Geniune Question:
Why do Americans use the term 'American' exclusively for the U.S. when 'America' refers to a whole continent? How do you think this affects global perceptions of the U.S. and its relationship with other cultures?
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they are so dumb. they think they have the absolute truth about everything in the world, but theres nothing to do, its cultural
they think everything is about them or how it has to be about how they want it to be
so you think the term "americans" is used solely because they wanted it that way? sorry to break it to you but the majority of the world uses american to describe people from the US. what else do you want to call them? united state-ians? i feel like this has occured more because bordering countries take PRIDE in where they were born so if they were to identify themselves it'd be as a proud brazilian rather than an umbrella term "american". you're not the victim here in any way, if anything it's to signify their separation from britain (as always)
NO BRO I DONT wtf
AGAIN >- "i was thinking about it, like it was your name, so the term "americans" makes sense, but he probably asked that because in south america we have another word to americans"
dumb is a strong claim considering Brazil is a whole 86 spots below US in Education rankings
It's an old thing from when everyone else didn't matter to most or were busy being part of an empire people don't bother changing stuff unless forced to or want to themselves
Not just Americans, the whole Anglosphere
Its just part of the language
Also #7
hmm, i think more than language, i think it is something more culture, popular culture
dude, its not just Americans that refer themselves "American" in the way you are describing. Even in russian, they refer to people from the United States as "Americanski" for example.
i think people say americans because what other word can you use for people from the USA?
there really is no other way to call them, it speaks poorly of their culture in general
in other words, you aren't here to ask a question rather you are just here to spread hate?
well clearly, even you at #15 know the answer to your own question that you created this thread for. You're entitled to your opinion but you clearly aren't here to answer a question you just want to project your insecurity onto others.
not really, i mean that in your own language it is the only way to refer to yourselves, probably the translation from Spanish to English can be very literal and I didn't mean it in an offensive way
im really sorry
What would you call people from a country if it’s not derived from a country’s name?
United or states aren’t the best as a base for a name.
on our side of the continent we don't really refer to you as Americans, we call you "Estadounidenses" which in a wrong translation can be understood as "North American" or also in a more ironic or in some offensive cases we call you "gringos"
We have America in our country's name, I don't see why Mexican's, Canadians or any other countries in South America wouldn't want to represent their own country. American just fits with our country's title.
i was thinking about it, like it was your name, so the term "americans" makes sense, but he probably asked that because in south america we have another word to americans
idk man our country name is united states of america. seems pretty simple to cut it down to just america(n). its not to demean any certain group of people. its just easier.
yea, it's the most logical thing that comes to mind, that's why i'm asking here to see different types of opinions
Why do you call Mexico, Mexico, when its full name is "los Estados Unidos Mexicanos"(United States of Mexico)
This should answer your question.
ah yea, that's a good one, that's logic
i want to make it clear that I didn't mean to offend, the translation from Spanish to English can be very literal, that's why some sentences sound too bad compared to how we say it here
It's probably cuz the USA is the only country that matters in NA and South NA.
I have nothing against calling people from NA or SA Americans. I just don't believe everyone wants to be called Americans. No we are not dumb but if you wish to believe so, so be it.
The continent model varies between all sides of the world. Thus creating an issue where certain parts see N/S America as one and another as 2 separate parts.
It also doesn’t translate well between some languages like Spanish. Personally I don’t see anyone else as an American unless you’re born in the US or hold citizenship.
I was also thinking about the continent difference too! With the continents, I feel like an unbiased alien would see them as two different continents, and the one-continent viewpoint (which is fine, by the way) is the culture-dependent one. I feel like the evolution of the word American to refer to just the country isn't supposed to say anything about South America - I think the colonists were too busy distinguishing themselves from Britain.
And if the word "American" suddenly started referring to the entire continent(s) in the English language, then it wouldn't change any perceptions. Trump would not go "Oh yes, our fellow Americans, we must invite all Americans to immigrate into our country", he would (1) change the name back or (2) come up with another name for just the US and only use that word. (I can already imagine him asking Elon Musk to edit all Twitter posts or something.)
It also doesn’t make sense to call someone American if they were to be from a South American country. You’d just call them their respective nationality.
you want us to call ourselves Unitedeans or Statesians? are you braindead?
L mindset
open your mind and think things through twice, don't get carried away by a stigma xd
you're just disrespecting me for no reason
see, u don't got arguments so you're disrespecting me, is so fucking pathetic
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