Indeed, U.S.A. is not America!
America is the name of a whole continent. United States of America means that the United States belongs to America and NOT that America belongs to the United States. So, next time you want to refer to The United States of America, you can do it as U.S. or the States or whatever you want but not as only America. Gotcha?
How should I use the term America then?
Here we will show you some wrong and correct uses of the term America:
This is how we do it in America.
This is how we do it in the States.
- America is my country and I love it.
- The United States is my country and I love it.
- America lost the Vietnam war.
- U.S.A. lost the Vietnam war.
- Here in America we love Mc Donald's.
- Here in the U.S. we love Mc Donald's.
Please, note that this page in not about demonyms (gentilics) but about the way to call a country.
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Comments (1268)
I can’t wait to read your BS regarding this one.
https://bit.ly/3rYNYdB
Continent de l’Amerique Septentrionale. 1755.
But…but…only the Americans consider the Americas to be two continents.
But…but…the French have ALWAYS thought of the Americas as one continent. EVERY SINGLE FRENCHMAN. ALWAYS.
But…but…the ‘Septentrionale’ isn’t part of the name of the continent, it just indicates the cardinal direction.
But…but…The Americans were the first ones to ever divide the Americas into two continents. They did it for the first time EVER in the middle of the 20th century.
Amusing,
"America is located between 80° North Latitude and 55° South Latitude;"
Buchon, Jean Alexandre ( shorturl.at/kuyTY )
Please do take my advise, take a walk and live a little.
It’s amusing that people use the name ‘America’ in different ways?
Nothing you post is proving me wrong. You realize this, right? I have always emphasized that people use the names in different ways, so when you post examples of people using the name in a way that is different from someone else, you are proving me right, not wrong. Amusing.
" https://bit.ly/3rYNYdB
Continent de l’Amerique Septentrionale. 1755.
"
Author of said map is Jean Alexander Buchon. Like other map makers uses the term continent for both the whole and its parts. Acknowledging: "America is located between 80° North Latitude and 55° South Latitude;"
"only the Americans consider the Americas to be two continents."
Most Americans don't, most Usonians specifically do.
"the French have ALWAYS thought of the Americas as one continent.".
Your source in fact did.
" ‘Septentrionale’ isn’t part of the name of the continent, it just indicates the cardinal direction."
Qualifiers indicate the region of what is being qualified.
Your map maker: Buchon, Jean Alexandre (https://tinyurl.com/y3uzwb6v )
This is quite enough.
Yes, it is indeed quite enough of your BS.
Amusing,
"America is located between 80° North Latitude and 55° South Latitude;"
Buchon, Jean Alexandre ( https://tinyurl.com/y3uzwb6v )
Please do take my advise, take a walk and live a little.
If you didn't now you know(United States)says...
" https://bit.ly/3rYNYdB
Continent de l’Amerique Septentrionale. 1755.
"
Author of said map is Jean Alexander Buchon. Like other map makers uses the term continent for both the whole and its parts. Acknowledging: "America is located between 80° North Latitude and 55° South Latitude;"
"only the Americans consider the Americas to be two continents."
Most Americans don't, most Usonians specifically do.
"the French have ALWAYS thought of the Americas as one continent.".
Your source in fact did.
" ‘Septentrionale’ isn’t part of the name of the continent, it just indicates the cardinal direction."
Qualifiers indicate the region of what is being qualified.
Your map maker: Buchon, Jean Alexandre ( https://tinyurl.com/y3uzwb6v )
This is quite enough
David, if you find more maps please share with us. Although it is now difficult to find old maps on internet here is one which one clearly can see the titled "America" and you can see on the map the cardinal directions/points naming which side of the continent is on the south or the north. I'll see if i can find more.
https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/159327/view/17th-century-map-of-the-new-world
On this map North America is clearly called ‘America Septentrionalis’ and SA is clearly called ‘America Meridionalis’. The name ‘America’ obviously also appears. This map is a perfect illustration of the fact that people often used different names for all of the Americas, and for its northern and southern halves. In your simple-mindedness and bias, you need to pretend that everyone has always used the exact names that you prefer in the exact way that you prefer. This isn’t the reality. The ‘Septentrio’ and ‘Meridies’ are obviously there, but they are separate from the names of NA and SA.
There are many, many maps. They aren’t difficult to find for normal people. You, on the other hand, are special needs. I will post more links.
By mistake or by misinterpretation or who knows how the people read it the way you also do but you know and also have agreed that America is the name of the continent and that the U.S. uses America but not officially. We know that all exports are marked "U.S.A" and not "America" maybe to avoid the conflict you say it does not exits. However I differ from that belief for what we have talked about here often in regards to official names in the U.S. such as the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Citizenship etc. which is what one should follow and not what other people have attached themselves to saying like a name that rings nice but it was already taken.
Also erroneously called the melting pot of the world, USA is indeed a pot but I wouldn't qualify it as melting. It remains still a nation trapped in the past. Largely racially divided. Only region of America that with sincere honesty be described as a melting pot is Latin America. Evident in genetic composition of Latin Americans in general. Increasingly more admixed with the passing of time. Most common admixture European, African and American heritage.
DNA Studies:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07748-z
https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-018-5195-7
Mostly due to the Unites States kicking the Indigenous people out. Most Latin American countries mingled with the natives.
More like genocide than kicking them out.
Canada, like Colombia and Brazil, are in America.
And the US is correctly called ‘America’.
Wrong again, the U.S. is INCORRECTLY called ‘America’.
How is it incorrect? Please cite the rule of naming that is being violated.
How is it a lie to call the US ‘America’? What exactly is the lie?
America Ferrera isn’t a continent or a subcontinent. Is it a lie to call her America?
Think David think! You are not thinking!
What is the lie? Why can’t you answer?
David, like I said, powerful nations write their history based on their view of it. You can probably go on google to look for 1898 war between Spain the U.S. and will find that they call it the Spanish-American war. If you go to Spanish sites you will see it called "EEUU vs Espana" or La guerra de Estados Unidos con Espana. The treaty of paris was signed after and we have already discussed much about that treaty in how the Treaty mentions England having possessions in other parts of America (not the U.S.) and Islands in the continent.
Mrs. Anonymous, I understand why you whine and why you are so butthurt. I just disagree that it is incorrect in any way in a naming sense to call the US ‘America’. It is not incorrect in any way to use ‘America’ as a name for the US. It violates no rule of naming to do so.
I don’t care that you don’t like it. I don’t care that you think it’s stolen. I don’t care how you feel about it. I understand why you feel the way you do. You have explained it ad nauseum. I just don’t care. Your feelings don’t determine the rules of naming. It isn’t incorrect to call the country ‘America’ just because you don’t like it. Your approval and acceptance aren’t required.
Your approval is not important at any length. So if there are no laws, which there might be one that we can't find, hypothetically if another nation (similar in size and power to the U.S.) decides to name itself "America" what would be the U.S. response? Let's go even further, if that new nation decides to name itself United States of America what would be the U.S. reaction or as you suggest there shouldn't be any reaction since there seems there are no laws against using some other continent or nation's name. This would be okay according to the way you think or not?
I explain to the US Americans who enter the web so that they understand the origin of the annoyance; Latin Americans (Argentinian, Brazilian, Mexican, etc) use the word "América" to refer to South America and North America as a whole, but also to refer to Latin America or South America without clarifying what is "Latin" or "South". So sometimes saying "America" we can be referring to South America, or to refer to Latin America we can even say "nuestra América" (our America).
This is part of the hypocrisy when people who use the words this way then complain about using ‘America’ to refer to the US.
It's like the linguistic tradition in English-speaking countries, which is different. Where the word "America" alone in the singular is used more than anything to refer to the United States, because in its other uses it is always accompanied by a clarification such as "South" America and "North" America, which to refer to them as a whole is uses the expression "the Americas".
And also of course to refer to "Latin" America and "Anglo" America.
Javier, are you saying that some Latin Americans are annoyed with ‘America’ referring to the USA because they use it to refer to Latin America and/or South America? I think that is what you are saying, but I just want to be sure.
Your lack of reading comprehension is showing! Didn't you see that Javier wrote South and North? Anglo and Latin?
It bothers us because we are unaware of the cultural linguistic issue that differentiates and distinguishes us, but if we know about it, that annoyance will probably disappear. Even if we maintain a certain criticism (although we must MUTUALLY RESPECT these linguistic traditions) that the origin of the English-speakers regarding their use of the word "America" may have to do with a certain US American egocentrism.
Don't know if in Argentina they teach that there is another subdivision of the continent but there is. Central America and the Caribbean Islands. America is the entire continent and landmass and this landmass is divided into various divisions. America thus is divided into North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Yes the Caribbean Islands are in America even though they are Islands. So all of these nations are in America. Not in the United States but in America!
So, let me get this straight. According to you, the rule of naming is that a given usage of a name is correct if Mrs. Anonymous thinks that usage honors the original usage (or, in the case of ‘America’, not the original, but the second usage). If Mrs. Anonymous thinks a given usage of a name is an act of stealing, then that usage is incorrect. Do I have that right? You think that your subjective opinions about honor and theft determine whether or not a usage of a name is correct or incorrect? You’re a delusional idiot.
Not when they usage comes with a change of the thing they are taking the name from. Like when the U.S. started using the name of the continent they knew of the issue and so the U.S. began to teach a two continent view of the new continent America and changing its name to "The Americas". It is easy to understand, if you want a name to be only yours, you take it and then you change the other name of the thing you took the name from.
It became very common in the US to call the country ‘America’ starting in 1898. It became very common in the US to consider the Americas to be two continents around 1950. If, as you claim, the former caused the latter, why is there a half century gap?
We know that it became common some where in the past to call the U.S. as America, that is why we are discussing this issue here on this forum. The how, the why, and the who.
“and just because people can't stop calling the US as America it should be correct?”
And just because people can’t stop calling America Ferrera as America it should be correct?
And just because people can’t stop calling Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V. as América it should be correct?
Think, payasa. Think!
No el payaso eres tu! Your examples are not the same because they both are honoring the name of a continent and not stealing the name of a continent like the U.S. did!
Hahaha! You are such a moron. How did the actress’s parents and the football club not steal, but only honor? How did the country not honor, but only steal? This is all just your biased, subjective BS. It’s all just your moronic opinion. There is no objective difference. They are exactly the same situations. A name is being used in a way that is different from its original use. This is also true of your preferred use of ‘America’ because, as you know, the name originally referred to only South America. You don’t like one particular use, so you call it stealing. You approve of the other uses, so you call it honoring. But in all cases the name is being used in a different way from its original use. You are nothing more than a biased hypocrite.
You are stupid.
“Its me again” did NOT speak BS. He is not at all a hypocrite or anything negative. He spoke truth and not his opinion. He is correct as he said, “USA DID STEAL the name and demonym of a continent”.
So you are a lot more than a biased hypocrite as you keep on telling false information.
La verdad es que ya te perdiste! David, for a long time i have been offering the reason why i say the USA has been stealing the name of the continent rather than just using as honoring the continent. If it were like you say, then the continent would not be for the English speakers ,including the United States, called "The Americas". When the U.S. sought the name of America for itself to be used as their name they knew that the continent's name is America, but hey they wanted it right? So, they started to teach that the continent was two continents and therefore the name would not be America but The Americas. Hence for this action, your example is not accurate because naming your child or a soccer team "America" is in no way taking the name of the continent away like the U.S. did with parting the continent into two and giving it another name thus "The Americas".
As you know, most Americans & many other people view the Americas as 2 continents. They use ‘the Americas’ to refer to the linked landmass that is composed of the 2 continents of North & South America.
The names ‘North America’, ‘South America’, & ‘the Americas’ have existed in many languages since before the USA existed. Americans & many other people already called the USA ‘America’ long before the mid-1900s, when it became much more common to consider the Americas to be 2 continents. Some people considered the Americas to be 2 continents long before that time.
You think the name is stolen. I disagree. Even if the name were stolen, it isn’t incorrect in a naming sense to call the US ‘America’. No rule of naming is being violated. Your personal notions of honor & stealing don’t determine the rules of naming. You have even admitted that no rules of naming are being violated. A name isn’t incorrect just because you think it’s stolen. You don’t make the rules.
Maybe you can see in antique maps they used to write the cardinal directions which are North, South, East and West. Something like for example a North Africa, Central Africa and South Africa and West Asia, East Asia, Etc. So when you see the continent of America in maps you are seeing the cardinal directions like South America, Central America and North America for it was sometimes very customary to write it on the maps.
They called the landmasses North and South America on many old maps. “America Septentrionalis’ and its variants are Latin for North America. ‘America Meridionalis’ and its variants are Latin for South America. Do a search for these names and you will find many old maps. You can also find old maps in English that say ‘North America’ and/or ‘South America’.
Published around 1675: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3200.ct007039/?r=0.197,0.167,0.387,0.218,0
Drawn in 1589: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maris_Pacifici
Published around 1652: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3300.ct000612/?r=-0.022,0.265,1.189,0.671,0
Published around 1719: https://bit.ly/3S3nGle
There are many, many more.
Yep that is how they used to put the cardinal directions on maps especially of America. If you can see most of those maps have written in the upper top "Septentrio" or in the bottom "Meridies" in different languages to give pieces of lands a cardinal direction on a map. America is America not matter if the map has America Septentrional or America Meridional because they are both being set as where they are in the world either in the North or in the South. Maybe this is the reason for the confusion as to why the English speaking world thought of a two continent view of America and continued teaching it. Either way, if the continent was divided by the English then the United States would not had had the "of America" but instead it would had correctly being "The United States of North America" if that is to go by the two continent view.
Liar. Those are the names for the divisions of the Americas. They are not simply labels for the cardinal directions. You are so dishonest.
You are the liar David.
“North America” and “South America” are the Americas, and the Americas are the divisional names of America. They ARE SO simply labels for the cardinal directions. “Its me again” IS NOT SO dishonest. Instead, they spoke truth! Therefore, the Americas combined ARE AMERICA!!
“North” and “South” ARE BOTH Cardinal Words for DIRECTIONS and they truely explain the locations for the name of a place. Therefore, North America IS OBVIOUSLY “the NORTH location of the place named AMERICA”! Therefore, “the Americas” ARE AMERICA!!!