Is it correct to call oneself a "US American"?

Canadian   Mon May 05, 2008 2:58 am GMT
I am a Canadian and I am enraged that Spanish speakers use 'norteamericano' when referring only to the USA. CANADA IS PART OF NORTH AMERICA TOO!
Guest   Mon May 05, 2008 1:31 pm GMT
We do call Germans europeans, aswell as French and British, actually all the people from countries of the EU (other than Spain) are europeans. In the same way Brussels is Europe.

I can't see the problem in calling the people from the US americans. First of all because it is 100% true that they are americans. And secondly, since they are the only people in the world that state they are american (as is their nationality), no confusion is posible.

Regarding the word "norteamericano", as I said before, it is not a colloquial word but just an euphemism used in the media. The only familiar word I've heard in Spain is "americano".

And to finish, the word "americano" refering now to someone from the American continent(s) is a non existing word for what I'm concerned, I've never heard it in conversation. No one I knows has ever refer to someone else as americano without saying what part of the American continent are they from.

So, if anyone want to call Germans europeans, I can't see any problem because, mind you, Germans ARE europeans.
Guest   Mon May 05, 2008 6:42 pm GMT
Yes, Germans are Europeans but what if I only used the term European to refer to them and I didn't give a damn about the other coutries?
Guest   Mon May 05, 2008 6:51 pm GMT
>美人 is only used for hot stuff<
Define hot stuff, please.
Guest   Mon May 05, 2008 6:51 pm GMT
I' a native Spanish speaker and at least here in Spain to use americano to refer to US citizens is seen as a too yankee attitude, not to mention the south americans migrants in Spain who say of course estadounidenses because they think that their countries are also American.
Guest   Mon May 05, 2008 8:31 pm GMT
Maybe we know different kind of people. I'm thirty-five and never in my hole life have known a Spaniard who said estadounidense spontaneously in conversation. It's an affected word. Normal people don't say it, just like other hundred of words people listen on the telly but don't say them, because, well, maybe they don't belong to the appropiate intelectual circle.

To the other Guest, I'm Spanish, I don't have any special interest in be called European. Honestly, I don't give two hoots how do you call Germans. Call them whatever you want if that makes you happy. I think that perhaps you should take notice of the fact that Europe is a political institution and it's not up to you who belong to it, but this is a free world, just use the name you like the most.

The way I see it, the problem is just that South American people are always complaining, they protest about everything. It's the same with Mexicans, they don't like the way we write MĂ©jico, as though we had to ask for permission to use our own language in our own country. There is nothing offensive but they go mental just out of a single letter.
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 9:28 am GMT
I hink it is good to precise US-American.

When I hear someone saying I'm from America, the first reaction I have it to answer "which country in America?" -ha you from the USA...
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 9:37 am GMT
"actually all the people from countries of the EU (other than Spain) are europeans."

And the spanish people?? why you don't call them European?!
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 9:51 am GMT
There is NO CONTINENT called "America", so the use of this term to refer to citizens of the United States, is not the least bit vauge, and doesn't exclude anybody. People need to stop repeating that nonsense because you have no argument.

There are only two continents in this region: North America, and South America - which are not subsets of anything.

People who want to identify themself by their continent of origin say either North-American, or South-American, and thats it.
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 10:15 am GMT
<<I hink it is good to precise US-American

When I hear someone saying I'm from America, the first reaction I have it to answer "which country in America?" -ha you from the USA...>>

Please find a map somewhere, and count the number of continents you see. Last time I checked, there were SEVEN CONTINENTS, and "America" is not one of them; no such continent exists.

I don't know where people are getting this idea of some large land mass called "America" thats composed of several different countries. Thats a fallacy.

There is nothing ambiguous about the term America that would necessitate specification with those ridiculous neologisms, because the term does not refer to any place else.
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 10:30 am GMT
For those of you who don't know, there are large portions of the world where a six continent model is taught. North and South America are combined into America.
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 10:44 am GMT
"For those of you who don't know, there are large portions of the world where a six continent model is taught. North and South America are combined into America. "

Yes, I think it is the usual representation in most places of the world:
One huge continent named "America" in the name of Amerigo Vespucci.
The fact that this continen is made of two main landmass entities led to its division in North and south AMERICA (like you can say north and south Europe or Africa). an intermediary "central America" is sometimes also concieved (maybe because the distinction of both north and south Americas is not as clear as you think)

Anyway we should'nt forget hat what we call continent are not well defined geographical concepts (Europe and Asia are in reality the same landmass but still considered most of the time to be distinct "continents".
On the other side, the question if we should count Antartica as one continent, if we should consider Australia a continent or a big island, ect...
If North and south America should be considered as two distinct continents or only one. The fact is that the both have the same name (AMERICA), which means that for mos people they are just two sub landmasses on one whole landmass called "AMERICA".; THis is how it is understood and named in a lot of places in the world, especially in the countries of America that are outside of the USA. Even if some US American dislike it.
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 10:47 am GMT
<<For those of you who don't know, there are large portions of the world where a six continent model is taught. North and South America are combined into America. >>

Geographically, doesn't it make more sense to combine Asia and Europe into one continent? North and South America are reasonably well separated, like Africa and Asia.
boz   Tue May 06, 2008 12:02 pm GMT
I guess some US Americans think the Copa America is named after the USA.

On another forum I read a guy who really could not understand why Paraguay's football team motto at the 2006 World Cup included the phrase "From the heart of America".
Guest   Tue May 06, 2008 1:42 pm GMT
Yes, very rue. "America" in the meaning of just "USA" is a very specific using of that word. For most of the word and languages "America" is a continent, not a country.