Recently I heard someone saying: “The United States of America” yet another: The United States of North America". Why, this is the only country that emphasizes the continent it is geographicaly located at? Why not say for instance Canada of North America or even Brazil of South America? Any comments?
I’ve never ever heard “The United States of North America”, but as far as the other, for whatever reason the US has also become known as America in general, and the people Americans. I don’t know if this is our doing, or the doin’ of yous for’ners, but for better or worse it is the reality and it would be weird for a Canadian or Colombian to just call himself an American…
I am pretty sure that “The United States of North America” is a kind of sarcastic wordplay used by North Americans outside th US who are opposed to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
yeah people don’t usually say “The United States of North America” it is probably used only with an ironic/sarcastic mindset
If I am not mistaken the USA became independent and chose this name long before most countries were established. I see no problem with their name, but I gather that to Spanish speakers, Americans are Norte Americanos and I am not sure if that includes Canadians, although I assume it excludes Mexicans who are geographically a part of North America. I think I understand the term “gringo” however.
I am Mexican and I have heard people call the U.S. “Estados Unidos de Norte América”. However, we will usually call them “Estados Unidos”.
The term “American” is not well accepted here in Mexico, and after discussing this with some other Latin Americans, this may happen all across the non-English speaking continent.
We consider “americano” everyone from America, the continent. The idea of two Americas, North and South, is not taught in our schools. There’s just one America. Therefore, calling people from the U.S. “American” feels a little bit exclusive for us.
That is why we have the term “estadounidense”, which I believe is the proper term to use here. Funny thing is, the official name of Mexico is “Estados Unidos Mexicanos”, so in a way we can also be called “estadounidenses”.
Interesting topic, just a bit food for thought!
Here in Canada, we call our neighbour to the south either the US or the States but almost never America. However, we call the people Americans. Go figure…
It’s actually a very hot topic and a controversial one. On some forums, this topic can get very, very heated.
I don’t have a problem with the term “estadounidense” in Spanish, but in English (and in some other languages) US citizens are known as “Americans”. I don’t agree with linguists who think we should be called “Statians”-this is a matter of political correctness for no good reason.
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I wouldn’t think of telling other people what to call themselves in their own language, lol.
In any case the USA was formed and the name chosen before there were any other independent countries on the American continent. I feel all of this debate over names is not all that productive. Different countries have different names for other countries. Maybe the native North Americans should complain about names like America, Colombia, which celebrate those “discoverers” which brought them colonial domination. History is history.
On the other hand, we have the dispute between Greece and Macedonia over the use of the name Macedonia. Maybe the countries of South America should start negotiations with the US to have them change their name.