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 (1254)
If Waldseemuller and Ringmann intended ‘America’ to refer to all of the Americas, then why did they name only South America as ‘America’? And why did they name North America as ‘Parias’?
An uncomfortable question with uncomfortable answers for your BS “arguments”. Just keep on pretending that the name ‘America’ was delivered from on high by baby Jesus, and that it always and forever only “truly”, “correctly”, and “logically” refers to all of the Americas. Remember that all changes made to language by humans are incorrect. This is because humans don’t create human language. That is clearly the job of God in her various forms.
Dah! You really don't get it! When you read history you don't just think that people lived in the same circumstances of today like if they were the same way back in 1492 or 1500's. The era of discovery was on its zenith and lands were being discovered and mapped and added to other pieces of lands as they were discovered. As the landmass got bigger and bigger the name America expanded to those lands and thus the entire continent was America!
I understand that perfectly. My point is that the original meaning of the name was changed. You falsely claim that ‘America’ cannot mean the USA because that is not the original meaning of the word. I know that this simply is not true. Words gain new meanings all the time. Words can and do have multiple meanings. There is no rule in any language that says that words can only have one meaning. So, if your false claims that ‘America’ cannot possibly refer to the USA are true, which they are not, then ‘America’ cannot refer to all of the Americas either. Because that is not the original meaning of the name. This is the point that I have been making all along. Intellectually challenged fools like you are the ones who don’t get it. Applying your own false argument to your preferred use of ‘America’ means that your preferred use of ‘America’ in INCORRECT. What don’t you understand about this?
Your past arguments about America being written on what Brazil is today and that Parias was written where Nuevo Mexico and later the U.S. is located did not back your point of view. The correct explanation is that the age of discovery was still on its height and Europeans formed the idea that it was a whole entire continent which they were discovering, and the name America came about after maps of the new world were gathered and put together to name a continent not just a piece of land in the south, but the entire continent. If now how do you explain maps after the 1507 map where America is the entire continent?
I am not saying that your preferred meaning of ‘America’ actually is incorrect, only that if your arguments against ‘America’ having the meaning of the USA were correct, which they obviously are not, then your preferred meaning of ‘America’ would also be incorrect. ‘America’ means the Americas and the USA, among other things.
People added a new meaning to the name to make it mean the USA. People added a new meaning to the name to make it mean the Americas. You claim that the first is incorrect and that the second is correct. Why do you think it is? What rules are being violated by the first that aren’t being violated by the second? You claim the first is incorrect and the second is correct even though they have undergone the exact same process of formation. They were both formed by giving a different meaning to the word ‘America’. How is it OK to do this for one but not for the other? You really think your preferences determine which meanings are correct and which are incorrect?
The name America is not incorrect, is the usage that is conflicted. How can you use the same name of the continent for a country in the same continent? Please explain. Another person gave us the example of Europe, if a country all of the sudden decides to call itself "U.S. Of Europe" and call it in its short form "Europe", and its citizen start calling themselves European but don't want to share the same name with the rest of Europe...I am adding this: so they recur to divide the European continent into South Europe, East Europe, North Europe etc. so that they can claim the name Europe for their country, would that be incorrect?
Americo Vespucio only navigated South America, that is, the South of America (Brazil, Argentina...). If he were alive, he wouldn't be able to care less about the United States, a land he never set foot on.
Brilliant. Thanks.
Firstly the people of USA has been referred to as American since the 1700-1800s, your OPINION of not liking it will not change that.
Second the official country name is the United States of America and calling Americans Statens or Staters or whatever, would be the equivalent of calling the majority of calling the citizens of most countries by Republican. The People's Republic of China, the Republic of Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany. When people ask for nationality the ask for the country not the continent. I’ve never heard a Canadian respond “I’m North American, ehh”.
If the U.S. should follow suit on the names and adopt one like these countries mentioned above, then it would be "The Federal Republic of the United States of America".
So that’s the only “correct” possibility? You have a rigorous linguistic and mathematical proof of this? Give us a break.
Unlike you that don't have one against it, the U.S. is truly a Federal Republic. The country might not use it on the name but it is. Other countries choose to use it on their names and that should not be any example as to why using United States as the name should be incorrect.
Frotusa!
Now we are getting somewhere! A real name, not just a temporary tag. Same goes for South Sudan, the Central African Republic, United Arab Emerites, West Virginia...
A “temporary tag” that has existed for a quarter of a millennium? So you are obviously a deep thinker like German, Saris, and Roda. Bravo.
As I have said before, yes the name has been used for the U.S. citizens in some parts of the world. That does not mean it is not the name of the continent. Taking the name of the continent by the U.S. so that it can use it for its own is what is happened. All of you who assert that it is used by the U.S. but do not even try to discuss where it came from, know very well that the name has been usurped for years and years and now just because the name has landed credibility in people who don't know the whole history doesn't mean that it is correct. America is the name of the continent and has been used by the U.S. for many years as their own.
Who here is saying that the name didn’t originate as a name for the continent of South America? I don’t remember ever reading on this site the claim that the name ‘America’ was first used by the USA.
Not one because the name was to be for the whole entire continent and there is no South American continent except for the English and some other countries who have changed the whole continent by dividing it into two.a And Yes, the 1507 maps had it written on what is now Brazil but as the emergence of new territory in America was known, that part of the territory was included in the name of America since it was counted as one continent.
I'll just say this, if a new country is formed in Europe and it's named United States of Europe but it's only a part of the continent... Would their citizens become the new Europeans by right of the name of their country? And Europe would become the Europes?
Does it sound right that "america" is inside north America, which is also part of "the americas"??
Maybe. Maybe not. What we do know is that it happened in the Americas with the United States.
Whether or not it sounds right to you or anyone else, it is the reality of the situation. It is a fact that the USA is very commonly called ‘America’ by many, many, many people all over the world who speak many different languages.
There are a number of people who post here who like to pretend that facts that they don’t like are not facts. They pretend that their preferences determine reality. I hope you aren’t one of these poor souls.
The spread of the incorrect name for the U.S. as America, has spread in the world and the advertising has been endless.
It is not incorrect. Words can and do have multiple meanings. Your approval isn’t required.
Words are manipulated by people! Words themselves don't change their meaning, people change them and so people took the name of the continent to use it to call the country of the U.S. and for some reason they continued until it was hard to go back and correct it. Call something something a million times and whaaalaa! it becomes that something. The spread of an error is not merely a fact but a wrong fact. Your fact is wrong from the origin and so it has a weak base. It does not matter if people now call the U.S. America or Americans the people of the U.S, because people change the meaning of the words as they seem fit or by keeping the status quo, or by mere tradition, but mistakes happen in these changes and so when we say that the U.S. is wrongly using the name America for itself due to the fact that the U.S. is on American soil, the one continent America, same as other 30 something nations this is a fact.
The United States is in some countries called "America" because the U.S. has been using the name of the continent for a long time. People continue to assert that America is the name of a country but they can not assert how did the name came to be the country's name or where did the country get the name from. Once they answer these questions, they know that they are in a bind. The name is copied from the continent and used as if it is only a country's name. So much is the conflict that the English speaking countries have resourced to divide the continent of America, in order to make the name available for its snatching, since by dividing the continent into South America and North America, the U.S. now can easily be called America and leave. But we know that the rest of the countries in America, are not buying into this move.
Well said! I have been commenting on this for a very long time! Journalists, politicians, and sometimes even teachers refer to The United States as America.
They refer to the US as America because it is one of the country’s names.
According to your reasoning, "the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria" could be referred to as "People", because "People" is one of the country's name.
That’s not my reasoning, you simpleton. ‘People’ IS NOT one of Algeria’s names because the country IS NOT just called ‘People’. ‘America’ IS one of the US’s names because the country very commonly IS called ‘America’. Why are you such a moron?
I'll say it again. Américo does NOT have anything to do with your country. América is the name of the whole continent. That's how Europeans called it. And it was long before the British settlements in North America. So, respect my continent's name. Your country is the United States, or United States of (a continent called) America. It will never be America alone.
But the US is America. Because people call it that. Because that is one of its names.
The Americas are America. Because people call it that. Because that is one of its names.
The only reason that the Americas IS America is because people call it that. For this EXACT same reason the United States IS America. All that matters is what people call things.
Your BS rules, that you pretend prevent the US from being America, do not exist. They are fictional. They are fantasy. Words can and do have multiple meanings. This is the case with America. America originally referred only to South America. Now it refers to many other things, including the Americas and the USA. This is simply a fact. Your dislike of this fact doesn’t change anything. What is the rule that says that America only means what you want it to mean? We both know that no such rule exists. You lose.
People IN YOUR COUNTRY call it that. All Spanish speaking countries and continental Europe stick to the original and real definition: America is a continent. Check your facts on Wikipedia.
Ha, bit of an aggressive way to go about things, but, I mean, you certainly got your point across!
Lol, yeah, maybe not 'aggressive,' but definitely thorough!
America means "the land of Américo". The truth is that Américo Vespucio never navigated North America. He only explored the Caribbean and the South Atlantic. He is believed to have reached as far South as Argentine Patagonia.
Please, stop paying homage to Américo. He couldn't have cared less about the United States.
If we must base today’s use of the name on Vespucci’s travels, then nobody in North or Central America can refer to their continent or region using the word ‘America’. German, because you are so obviously completely logical and consistent in your ideas, you clearly only use the name ‘America’ to refer to South America. Right? You know, because that’s where Vespucci traveled. You don’t refer to all of the Americas as ‘America’, right? Because that would be wrong according to your impeccable reasoning.
I don't mind sharing the name America with all the continent. What I DO mind is that one country wants to steal the name for itself. Even worse, that country is one that has nothing to do with Américo Vespucio.
What you mind or don’t mind doesn’t determine what is or is not a name of a country. You don’t like that ‘America’ is a name of the USA. This just means that you don’t like the fact that the name is used that way. It doesn’t mean that the reality of this usage ceases to exist. It doesn’t change the fact that many people all over the world use the word ‘America’ to refer to the USA. Your likes and dislikes don’t create or erase the meanings of words. Your preferences don’t negate reality.
“Even worse, that country is one that has nothing to do with Américo Vespucio.”
Just like all the other countries of North and Central America have nothing to do with Vespucci. Because, you know, he didn’t explore there. We can always count on your arguments to be consistent.
You make a geographic point to a political argument. While factually correct, the distinction is lost on most. It reminds me of the efforts colleges spent trying to rename "dorms" and calling them "residence halls." And to further refute your point, Canadians and Mexicans neither think of nor refer to themselves as "Americans." Ask any Chinese or Sudanese (or any other foreign national): "Who are the Americans?" Absolutely no one will generally refer to the all residents of the North and South American continents. Sorry, but as geographically incorrect as it may be, "USA" and "America" are conflated terms and at this point, inseparable.
Now a days, the name America has been used and misused for so long to mean the United States that sure you will find more people saying it. It has been a narrative from the English/USA and has been spread all over the world and people just go along with it. And NO! it is not the same concept as the "dorms" and "Resident Halls" example that you have mentioned. You know well that dorms and resident halls are naming the same thing. This is not the case with the name of "America". America is the name for the continent in the new world and a country/nation used it in its name most probably due to the fact that that country/nation was founded in the continent of America. It seems that only later, people misguided with the notion that America is the USA were comfortable to continue naming the nation as America, ignoring that the name was of the continent.
Not everyone goes with the idea that America is the USA. Some countries kept the name America as the continent in the new world.
Still waiting. You got nothing. I win this game show game.