Spanish has the same thing so until Spanish starts using "norteamericanos de los EEUU" English won't adopt "Statian".
How do you judge an accent as pretentious?
"He is trying to make language fit into a logical paradigm, which it doesn't. "Well, Mexico is on the American continent; therefore, Mexicans are 'Americans.'"
Language doesn't work that way. That is like trying to come up with some sort of logic as to why a hot dog is called a hot dog. "Well, it's not a dog; it's a type of sausage....this doesn't make any sense..."
You must be abnormal, the words America and American appear in may English dictionaries in a sense that is connected with the Americas, and for very good reasons. This whole phenomenon receive a name that it's gonna surprise you a lot. It's called polysemy and it's about identical words meaning different things in different contexts. That's exactly how languages work, and that's why most Hispanics talking in Spanish have no trouble in saying American of people from the US. Not only Spaniards, many Latin Americans do it, because the alternative words are perceived as PC or non-colloquial, and because American is jut plain and correct Spansih. They are Americans themselves who tend to avoid that word in Spanish, probably after having had some kind of run-in with some Hispanic idiot, yeah, exactly the Spanish version of you.
So just stop insulting your language, learn it a bit, and the next time you hear an Argentinian refer to themselves as an American, just because he wasn't in the mood for avoiding the word that day, please don't make such a fuss of it. If you don't understand what did he mean with American, just ask. That's the way languages work.
Alternatively, you can just write to the people running the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the WordReference dictionary and all the others, and tell them how wrong they are and how little they kow about the way the Engish language work.
Language doesn't work that way. That is like trying to come up with some sort of logic as to why a hot dog is called a hot dog. "Well, it's not a dog; it's a type of sausage....this doesn't make any sense..."
You must be abnormal, the words America and American appear in may English dictionaries in a sense that is connected with the Americas, and for very good reasons. This whole phenomenon receive a name that it's gonna surprise you a lot. It's called polysemy and it's about identical words meaning different things in different contexts. That's exactly how languages work, and that's why most Hispanics talking in Spanish have no trouble in saying American of people from the US. Not only Spaniards, many Latin Americans do it, because the alternative words are perceived as PC or non-colloquial, and because American is jut plain and correct Spansih. They are Americans themselves who tend to avoid that word in Spanish, probably after having had some kind of run-in with some Hispanic idiot, yeah, exactly the Spanish version of you.
So just stop insulting your language, learn it a bit, and the next time you hear an Argentinian refer to themselves as an American, just because he wasn't in the mood for avoiding the word that day, please don't make such a fuss of it. If you don't understand what did he mean with American, just ask. That's the way languages work.
Alternatively, you can just write to the people running the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the WordReference dictionary and all the others, and tell them how wrong they are and how little they kow about the way the Engish language work.
What the hell are you talking about? We're talking about the English language. If you're speaking to someone in Spanish, follow the conventions in Spanish - American can mean someone from Argentina. When you're speaking in English, you follow the conventions in English - an American is only someone from the United States.
That is how language works. Deviate from it and people will look at you like you're crazy, and rightfully so.
That is how language works. Deviate from it and people will look at you like you're crazy, and rightfully so.
"What the hell are you talking about? We're talking about the English language. If you're speaking to someone in Spanish, follow the conventions in Spanish - American can mean someone from Argentina. When you're speaking in English, you follow the conventions in English - an American is only someone from the United States.
That is how language works. Deviate from it and people will look at you like you're crazy, and rightfully so."
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/American
Only in case you can read.
That is how language works. Deviate from it and people will look at you like you're crazy, and rightfully so."
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/American
Only in case you can read.
Yes, Wordreference.com, there's a reliable source. Next you'll cite Meriam Webster, a children's dictionary.
Unlike French, the only set standard the English language has is how people who speak English use it. That's why English is a more fluid, and more debatable, language. In our debate here, you are 100% wrong.
Unlike French, the only set standard the English language has is how people who speak English use it. That's why English is a more fluid, and more debatable, language. In our debate here, you are 100% wrong.
Yup, what I see from those sites is, an American is a person from the United States. Thanks for confirming that... it's how people in English use the word. You can't argue with an entire culture that the way they do something is wrong.
What's your next project, fighting with the French because they use too many silent letters?
What's your next project, fighting with the French because they use too many silent letters?
"Yup, what I see from those sites is, an American is a person from the United States. Thanks for confirming that... it's how people in English use the word. You can't argue with an entire culture that the way they do something is wrong."
If you wanna troll please go to the Languages forum, it's a more proper place for that and I'm sure you can make yourself at home there.
"What's your next project, fighting with the French because they use too many silent letters?"
This is an English forum, if you wanna talk about other languages please go the the Languages forum.
If you wanna troll please go to the Languages forum, it's a more proper place for that and I'm sure you can make yourself at home there.
"What's your next project, fighting with the French because they use too many silent letters?"
This is an English forum, if you wanna talk about other languages please go the the Languages forum.
Yes, Brazilians are also American, Mexicans are also American. Those dictionaries are right. But those are secondary meanings! And seem rare too. Maybe very rare, I don't know.
Open the window.
Webster's dictionary, window: an area at the limits of the earth's sensible atmosphere through which a spacecraft must pass for successful reentry
It's a common utterance.
Open the window.
Webster's dictionary, window: an area at the limits of the earth's sensible atmosphere through which a spacecraft must pass for successful reentry
It's a common utterance.
You and your fellow Americans said that America and American exist in English ONLY in connection with the US. I've proved that's wrong, and I can keep proving it every day:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&as_q=&as_epq=American+Countries&as_oq=&as_eq=South+North+Central+Latin+Hispanic+Ibero+Anglo&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images
Of course is about logic. Just because you haven't got the habit of thinking of The Americas as a whole it doesn't mean there is not such possibility.
Maybe there are not many Pan-American events, but ¿how would you talk about them? ¿Are you going to keep the 'pan' all the time? Maybe you would, but people outside the English speaking world won't do it, or at least not all the time, because they don't feel that need. It's not their fault that the names of your country, continent and pan-continent follow an odd pattern, with the non-qualified name belonging to the inner part.
You can argue they are not native speakers, or that I'm not a native speaker, well I can't discuss that because that's what I am.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&as_q=&as_epq=American+Countries&as_oq=&as_eq=South+North+Central+Latin+Hispanic+Ibero+Anglo&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images
Of course is about logic. Just because you haven't got the habit of thinking of The Americas as a whole it doesn't mean there is not such possibility.
Maybe there are not many Pan-American events, but ¿how would you talk about them? ¿Are you going to keep the 'pan' all the time? Maybe you would, but people outside the English speaking world won't do it, or at least not all the time, because they don't feel that need. It's not their fault that the names of your country, continent and pan-continent follow an odd pattern, with the non-qualified name belonging to the inner part.
You can argue they are not native speakers, or that I'm not a native speaker, well I can't discuss that because that's what I am.
Unfortunately a lot of people think like this Guest here. Canadians and South Americans in particular get really bent out of shape that the United States of America is called "America".
Basically they're just looking for excuses to bad mouth America. Pretty sad it's coming from our Canadian brothers to the north, bunch of ingrates.
Basically they're just looking for excuses to bad mouth America. Pretty sad it's coming from our Canadian brothers to the north, bunch of ingrates.