Using the Word "American"

[Mcupobob]

Ehhh, I don't care what they say I'm American. Thats just what we've called ourselves since we stopped being the colonies(Not 100% sure on that so don't hold it against me if I'm wrong). I mean what the hell else are we going to call ourselves?

 

[DoPo]

1. "I'd go with the actual Mexican dude who said they mostly resent America instead of your view..." Is read as a sarcastic remark made in the third person rather then an independent statement giving support to one side.

Perhapse you should learn to write more clearly to get your message across.

OK, how does it make more sense to be sarcastic, rather than mean "I believe the person from Mexico, who said his fellow countrymen resent the US citizens". Especially, when there was a person from Mexico who said that. I cannot understand why would you think something else, especially since it was comment #2 that actually said "here in México the USA is very resented".

I don't know how much more clear should people be to convey the correct message. There is a certain assumptions made in a discussion, for example that people in the discussion will be able to follow said discussion and work in that context.

 

[ATRAYA]

I'm from Canada, which makes me an American - God bless America.

People from the United States seem to get very prideful when you enforce the fact that they are not the ONLY Americans. They've stolen the name either because they are actually as egotistical as the internet makes them out to be (thinking they are the only ones in the world), which I doubt, OR their country name is very... sub-par, and therefore we can't call them anything other than "Yankees" or "United Statesians".

I had one person go completely nuts on me when I called him a Yankee, as he was from the United States, saying I was being a RACIST. Yes, a racist. Hint: we all came from different countries, and only the Native Americans can say anything like that is racist (or offensive, as "Yankee" is not racist in any way), as they are the NATIVES.

But in answer to your question, it's because everyone on the continent of America, North and South, are technically Americans, and NOT just the people living in the United States of America. Less-intelligent folk often get angry when they aren't special anymore.

 

[Ieyke]

You know so many Mexicans over there that you're going to ignore the experience of someone who actually LIVES in Mexico?

Bingo. Cuz that means your opinion is mostly meaningless. 'Til you've lived both here and there and actually know about both places first hand, your experience means diddly. The folks who HAVE lived both places, on the other hand, are the people who know what they're talking about....and they disagree with you.

Worse still you think not wanting to go back to Mexico somehow removes the possibility of resenting America?

Pfffft. People can resent stuff for all manner of reasons. There are plenty of Americans who resent America for one reason or other, and most of the Mexicans I know resent Mexico and prefer it here. So sure, they might resent America to some degree, but they sure as hell like it better.

Is logic not a Texan thing?

It's not really a "human" thing. More like just "my" thing, most days...or at least it seems that way. <_<

 

[Darkmantle]

EDIT2: Also, there is NO continent called "America" so using the word "American" does not refer to North American (North America being a continent) or South Americans (South America Being a continent) specifically. It only refers to people from the USA.

Yes there is. Depending on what country you live they teach you diferently. In most Latin countries America is one continent. South and North are just ways to say it more geographically correct, despite being the same continent.

than quite frankly they are wrong. It's two continents. Learn to teach geography, I guess

 

[ccggenius12]

Now if you want to say you are American without using north or south you are shortening the full name which is exactly what people of the United States of America do! In case you didn't realize America is part of the country's name and we are lazy and don't feel like saying the entire thing. I think being lazy Americans we should shorten our name further to merikkan

Actually, I'd support a change to Merican. When people ask, you can say you are a Merican, so there's little functional difference, but there's great symbolic difference.

As pertains to illegal immigrants, the only problem I have with them is that they really should learn English if they're going to work in the service industry, or shop. It's not technically the US's official language (we don't have one) but we know that's really just a formality. Them coming up here and working for less is something I am perfectly fine with. America believes in a free market economy, and for most people the one thing they have to market is their labor. I see no reason to impede that. Of course, good luck getting citizens to work for less. Prices would come down if the minimum wage dropped, elasticity being what it is, but you'd have more luck herding cats than convincing people to receive a smaller but functionally identical paper number.
I'd also like to note that allowing that should probably come with some changes to the tax structure. If a larger percentage of taxes are from sales, whether or not someone is a citizen ceases to matter. Everyone will contribute an amount equal to what they want to consume. As a bonus, that by its nature includes a sliding scale based on income, as those who earn more tend to spend more.
BTW: I have no problem with Pancho Villa. I'd consider him a guerilla, not a terrorist. And I don't see how we can fault him for that, guerilla tactics are how we started our war for independence.
On the portions of the US that used to be Mexico, I'm pretty sure we legally purchased most of that from Spain. However, Texas was not sold. A large segment of the population of that area wanted to be a part of the US, and the US was glad to support something that would add to it's landmass.
I'm sure I don't have the right idea about everything, but I'd like to think that at least some of this post makes sense.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Stop calling us all Europeans and we'll stop calling you all American

NO!! >.< /fake butthurtness

OT: o.0 this was an issue? >.> <.< so ... who's the moron getting bent out a shape now?

 

[Treblaine]

Why do so many people on the internet get upset at that word? "American" has referred to the people living in the US since its formation. In fact, the word referred to those people for over a century before the country was founded. Why do people get so worked up over it?

They don't. It's Trolls, nothing but.

PS: you are feeding them

... Sage?

 

[Treblaine]

Stop calling us all Europeans and we'll stop calling you all American

How the hell does that work?

"Stop calling me Treblaine and I'll stop calling you Lono Shrugged"

Is there anything to be ashamed of being (called) either? Nope. Is there any ambiguity about either? Nope.

There is nothing to this. It's like people who don't understand the LITERAL meaning of the term sarcasm and think it proves anything by reciting it.

 

[Glerken]

Americans are Americans. Canadians are Canadian. Mexicans are Mexicans. We're all North Americans.

I can go over the same for South America if anyone is still confused.

Get over it.

 

[Treblaine]

I'm from Canada, which makes me an American - God bless America.

People from the United States seem to get very prideful when you enforce the fact that they are not the ONLY Americans. They've stolen the name...

I don't think you understand how WORDS work, how do you steal a work when everyone makes a new copy every time they speak?

If you mean redefined it, well Canada helped when it chose the name Canada after it abandoned it's old name of British America.

If Canada wants to change it's name back to British America, or even Canadian America then it can actually do that. I think it should stick with Canada. Just a single six-letter word, perfect. Unlike the "United States of America" or "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" which are the full official names that are on the front of every passport. Compared to:

Brilliant.

Canada has reason to be smug, right now it is like America was in the best of its times and in many ways far superior (no Health Insurance malarkey).

Oh sorry... America... do you even know where I'm talking about? Of course you do. Everyone does.

No one ever says when referring to continent of North America as simply "America" as North America and South America are SO DISTINCT they always need their North/South qualifier to be any use, not just for the different hemispheres but the insignificant land bridge that has actually been bisected by the Panama Canal. If anyone is referring to BOTH continents then they say "the americas" with no ambiguity.

 

[Legiondude]

I'm from Canada, which makes me an American - God bless America.

People from the United States seem to get very prideful when you enforce the fact that they are not the ONLY Americans.

WHO SAYS THAT? I've never met anyone who acts this stupid, and that's INCLUDING the crap I stumble upon on the internet

They've stolen the name either because they are actually as egotistical as the internet makes them out to be (thinking they are the only ones in the world), which I doubt, OR their country name is very... sub-par, and therefore we can't call them anything other than "Yankees" or "United Statesians".

Stole the name from who? At the time of it's creation, the only other nations in the western hemisphere(excluding the native tribes) were the British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese empires. PLUS you're ignoring that at the time of it's creation it was the general term similar in tone to say..."The Coalition", it wasn't meant to be "egotistical" it was just to say "We're on a team on this end of the pond, you can go suck it Britain"

Yankees is a possibility, but that name has fallen out of favor in the past 2 centuries except as a slang for us.

United Statesians is FAAAAAAR too general a term to refer to a people. Period. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_(disambiguation)] The only word left is America, so we use it.

I had one person go completely nuts on me when I called him a Yankee, as he was from the United States, saying I was being a RACIST. Yes, a racist. Hint: we all came from different countries, and only the Native Americans can say anything like that is racist (or offensive, as "Yankee" is not racist in any way), as they are the NATIVES.

Oh my god, 1 moron in 309 million people? WHAT A SHOCKER!

But in answer to your question, it's because everyone on the continent of America, North and South, are technically Americans, and NOT just the people living in the United States of America. Less-intelligent folk often get angry when they aren't special anymore.

Yes, technically everyone on this end of the pond is an American, but as referring to a people, the name anyone thinks of when they say "American" is people from the United States. Even you did begrudgingly, it's commonly accepted syntax, take "United States of America", get the shorthand "America", and in this country live people with the label "Americans". It's not egotism, it's convenience.

 

[Legiondude]

No one ever says when referring to continent of North America as simply "America" as North America and South America are SO DISTINCT they always need their North/South qualifier to be any use, not just for the different hemispheres but the insignificant land bridge that has actually been bisected by the Panama Canal. If anyone is referring to BOTH continents then they say "the americas" with no ambiguity.

1. To the part I removed: THANK YOU for making SENSE
2. It's actually a part of Latin American education that it's taught as a single continent: America. Which is part of the issue here

For further enlightenment: See here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBcq1x7P34]

 

[chadachada123]

I'm from Canada, which makes me an American - God bless America.

People from the United States seem to get very prideful when you enforce the fact that they are not the ONLY Americans. They've stolen the name either because they are actually as egotistical as the internet makes them out to be (thinking they are the only ones in the world), which I doubt, OR their country name is very... sub-par, and therefore we can't call them anything other than "Yankees" or "United Statesians".

I had one person go completely nuts on me when I called him a Yankee, as he was from the United States, saying I was being a RACIST. Yes, a racist. Hint: we all came from different countries, and only the Native Americans can say anything like that is racist (or offensive, as "Yankee" is not racist in any way), as they are the NATIVES.

But in answer to your question, it's because everyone on the continent of America, North and South, are technically Americans, and NOT just the people living in the United States of America. Less-intelligent folk often get angry when they aren't special anymore.

Yankee is really more of a New English name than one for Americans in general. If you said it to someone from California, then, well, yeah, it'd say that it was a pretty dumb usage. It'd be like calling a French person a Jerry or something.

But, uh, you're kinda wrong about how the term started being used. We're called Americans because there is absolutely no other word that would work. That's it. Some idiots might get defensive, but this will happen with any country, like the people that get pissy about the difference between English and British.

Oh, and by the way, Yankee originated as an offensive term by the British. A language purist would argue that the word Yankee is racist (prejudice) against Americans. Your point about Native Americans is irrelevant because they aren't called Yankees. In short, don't call Americans Yankees. It's got the same historical use as Krauts/Jerries or Japs/Nips, so don't use it except in a joking or actually derogatory way unless you kinda know the person.

Saying that the name of our country is bad is fallacious at best, and dickassery at worst. Don't do it.

EDIT: I accidentally quoted two people. Fixed.

 

[Darkmantle]

EDIT2: Also, there is NO continent called "America" so using the word "American" does not refer to North American (North America being a continent) or South Americans (South America Being a continent) specifically. It only refers to people from the USA.

Yes there is. Depending on what country you live they teach you diferently. In most Latin countries America is one continent. South and North are just ways to say it more geographically correct, despite being the same continent.

than quite frankly they are wrong. It's two continents. Learn to teach geography, I guess

Nope, maybe you are wrong. Specially when you consider that it were Portugal and Spain the firsts do colonize America, so basically they have the right to decide what's the Continent.

Well hey, if you want to hold onto beliefs that make you cranky and upset so you can complain on the internet, then I guess that's your business.

 

[Varanfan9]

there is still a lot of hatred because in the USA Pancho Villa is recorded in history as a terrorist even though he is a hero here,

Wasn't that the guy who crossed the border and attacked citizens of the states to try and get the US involved in a war with Mexico so he could over throw the government? Cause that kinda sounds like terrorism. Now I'm sure he had noble goals has the Mexican government was kinda corrupt at that point. You can have heroic terrorists, look at the Boston Tea Party and the various other acts of rebellion members of the US did before formal revolution. Just saying.
Anyways on topic I think it is because American is the easiest thing to say and America is part of our countries name so thats why its used and Mexicans and Canadians probably feel like they are being forgotten about and just lumped in with the US.

 

[ATRAYA]

A lot of Yankees getting butt-hurt over my earlier post... Sheesh!
Alright, if you REALLY want to be technical, North and South America ARE different. Thank you for... getting upset? I guess? Well, whatever, you made your point, and I'll try to refrain from just generalizing North and South America as one America (people got pissed at me for mentioning that in a YouTube comment, as well. I never said I was a geography teacher, people).

But, I'm sorry, Canadians and Mexicans do count as Americans. Whether you defined the name for your own convenience, arrogance (let's face it, SOME Yankees are like that), or because you couldn't do anything else with the name "United States of America" is irrelevant.

For those asking who the United Statesians, "stole" - as I may have mistyped - the word America from, I was referring to everyone else on the continent. Even Canadians have a meltdown when you call them Americans - especially when they are making fun of Yankees at the time.

Oh, and if "Yankee" TRULY is SO offensive to you, then I'll be glad to hear another option. So far, it's the best one that's technically accurate.

And finally, Canadians to define people from Canada; Mexicans, to define people from Mexico. Both are used to describe people from COUNTRIES. AMERICANS is used to define people from America, a CONTINENT. It's the same reason why Indians are ALSO Asian (continent of Asia, just to clarify)... -_- Someone didn't seem to understand that this is what I meant.

 

[requisitename]

This is one of many things I had no idea was even an issue until I found places on the internet where the average age is fairly young. I'd been part of online communities with very diverse worldwide inhabitants for over ten years before I came across someone who took issue with people from the U.S. being called "Americans".

So, generally, online I say either "people from the U.S." or "U.S. citizens" or the like just to keep people from glomping onto one word of a post and ignoring everything I was trying to say. It hasn't affected (and won't affect) my RT speech patterns, though. *shrug* It's a total non-issue to me.