Some say to stop using the word ‘American’. What’s next?

[Convert3]

As for Americans being loud,

I’ve lived in England and traveled the rest of Europe quite a bit. Not all Americans are loud, but the few that are definitely get attention and are sometimes rude.

 

[Convert3]

Call me whatever you want, but just don’t call me late for dinner.

 

[Sarcelle]

You can say the same about every nationality to be honest.

When I was visiting Thailand I came across some very loud Swedes.

 

[Annie]

This looks like a definition with an example attached, and a clarification in parenthesis. I don’t think it means that Italons say all that to refer to Americans from the US.

 

[BartholomewB]

As long ago as the nineties, if not earlier, there were calls for a new English word to be created, along the lines of one or the other of two Spanish terms in use in some, maybe all, Latin American countries, estadunidense and norteamericano. The difficulty with “North American” was that NAFTA was already in place, which meant that Mexicans and Canadians were also clearly included in that category. And, as far as I recall, nobody ever succeeded in devising a pronounceable English word modeled on estadunidense.

 

[babochka]

But that’s partly down to learning Spanish and place names in Spanish. There’s no such place as ‘America’. It’s los Estados Unidos. Oddly, the Spanish for US is EEUU (estados and unidos both being plural).

But that is an abbreviation of our name, the United States of America. It’s fine to use an abbreviation as long as the actual name is not erased.

 

[babochka]

You can say the same about every nationality to be honest.

When I was visiting Thailand I came across some very loud Swedes.

Yes, but it is true that some cultures are generally louder than others and quieter members of those cultures will be stereotyped.

 

[Annie]

Many years ago, I was told not to refse to the US as America as that was confusing to others, so I usually remwmbee to say the States instead.

But American? I have never heard someone from another part of the Americas refer to themselves as Americans, even in Spanish. They call themselves by the name of the country they are from: Boliviano, Chileno, etc.

 

[babochka]

You’re from a small town called Pennsylvania in Gloucestershire, England?

Pennsylvania, Gloucestershire - Wikipedia

Well, Pennsylvanians can’t call themselves Americans anymore and now they should probably stop calling themselves Pennsylvanians, lest they exclude other Pennsylvanians.

 

[PetraG]

I think it depends on context. In the US, we refer to ourselves in English as Americans. The cognate in Spanish, americano, does not just refer to citizens of the United States but refers to anyone from the entire New World. From what I understand, they even consider what we call the Americas to be all one continent: America.

It is kind of like knowing when the terms “boy” and “girl” are OK to use. You have to take your audience into account. It isn’t being “politically correct.” It is just communicating what you want to say in a way that your listener will immediately understand in the way you meant it.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

How about Murican?

Yes, I’ve taken to using this a lot. 'Murrican.

 

[babochka]

To be purely pedantic, part of the Canadian Constitution is the British North America Act.

That’s interesting, but the fact remains that the official name of the country is Canada. Not “Canada of North America” No longer the “Dominion of Canada”, but simply “Canada”.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’ve heard of UPers or Yoopers for those who live in the UP of Michigan.

Yooper for UP of Michigan is sort of like Yinzer for Western PA.

 

[F_Marturana]

“Statunitense” is what I mean, the rest of the quote is the definition. An inhabitant or the United States

 

[Wozza]

Wozza:

But that’s partly down to learning Spanish and place names in Spanish. There’s no such place as ‘America’. It’s los Estados Unidos. Oddly, the Spanish for US is EEUU (estados and unidos both being plural).

But that is an abbreviation of our name, the United States of America. It’s fine to use an abbreviation as long as the actual name is not erased.

I agree. But just be aware of the context. Speaking Spanish and saying ‘Yo soy de America’ will get puzzled looks from a Peruvian. They’ll ask which country because you didn’t specify. But said in English to an Australian and you’ll be fine. They will assume you mean the US and ask which state.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Pennsylvania does have its own Nottingham, Chester, Londonderry, Oxford, London Britain, and New Britain. That’s what happens when you advertise for a bunch of English immigrants to come and settle your state.

 

[Zach]

in regards to this issue, I don’t care how many other countries are in the Americas. Even people from other countries around the world refer to US citizens as Americans. They refer to Canadians as Canadians, Mexicans as Mexicans, and so on. I’ve never met anyone from another country in the Americas who cared that US citizens are called Americans. Someone here will respond “I have”, well good it still will never change my mind. Most US citizens realize that there are other countries in the Americas, so the refrain that “there are other countries in the Americas” is patronizing. I will continue to call myself and all other US citizens Americans. Regardless of what anyone here or elsewhere says. So don’t bother baiting me. You are waisting your time.

 

[BartholomewB]

In the two or three Latin American countries I’m familiar with, you see estadunidense and norteamericano in print, and a public speaker might take care to use those formal terms, but in everyday conversation the word is simply americano. Nobody misunderstands it, although in certain circumstances – in the presence of an American, for instance – they might pretend to.

 

[babochka]

babochka:

Wozza:

But that’s partly down to learning Spanish and place names in Spanish. There’s no such place as ‘America’. It’s los Estados Unidos. Oddly, the Spanish for US is EEUU (estados and unidos both being plural).

But that is an abbreviation of our name, the United States of America. It’s fine to use an abbreviation as long as the actual name is not erased.

I agree. But just be aware of the context. Speaking Spanish and saying ‘Yo soy de America’ will get puzzled looks from a Peruvian. They’ll ask which country because you didn’t specify. But said in English to an Australian and you’ll be fine. They will assume you mean the US and ask which state.

Yet in Russian, I would say “Я американка” and it would be easily understood that I am a woman from the United States of America.

You’re right - context matters.

 

[blackforest]

I’ve traveled enough to tell you that everyone sounds loud if you don’t speak their language.

Except the French. I could swear they were born with mufflers installed in their larynges. It’s a stereotype, yes, but I’ve never met a noisy French person.