"American"

[Drake]

This is something that has been bothering me recently. Anytime someone says "American", one automatically assumes that they are referring to a citizen of the United States. Yes, the citizens of the U.S. are Americans, but they aren't the only ones. Anyone within the Americas, north, south, or central, is an American; no exception. Canadians? Americans. Brazilians? Americans. You get my point.

I'd like to hear others' thoughts on this matter.

[Entice]

"U.S. Citizen" sounds awkward and no other country refers to themselves as America so it works.

[Otto]

That's just the way it is, and to refer to Brazilians as Americans would only impede the conversation, and though it would be right, such strict terminology should be saved for answering questions on QI.

[LiquidFire]

At 10/6/12 01:21 PM, Entice wrote: "U.S. Citizen" sounds awkward and no other country refers to themselves as America so it works.

^this. I thought it was quite obvious.

[24901miles]

At 10/6/12 01:22 PM, Otto wrote: That's just the way it is

Some things will never change

[YenMuffin]

Canada has Canadians.
Mexico has Mexican.
Peru has Peruvians.
Brazil has Brazilians.
U.S. has Americans. Deal with it.

[Coop]

At 10/6/12 01:20 PM, Drake wrote: This is something that has been bothering me recently. Anytime someone says "American", one automatically assumes that they are referring to a citizen of the United States. Yes, the citizens of the U.S. are Americans, but they aren't the only ones. Anyone within the Americas, north, south, or central, is an American; no exception. Canadians? Americans. Brazilians? Americans. You get my point.

It's an ambiguous point at best. When referring to someone's country of birth as their classification, i.e. I am an Englishman, the term would be used to indicate someone from the country of the United States of America and therefore not someone from the two continents that were named in honour of Amerigo Vespucci.

American - Someone from the USA (politically)
Canadian - Someone from Canada, a Canadian citizen

Yes, there is the wider view of calling Englishmen Brits and then even further zoomed out, Europeans, neither of which I particularly subscribe to (except the Olympics, I was very proud to be British during those two weeks), so if we apply that to the Americas, you can refer to everyone in the USA and Canada, that is a citizen of those countries as "North American", with Mexico and a few other countries making up "Central America", plus Brazil, Argentina, Chile and the rest making up the "South American" continent.

Where do you draw the line? There is no definite border (only one defined on maps) between North, Central and South America, the same as there isn't one between Europe, Asia and Africa. Two side to the argument, there are.

Thank you, Yoda.

[24901miles]

We refer to European Union citizens as Europeans.
We refer to American Union citizens as Americans.

This is not a difficult concept.

[thegarbear14]

At 10/6/12 01:45 PM, 24901miles wrote: We refer to European Union citizens as Europeans.
We refer to American Union citizens as Americans.

This is not a difficult concept.

The european union is not a country. The united states is. Faggots call themselves "europeans" typically to inflate their egos and to claim some part of the history of all of europe.

If you live in the united kingdom( a country) you're a british citizen and are referred to as british, if you're a french citizen then you're french, if you are a canadian citizen, you're canadian. You may live on a continent but you live in that country.

English,scottish,welsh etc. name region and are in the u.k i don't mind people calling themself by that.

Don't just go "oh i'm american i live in north/south america, it's just not commonly accepted, vague, and theirs a country that calls themselves american as it is the united states of america...

[thegarbear14]

At 10/6/12 01:45 PM, 24901miles wrote: We refer to European Union citizens as Europeans.
We refer to American Union citizens as Americans.

This is not a difficult concept.

I have seriously never met someone who call themselves european who didn't go on about how great they were and how shit everybody else is.

[24901miles]

At 10/6/12 02:06 PM, thegarbear14 wrote: Faggots

...

[yurgenburgen]

At 10/6/12 02:07 PM, thegarbear14 wrote: I have seriously never met someone who call themselves european who didn't go on about how great they were and how shit everybody else is.

I have seriously never met an American who wasn't half-Irish and half-Polish and a quarter-French and a third-Mongolian and who didn't go on about how cultured and intelligent they are while drinking pints of Guinness with a clover drawn in the foam.

[yurgenburgen]

At 10/6/12 02:06 PM, thegarbear14 wrote: If you live in the united kingdom( a country) you're a british citizen and are referred to as british

Northern Ireland is not in Britain, tardvark.

[DevinArcane]

At 10/6/12 01:21 PM, Entice wrote: "U.S. Citizen" sounds awkward and no other country refers to themselves as America so it works.

This. Plus, the USA is the most important country in the Americas, anyways.

[Drake]

At 10/6/12 01:44 PM, Coop wrote: Where do you draw the line? There is no definite border (only one defined on maps) between North, Central and South America, the same as there isn't one between Europe, Asia and Africa. Two side to the argument, there are.

Praise your wording, I must.

I like the idea of "American" referring to all peoples of the Americas. However, the idea of referring to multiple nationalities of the Americas is just as good.

At 10/6/12 02:06 PM, thegarbear14 wrote: The european union is not a country. The united states is. Faggots call themselves "europeans" typically to inflate their egos and to claim some part of the history of all of europe.

Countries within Europe are tied together by region. So are those in the Americas. Get what I'm saying now?

If you live in the united kingdom( a country) you're a british citizen and are referred to as british, if you're a french citizen then you're french, if you are a canadian citizen, you're canadian. You may live on a continent but you live in that country.

Can still be generalized into a nationality regardless of the fact.

English,scottish,welsh etc. name region and are in the u.k i don't mind people calling themself by that.

This one isn't so clear due to Fortress of Solitude crystal clarity.

Don't just go "oh i'm american i live in north/south america, it's just not commonly accepted, vague, and theirs a country that calls themselves american as it is the united states of america...

Because calling people "Europeans" for living in Europe isn't just as vague.

[thegarbear14]

At 10/6/12 02:19 PM, Drake wrote:

At 10/6/12 01:44 PM, Coop wrote: Where do you draw the line? There is no definite border (only one defined on maps) between North, Central and South America, the same as there isn't one between Europe, Asia and Africa. Two side to the argument, there are.

Praise your wording, I must.

I like the idea of "American" referring to all peoples of the Americas. However, the idea of referring to multiple nationalities of the Americas is just as good.

At 10/6/12 02:06 PM, thegarbear14 wrote: The european union is not a country. The united states is. Faggots call themselves "europeans" typically to inflate their egos and to claim some part of the history of all of europe.

Countries within Europe are tied together by region. So are those in the Americas. Get what I'm saying now?

If you live in the united kingdom( a country) you're a british citizen and are referred to as british, if you're a french citizen then you're french, if you are a canadian citizen, you're canadian. You may live on a continent but you live in that country.

Can still be generalized into a nationality regardless of the fact.

English,scottish,welsh etc. name region and are in the u.k i don't mind people calling themself by that.

This one isn't so clear due to Fortress of Solitude crystal clarity.

Don't just go "oh i'm american i live in north/south america, it's just not commonly accepted, vague, and theirs a country that calls themselves american as it is the united states of america...

Because calling people "Europeans" for living in Europe isn't just as vague.

Don't call people europeans, it's vague and stupid. The European union is not a country last time i checked. I don't call people europeans. I call them by their nationalities. I've really never met a person who called themself a European who has not called me a fat stupid american or even worse. It annoys me when people say Europe/europeans and mean Like germany/germans only. Doesn't make any sense.

American only refers to citizens of the united states. European is just dumb and vague. Call people by their nationality not by continent.

[Urban-Champion]

if it wasn't like this then it would be fucking confusing

I refer to canada as North America and blah blah mexico south america

[homor]

Hey genius, people have been doing this for years. It's called an abbreviation. Look it up.

[II2none]

Stop worrying about terms that'll never change.

[thegarbear14]

At 10/6/12 02:43 PM, II2none wrote: Stop worrying about terms that'll never change.

they'll change as countries change, but for now just call people terms based on where they're citizens....

ex: if in the next 200years the united states changes into other countries with different names then people will be called by different terms.

[MrPercie]

But wouldnt a "United states of american" sound cooler than an "american"?

maybe a United statesian or a U.S.A-Man, I think they would like to be cooled USA mans.

[24901miles]

Pointing out that there are a lot of long-winded posts in this thread which have absolutely no use.

There are definite land-water borders between the Americas, the distinctions between Nations, States, Countries, and Unions are very complex, and there's no reason to argue about such an arbitrary detail every time it develops into a pet peeve.

[thegarbear14]

At 10/6/12 02:46 PM, MrPercie wrote: But wouldnt a "United states of american" sound cooler than an "american"?

maybe a United statesian or a U.S.A-Man, I think they would like to be cooled USA mans.

well sometimes people call U.S citizens "yankees" lol

[Painbringer]

Usanians.

[Mismo]

Well to be fair it is the only American country to actually have to the word "America" in it is name.

United States of America

[II2none]

At 10/6/12 02:45 PM, thegarbear14 wrote:
Nitpicking.

Okay change in our lifetime.

[Cootie]

Indeed that is true, but we are the only country I know of with the word America in our names. United Stateicans sounds retarded as fuck and it isn't like calling us American leaves people confused on which nation you are talking about.

[saqwert]

All the other countries in the Americas ain't even on our level. Those scrubs don't get the title

[simon]

I don't think Canadians would want to be called Americans, the same with everyone else who isn't from the United States.

[SirFinland]

I just immediately thought of this song. That is all.