As an American, I’m fine with that. Some of us at least have a sense of humor about ourselves. And as an American, I know better than anybody that there’s plenty to make fun of here.
I remember calling a business in Canada and they asked me where I was from and I replied “America.” They replied with “We’re in America, too.” Then I was speaking with a guy from Poland who said he was vacationing in “America” so I asked which state and he said “Roatan.”
The United States is the only country in the world that does not have a gentile for itself. They call themselves citizens of the continent that they share with other countries, seeming to appropriate the entire continent.
It’s one of those things that made sense at the time, but looks a little weird if you don’t account for the history.
Folks living in the British colonies wanted to differentiate themselves from the English, so they called themselves “Americans” because they were in the “American colonies.”
The name stuck after the colonies became the United States.
But the same did not happen in the Spanish or French colonies, or even in other English colonies such as Canada or Belize. It is still weird and pretentious
The hostility with England has a big role in “American” sticking. It used to be a general term for any European colonist coming over to the Americas, but when British colonists started getting more and more pissed at the homeland, they started embracing that general term more and more.
This stuff always looks a little weird in a vacuum, but if you playback the tape and get familiar with the history, it makes a lot more sense.
I like the spanish demonym for those of us from the United States: estadounidense. If you were to translate it literally it’d be like unitedstatesian, like brazilian (braziliense)
At the time it was the only “country” on the continent. There were people actually arguing for not including the “of America” too, so it would just be “United States”
Pope Francis, who was born in South America: “Am I a joke to you?”
But “American” is what people from the USA are usually called.
Yeah, I sometimes say USAian or United Statesian, but that obviously doesn’t flow. It exists in other languages, but not English.
Also, personal nitpick, I don’t love when the continent of America refers to both N and S America.
“But it’s one landmass!!1!” Yeah, so is AfroEurasia. Continents don’t actually have an agreed upon meaning, so… it’s just, like, my opinion man.
You could always go with the classic “Yankee.”
Pope Yippee ki-yay
I love it! Pope Bob rolls off the tongue better though so I’ve decided to go with that one lol
I like the term seppo myself
For the non-Australians, Yank rhymes with Septic Tank, thus seppo
Wait, are you Australian or Cockney?
Australia has a small amount of this type of slang, but its usually more offensive than the mother british type
US American
Usonian?
The funny thing is it’s always South Americans trying to force their cultural norms on others and getting angry.
To be fair, South Americans have a lot of very legitimate reasons to be angry at the US.
Wdym? I’ve always thought this USian thing was just typical Western Europeans + Aus/Kiwis
As an American, I’m fine with that. Some of us at least have a sense of humor about ourselves. And as an American, I know better than anybody that there’s plenty to make fun of here.
I remember calling a business in Canada and they asked me where I was from and I replied “America.” They replied with “We’re in America, too.” Then I was speaking with a guy from Poland who said he was vacationing in “America” so I asked which state and he said “Roatan.”
Sounds about right of them to take more than they are entitled
first Yankee* Pope.
The United States is the only country in the world that does not have a gentile for itself. They call themselves citizens of the continent that they share with other countries, seeming to appropriate the entire continent.
It’s one of those things that made sense at the time, but looks a little weird if you don’t account for the history.
Folks living in the British colonies wanted to differentiate themselves from the English, so they called themselves “Americans” because they were in the “American colonies.”
The name stuck after the colonies became the United States.
But the same did not happen in the Spanish or French colonies, or even in other English colonies such as Canada or Belize. It is still weird and pretentious
The hostility with England has a big role in “American” sticking. It used to be a general term for any European colonist coming over to the Americas, but when British colonists started getting more and more pissed at the homeland, they started embracing that general term more and more.
This stuff always looks a little weird in a vacuum, but if you playback the tape and get familiar with the history, it makes a lot more sense.
I like the spanish demonym for those of us from the United States: estadounidense. If you were to translate it literally it’d be like unitedstatesian, like brazilian (braziliense)
Same thing in French : États uniens, États uniennes
So do French call themselves Republicans instead of French?
At the time it was the only “country” on the continent. There were people actually arguing for not including the “of America” too, so it would just be “United States”