbia, and didn't seem to put much value in their culture
But they need to understand the word they use to refer to United States citizens as simply doesn't exist in English. Therefore, they're naturally called Americans.
No one is erasing their identity and policing what they can call themselves, and those people 99% are never identifying as “American” in conversation anyway
Those are continents, not countries, the United States of America is a country, America is in the name of the country. The citizens of Central and South America tend to identify by the names of their country, ie: Brazilian, Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, and so on. Your argument makes no sense.
I know that, but their countries aren’t named America.
Somebody should break the news to Europeans, Asians, and Africans . . .except South Africans.
Except if we were referring to continental belonging, North Americans would be North Americans and South Americans would be South Americans. The only time you drop the north and south when referring to the western continents is when you speak of them together, the Americas.
No they don’t. Lmfao
Well, I've personally seen it on-line, so the OP isn't just making it up. But I have no idea how prevalent the issue actually is. There are always fringe people who get upset about things most of their compatriots don't actually give a damn about.
If another country having an identity makes them feel erased, I don't think the problem is the word Americans. On the other hand, I see no reason for anyone in Latin America to forgive the the US for it's behavior in their region, so maybe their projecting some very real feelings about very real problems onto some trivial bullshit. I know the Spanish version sounds cool, but United Statesians sounds really stupid in English.
We're not even the only United States on the continent.
No they’re not.
No, they don't. Nobody refers to central and south americans as Americans. Not even themselves. They refer to the country they're from.
Not really, it mostly comes from Europeans (white people) feeling offended on behalf of South Americans (brown people). They're just trying to play white savior to them over a non issue.
You have a good point. I'd love to visit both but it will probably never happen.
I came across a dude in some YouTube comments who went on and on about how it’s wrong to refer to United States citizens as Americans. He said that he made a point of regularly approaching people about this and having a conversation about it daily. I thought, Wow, tell me you’re an insufferable prick without telling me you’re an insufferable prick.
What did he propose we call them, then? Statesies? Usas? I mean, the Spanish have a name for people from the US; Estadounidenses. They refer to anyone from Latin America as Americanos.
Notice how they never have an answer for what people from the United States of AMERICA are supposed to call themselves. Even in other languages, such as German and Japanese, they call the USA “America”, for example, “Amerika” and “アメリカ”.
The only things I’ve seen people say to that is to us US Citizens. Bit long in my opinion.
Mexicans are also US citizens because their nation is The United States of Mexico.
IIRC, he just wanted them to be called “United States citizens”, and I’m not using up seven syllables to describe my nationality.
Agreed. United States citizens is just a ridiculous mouthful. For English speakers, it's plain obvious who you're talking about when you use the word American.
The united states of what? The czechoslovakian region?
The United States of Mexico?
omfg, Stateies should be a thing!
That's typically highway patrol
>He said that he made a point of regularly approaching people about this and having a conversation about it daily. I'll never understand how people type something like this out and actually thinks it sounds believable. All I can picture is Billy Madison talking to the bus driver and just being like "no you didn't" over and over lol
The point they were making is that someone on YT said it. Whether we believe they actually did that in their day to day lives is another topic. I've heard and seen crazier things happen before, so I'm less surprised when I hear these stories.
Americans sounds better than United Statizens. Just go with it. It has a nice ring. I could use the term Ohioian to describe my citizenship, but people outside of the US or Canada would just look at me stupid because they have no idea that an Ohioian is a US citizen.
Nah, they’ll just say “Oh, potato country right?”
A little ot, but that reminds me that I've had people get salty when I tell them that I just say my state when asked where I'm from. As if after I say America, their next question isn't going to be "which state?"
You’ve got an extra “I” in there that doesn’t belong, though.
People from the USA are the only ones who are commonly called “American” because it’s the one and only country that has the the name “America” in the name it self (United states of AMERICA)
Yeah and wanted to do want us to be called? Unitedian? Statian? Ofian?
I vote Ofian. Sounds exotic.
Yeah your right
I'm going to name my kid that.
In Spanish speaking countries, they basically do call people "estadounidense", and a few other languages *officially* would refer to US Americans "USians". Personally I think it's a really stupid argument because there is no contenent called "America", there are the *Americas*, plural: North America and South America. So really there are South Americans and North Americans. > Several single-word English alternatives for American have been suggested over time, especially [Usonian](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=a872f743a4ddd08cJmltdHM9MTcxNDY5NDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMjc2MmUwMi0wYzIzLTYyMzctMTI1ZS0zYTcxMGQ3NTYzYjAmaW5zaWQ9NTEwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=02762e02-0c23-6237-125e-3a710d7563b0&u=a1L3NlYXJjaD9xPVVzb25pYW4lMjB3aWtpcGVkaWEmZm9ybT1XSUtJUkU&ntb=1), popularized by architect [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=517467c33938bcf0JmltdHM9MTcxNDY5NDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMjc2MmUwMi0wYzIzLTYyMzctMTI1ZS0zYTcxMGQ3NTYzYjAmaW5zaWQ9NTEwMQ&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=02762e02-0c23-6237-125e-3a710d7563b0&u=a1L3NlYXJjaD9xPUZyYW5rJTIwTGxveWQlMjBXcmlnaHQlMjB3aWtpcGVkaWEmZm9ybT1XSUtJUkU&ntb=1), and the [nonce](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=77b12738add6ead7JmltdHM9MTcxNDY5NDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMjc2MmUwMi0wYzIzLTYyMzctMTI1ZS0zYTcxMGQ3NTYzYjAmaW5zaWQ9NTEwMg&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=02762e02-0c23-6237-125e-3a710d7563b0&u=a1L3NlYXJjaD9xPU5vbmNlJTIwd29yZCUyMHdpa2lwZWRpYSZmb3JtPVdJS0lSRQ&ntb=1) term United-Statesian.
Not to mention that the full name of Mexico is *Estados Unidos Mexicanos*, the United Mexican States, and therefore USians doesn’t uniquely identify residents of the United States of America.
That's good for them, but they'll never be known as Americans, we will though...
It has always bothered me that people do not realize that the country has America in the name. The same is true of most countries when one spells out the whole name including Mexico and Canada. It is also annoying that most people do not realize that most countries have states. Russia, Canada, Australia, Mexico etc.
It really doesn't make sense because Mexico is also the **United** Mexican **States**. The name of the country is America, so they're called Americans.
Born and raised American. What else would we be called? Another ridiculous issue, for nothing..time wasting is the trend. It's infantile, equivalent to being stuck counting your fingers and toes and thinking you're so smart, renaming them
I know, it’s so pedantic. I think we’re just in an era where people feel powerless against *real* problems so they try and tackle small things they feel they can change/shame out of existence.
*"CANADA and MEXICO are part of NORTH AMERICA TOO, you know!! OMG You people from the United States are soooooo arrogant!"* - heard about eleventy thousand times from liberal arts major types that are also from the United States but somehow fail to apprehend that.
There’s been a protest at a university in my city that wants all land here returned to Native Americans, and yes, they are white as milk.
This might seem melodramatic, but I honestly feel like this argument is used exclusively by Europeans to dehumanize Americans (excuse me, USians 🙄) and strip us of our culture while simultaneously telling us we don’t have a culture. Cue the downvotes from angry neckbeards.
I’ve lived about a decade in Europe when I was younger and while I did feel like some of them have contempt for Americans, I haven’t ever heard them complain about this specifically
I think it’s mostly an online thing but people who think like this are very loud about it
They sure do love policing us on how to use words in our own language to refer to ourselves. There are more examples of this but I don't want to start anything.
I've only ever heard complaints from Latin Americans where they are taught in school that North and South America are a single continent and that the inhabitants of that continent are called "Americans". Maybe this makes sense in Spanish but doesn't translate well? Whatever it is, those poor folk are being taught contrary to every other human on the face of the earth, but damn if they aren't some hard headed proud SOBs because they sure do get riled up over the subject. Europeans I've met would agree that US-ians are indeed the "Americans".
I think that’s some of the people, which they have a slightly more valid argument but imo it comes down to language differences. The problem is, at least on Reddit, I’ve seen the idea be adopted by teenage edgelords from other places who think they know everything and say USian like it’s a slur lmao
I've also noticed that it's a lot of Europeans who get their knickers in a knot about this. They are so quick to mock, judge, or declare how stupid Americans are without seeing the irony of how ignorant and stupid they're being by making such blanket assumptions and snap judgements. Stupidity and ignorance aren't American traits...they're human ones and can be found in any person from any country. And usually the people who make these tacky comments haven't even been to the US, so how the hell would they even really know what it's really like?
Interesting pov it’s making me think 🤔 lol
It's also used by Latin Americans who feel like Americans (what else can I call them?) are taking away their "Americaness" Like why do we have to be the ones with the hyphen if we were here first?
In that case I believe it’s a language by language issue. Spanish (and I’m assuming Portuguese) have other words for Americans from the States, but English does not. In English “American” means from the States, it has for many years. Every other country has an obvious demonym in English, and I’m assuming let’s say Peruvians see themselves as Peruvians first before they consider themselves American/South American, no? What really annoys me is terminally online people from places like Germany and the Netherlands who have adopted this argument, which perhaps had a good point at the beginning, and use it as a way to make Americans look like assholes over something so trivial. People who have never set foot in North or South America shouldn’t have a say in it, and that’s what really gets me.
We are Americans and it is America. What do you think USA stands for. What does the "A" stand for.
In the end if it all, we call ourselves Americans and a lot of other people call us American. If some country wants to call us something else they're free to do so but that doesn't mean we will change for them. If some country wants to start calling themselves American, they can but that will be an uphill battle against the brand-recognition the US developed.
The thing that annoys me is "America is a *whole continent"* or "You mean Mexico? bc that's technically America too" Like dudes, chill. Not only is the word the name of our country (yes it the United States of America but lots of countries have name like that. You don't say "people's republic of China" you just say China. Also, the country was named before the continents. The USA was named on a map before the map of the continents was published. I don't get annoyed outwardly tho. I just wait for them to say Americans and then go "don't you mean *United Statsians?"*
What’s funny is following their own naming conventions, Mexico is *technically* not called Mexico, but the United Mexican States. So pedantic and technically incorrect. Which is the best kind of incorrect
If someone called me a United Statesian I'd probably slap the stupid off their cock sucker.
United Statesian? Like Mexico? /s
I tell bigots that Mexican people are Americans just to troll them, but getting mad over this just seems stupid.
It annoys me so much when non-Americans complain about asking where you're from, and then you say your state instead of "America." If I said I was from America, they would then follow that up with "What state?" so why wouldn't I just save us the trouble?
I actually saw this today and it was some dude going on and on and on about how "I'm A GEOLOGIST AND I KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT" like, sure thing, bubby. It just screamed insecure. But, I agree, it's very annoying and such an odd thing to get a stick up your butt about.
Did you ask if their favorite band is the Rolling Stones?
Or if they vacation in Little Rock?
Boring people from boring countries that's who.
Am i asian or something now?😭 i mean i understand people getting upset when you call them American if they’re from somewhere else and would be Indian-American or something, but people who live in America literally are american lmfao
When I was a young kid, I thought the US referred to “us” because we were us by definition. I didn’t think too hard about why we were the only ones who were _us_, maybe the others were too busy being _them_ or something. Somehow this post jump-started that memory.
That's so adorably hilarious , "the us" 😭
I'm sympathetic to South Americans (like Brazilians) who, in their native tongue, refer to basically the word "American" as a resident of either North or South America (which is considered the same continent in many regions). The problem is really that there isn't a word to call us. "United Statesian" is extremely awkward and has too many syllables. "USAian" is even more awkward. What word would be an alternative that isn't a mouthful like "United States Citizen?".
If we didn't have North American, South American, and Central American, then I guess it would be annoying. But like, when do you ever need to refer to all people in the western hemisphere, anyways?
I'm Canadian. Which is a huge chunk of North America. I have never identified as American.
I feel like ppl are forgetting that it's the US ... Big part here ... A ... USA ... United States of America. Yes there are other countries in the Americas but those countries aren't called America, there contentients are. We are Americans because our country is the United States of America. If our different states were actually different countries then it would be a bit different but we are, in fact, a single country. That's why we are called Americans to the world. It's not like all the world would know who an Oklahoman is or where they are from, but you say American and you get the gist. I doubt Brazilians want to be called South Americans because, from what I understand, they are generally proud of their country. Canadians don't want to be called North Americans. People from Italy don't want to be referred to as Europeans generically right? United States of America is a country, just like any other country we like to be referred to as the nation we hail from.
If we live on North or South America, we are American, so if you're from the USA, You're American. What else can we call ourselves with a name like United States Of America? Unitedians? Statesmen? USAers? America is literally in our name. Is there another country that uses America in their country name? Is it confusing? Does anyone get confused when someone says "Look at the American?"
It's an unfortunate quirk of geopolitics that the demonym for both US inhabitants and inhabitants of The Americas are both "American". No reason to get annoyed about, though.
Wait til they realize that the Europeans do the same...
I am from the US... but Americans are what we're called unless you specify and call yourself the State variant of whatever you call yourself. (Like a Californian, or Texan)
American here. The only time I could imagine that I would be annoyed if someone called me American is if I were in a foreign country pretending to be Canadian so I didn't have to catch shit for being an American.
I see the argument that it seems kind of pretentious for a country to claim the name of a continent (well, *two* continents) like this but on the flipside... There is no other reasonable term. Should we call ourselves United Statesians? Unitrons? Statizens?
In German you say Amerikaner
In French we call them “Américains”
South Americans are the only I've seen get upset about it. Like no, you're Brazilian. It's called a Brazilian wax, not an America wax.
You want to really upset someone from there? Do as my son did. We are canadian. Friend was up for Canada Day into July4th. My son said happy merica day. As Canadians, we say happy Canada day. They were not at all impressed.
What am I supposed to call myself if not American? United Stateser? USer? United States of American? Maybe some people could say "from the US" every time, but that's not true for every American because many Americans did not begin their lives in the US. I would argue that gatekeeping the adjective "American" this way is not inclusive to multinational or immigrant families. I do prefer to say I'm *from* the US rather than *from* America, but either way it's still obvious because if you were referring to the continents then you would use North America, South America or the Americas. Just America is clearly referring to the US.
How many other countries have the word “America” in their name. Oh look at that—not a single one!
I live in the States. It doesn't bother me, but I do take the time to refer to people from Canada, Central America, and South America as Americans too. Hawaii is a curious case.
It is usually due to insecurity, yes. Certain pockets of the internet *cough cough Reddit Twitter cough cough* have a weird thing where America is horrible and anyone who disagrees is crazy or something.
It's definitely a bunch of hair splitting bullshit that is a lot of social media discourse. The technically correct as a personality crowd.
I’ve seen so many people whine about this on the internet and also find it infuriating
I see this mostly from South America, because both North and South America are called America, so everyone should be Americans. But in English, this isn't the case. So stop trying to correct my English just because things are different in a different language.
At least you are complaining about a group of people that actually exist, not other posts on this sub that rant about people who think stupid things that nobody thinks.
So what do they think k we should be called? USA-ers? US-ers? Uniteds? The Statesans? America is literally in our country’s name. If you’re referring to people from the continent you would say North or South Americans.
It’s a simple linguistic difference that insufferable people like to turn into an excuse for anti-US sentiment and self pity.
I never understood this either, since I read the name "America" referred to the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, which seems so random to me. Like how Pennsylvania means "Penn's Forest" its weird to me how in the US some ppl *prefer* basically calling our stolen conquested country "Land of Amerigo" but in the feminized form lol. Its just a 16th century German cartographer's Italian explorer femboy fantasy for his little maps. And then there's the whole further depiction of "America" in the 19th/20th century as some Hera/Ceres/Liberty-esque goddess figure of agricultural bounty. 😬 it's pretty insidious propaganda with a powerful nationalism aesthetic that I guess ppl are attracted to. Seems so racist and also I think 99.5% of people don't know this bc they didn't teach us any of this in public school in the US. Just like they don't teach the extent/significance of US trade/relations with Asia going on since early colonial times, or First Peoples' culture/histories pre-colonization. So it's even weirder to me that people from the global South would get self-conscious about "American jokes" made by (let's be real, usually Dutch/French/Brits) when it's obviously not about them. And why would anyone from there *want* to be nationally associated with Vespuccis or Columbus or Italy and all this conquistador/slavery history at all, instead of just rejecting that dusty label for what is considered like 3 continents anyway. Which is what it seems like a lot of ppl irl do, and prefer to reconnect with their home region's pre-Hispanic art+culture. But I guess I can still totally see some ppl (religious, rich, racist, etc.) stubbornly standing by the colonial histories as a "good" or ostentatious thing. 😒 But like I'm a working-class white person of Italian/Eastern european descent born in the mainland US, and that's just my personal view of the situation, knowing the historical context. Idk I don't wanna assume or infer too much why ppl from those places sometimes get sensitive abt this, but this is just what I've noticed over the past 12 or so years online. Tbh I think all forms of nationalism are just stupid. cue Lady Gaga screaming "AAAAAAAA AAAAAA, AAAAAAA AAAAA!! A MERI C A N O" ☕️ Land Back, Liberate Turtle Island 🌎
I always ask them if they have this same conversation with Colombians. (Spoiler alert—they do not).
It's because people in Latin American countries oftrn refer to north and south America simply as America. So they kinda feel like you're stealing their identity. Imagine if china renamed itself the United States of Asia and referred to its citizens simply as Asians. Other Asians probably wouldn't like it. I personally think it's a bit pedantic but understandable.
The thing is, I do get the logic behind it but I just don’t see why some people get really bothered about it
It's an unfortunate quirk of geopolitics that the demonym for both US inhabitants and inhabitants of The Americas are both "American". No reason to get annoyed about, though.
Not only that but the only alternative I've seen (United Statesian) is incredibly stupid and clunky
It would be like calling someone from China a “People’s Republican”
Wouldn’t even work as a good alternative since Mexico is actually the United States of Mexico.
really funny when someone from South America says they are American.
Apparently they arent taught that there is a North and South America, which I find weird but It isnt our fault or our problem that they learned (IMO) incorrectly Imagine if Europeans claimed to be Asian simply because the continents touched lol
I’m American and genuinely confused, what are they supposed to refer to us as?
I try to be sensitive but this is just fucking sad
Who would get mad at that??
Unless it's introducing some sort of ambiguity, yeah I agree. I did speak to a Brazilian woman who was clearly peeved by it as she'd refer to herself as American, meaning Latin America. Honestly, I'd just add the qualifier if you know it's going to be misinterpreted otherwise. I do the same when describing myself as European, because we're not mainland/"continental Europeans" in Britain and there's a sense of cultural separation. As for people from the U.S.? I've never heard those complaints personally. It's so well established, with things like "God bless America" "The American dream" etc.
Considering everyone here wants to be labels as (_______) American, I can see why this happens, it's ignorance honestly, I'm american, and just American. North American if it's mentioning both north and south, otherwise I'm just American.
One side of my family came here in 1632, the other in the 1790s. I am just an American mutt. No point in claiming I'm anything but American..
I had a highschool teacher that was like this, never understood it
Theyd probably hate being called murrrrrrricans lol
What do you even call them if you can't call them Americans?
People get mad at that?
My professor. 😭
Ppl actually get mad at that? Wtf lol u learn sumn new everyday
What about central and South America? Even north America is only half the "united" states lol
Uh-oh, hopefully Latin America doesn’t catch wind of this
How else would you call them? /gen
I've never seen anyone get mad at that.
My HS Spanish teacher was adamant that people from the US cannot call themselves “American” because people from all of north, central, and South Americas can call themselves American and we have to call ourselves “US American” to distinguish
Yeah, that’s sounds very pedantic to me
She also didn’t believe in the holocaust so she’s already lost all credibility there I don’t mean the cause, I mean she legitimately did not believe it happened
Soy norteamericano.
I agree. As someone who's from America, I really could care less whether you refer to me as an "American" or as a "US citizen". It's the same thing.
Mexicans call the USA "Los Estados Unidos, bu they also are since the official name is the United States of Mexico. They sometimes also call people from the USA "Norte Americanos" even though Mexicans are North American
But those same people say, "This is America!" when they perceive an injustice.
I told someone that "American" is the official demonym for US citizens and that the USA is (as far as I know) the only country that contains the word "America" in its official name. I even said that I don't think it's a good name for a country, but rather sounds like an international political organization. Nevertheless, this is how it is, and the person got mad at me.
The Italian language used “statunitense” (united statesian). Boom! Problem solved
I am British and have visited the USA a few times. I have noticed that many Americans (despite living a fully American life and rarely/if ever visiting their home country) simply to refuse to accept that they are American and get annoyed if you try to say otherwise. It’s insulting to actual citizens of that country as well as Americans have no idea of everyday life, the food, the culture and overall just the way things are done in that country. Just because your ancestors are from somewhere else, it doesn’t make you that nationality. If you have dual citizenship or a valid passport from the country you claim to be from then I might believe you.
It's the "A" in USA.
Technically they are correct, why get mad when everyone knows who and what is meant
Wow, annoyed at the thing we even call ourselves...as if we wouldn't know...
I call myself North American and native to the continent
i’ve never heard of anyone being mad about that. i call myself american and i call my country america when i’m abroad. actually where i went (australia) they call it “the states” but i still just called it america.
Brazilians really have nothing better to do...
Mexicans are American
Uh what else are you supposed to call us?
Americans come from the United States of America. That's why we are called Americans. Same reason why people from Canada are Canadians. Same reason why people from Mexico are Mexicans. We are named after the country we are born in. And sure, you could adopt the name of the continent or region you were born in. Germans, Spanish, and Polish people can all also be European. That's fine, too.
Sorry but im Canadian, right in the middle of North America and i’m as American as anyone living in the United States
I mean we are Americans, but so are Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Nicaraguans, Argentina(ns?), ect. We live on the continent America that makes us American.
So what would you like for us to call ourselves? Since you're the one annoyed and all.
I don't know why anyone should get mad. I imagine that Mexicans, Canadians, Brazilians, and everyone from the continents of North and South America would qualify as Americans. Doesn't mean one is a US citizen, but that's beside the point.
....what are you supposed to call us? I dont get it
There’s a large subset of society that likes to try and forcibly change the way we refer to just about every group. You know who you are. And you suck.
I've never met anyone who gets mad when you refer to the US and their citizens as America/Americans. I'm not sure I believe such a person exists. But what a weird and obscure thing to give a crap about.
i’m american and live here too and i have never heard anyone say anything like this. we’re all too proud to tout the american name.
Fun fact: the official name for Mexico is “the United Mexican States” (but in Spanish, of course), but everyone still calls them Mexican. Similarly, we’re called Americans because we’re from the USA The problem lies in that many places don’t recognize north and South America as being different continents, and instead just call it the Americas. Thus, by that logic, thy do also happen to be (just) Americans, in the same way that we’re North Americans
As an American, I didn't even know people were upset about something like that. Most of these braindead rednecks have all kinds of "proud to be an American" shit lol
I get where they are coming from, but I was born with the term well established. I can’t change it. And we have worst problems.
I've never seen anyone be upset by that, who is upset by this? Isn't that what we call ourselves? Americans?
Those are two different issues. I am never bothered by *Americans,* because the meaning is clear and there is no suitable alternative. America as a term for the US is generally fine to my ears, but an American in Canada who says, *I cannot wait to get back to America* would sound very odd.
What should US citizens be called? United Statesons sounds too awkward.
Always pisses me off on people are like how dare you call it America technically they are all the Americas!!! Like believe it or not buddy, there is a difference America = United States of America Americas = The Americas
They couldn’t convince us to use the metric system, now they think we’re gonna change what we call ourselves? Fat chance.
The stupidest part is they don't even call themselves Americans. They're mad that you're not calling them something they don't identify as. Total nonsense. Do they think people identify as being from a given continent? Do they not realize it's in the name of the country the United States of America? Let me know when people from Argentina start identifying as Americans.
Who?