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)
Roda, it seems like you continue to pretend that ‘America’ originally referred to all of the Americas. Is this true? If so, why? The 1507 map and the many quotes I provided conclusively prove that this is not true. Why do you continue to lie about this? What does this say about you? What does this say about your “argument”? How can you expect to be taken seriously?
An argument that is fundamentally based on a lie is no argument at all. You desperately need to learn this. ASAP.
Poor you! Haven't you read my posts?
Not pretending, it did. The whole continent's name is America, only that through the manipulation of words, a country situated in America, took the name of the continent and spread it as if it was only a country's name. But, how can a country in America be called America? The ice in a cup example comes to mind. The ice is not the cup or would you say that by manipulating the word, cup would be okay and hence people would then accept it just because words acquire new meanings just because humans want them to and thus one would have to ask a waiter to put cup in the cup??? or old meaning to put ice in the cup.
The wait continues.
People call the USA ‘America’ for exactly the same reason that people call the Americas ‘America’. Because words can and do acquire multiple meanings over time. ‘America’ originally referred to just South America. This is now an archaic sense of the word that is very rarely used. Later ‘America’ could also refer to all of the Americas. This is a very common sense of the word today in some languages, but rare in English. Then ‘America’ could also refer to the USA. This usage is the overwhelmingly dominant one in English today. Speakers of many other languages also frequently use ‘America’ to refer to the USA.
People call the USA ‘America’ because ‘America’ has come to mean the USA. People call the Americas ‘America’ because ‘America’ has come to mean the Americas. It is just as simple as that. It’s the exact same process in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc. The word ‘America’ originally meant South America, now it has other meanings in many different languages.
This is all totally factual, completely relevant information. Why do you downvote the truth?
I understand that this is what could be going on in the world, but as I have said, words don't change on their own, people changed them. If we didn't know that the name America was being used to call a country when the name has been rightly used to call a continent, this discussion would not be happening! The case in point is why is USA using the name of the continent now even more than before? If the USA is in the so called "North American" Continent why is the USA using the name of the one and original continent "America" which is the way millions of people in the world go by?
Why do you constantly feel the need to say that humans change the meaning of words? No sh*t, Sherlock! Who else would create words, use words, and give words new meanings? Hamsters? Sentient microwave ovens? Of course it’s humans doing this.
I love it how your greatest contribution to this discussion is to repeatedly point out the obvious fact that it is humans who create and use human language. Thanks for your exceptional scholarship.
So you do accept that the name America is originally the name of a continent, but that the USA began using it to mean a country right? That people now use it to mean the USA? The name America was originally to name the new lands thereby the new continent and not a country. Then later a country misused the name and appropiated it to call itself but the name "America" had always and will always be the continent's name even when the English speaking people changed it to mean whatever they wanted to fill their own ideologies. People might use words to make whatever they want with them, but words don't change its people who change them and its people who have the interest of changing their meanings. Words don't change by themselves!
All of what you say about America changing its meaning is due to the English-speaking people promoting the name of America as it seemed fit and convenient to them, but a person would be foolish to say that the name America does not come from the continent's name. Trying to give excuses on how words acquire new meanings or change with time, is ridiculous when you know perfectly that persons change words to whatever they please. This conflict began when the name America was misused to name a country in the same continent as America. By changing the meaning of the word "America" in English, people created confusion.
Hi Roda! Something is getting into my brain!
As you said, “This conflict began when the name America was misused to name a country in the same continent as America. By changing the meaning of the word "America" in English, people created confusion.”, I begin to think:
What if a country was misusing the name America in a different continent?
What if a country was being named ‘United States of America’ in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia or Antarctica?
I can expect it could create a lot more confusion for the Continent America (no matter what language) than it currently is now!
America, was the name to be given to the fourth part of the world, a new world, a new continent which was at that time growing as discovering of lands came out to be. People from the old world knew that there was more land than what originally thought of. So, as they discovered more lands in the same landmass, the name America was streched out to also name those lands as they were part of the big landmass of the new world. Thus, they had a new continent and the name is America. Maps were drawn and different ones had different things and names but in the end, the entire landmass became a new continent, and that continent is America. The continent, as other continents, had subdivisions and so in maps you will see South America, North America and Central America, but these are not different continents. These are part of the one continent, America. The USA was founded in the continent of America as it was known to the old world.
Using ‘America’ to refer to the Americas is not the original meaning of the word. Using ‘America’ to refer to the USA is not the original meaning of the word. How is one right and the other wrong? How is one an abuse of the word while the other is not?
Well, an example, let's say America represents a cup and the USA represents one of the ice inside the cup. So the ice is in the cup, but not the cup. USA is in America, but not America. The rest of the ice are the other countries in the cup, thus America.
The original meaning of ‘America’ is South America. This is an obvious fact. Look at your beloved 1507 Waldseemüller map. If it is wrong for Americans to use a different meaning, then it is also wrong for everyone else to use a different meaning. If Americans are abusing the word by using it as a common name for their country, then anyone who uses the word to refer to all of the Americas is also abusing the word. Your glaring double standards are one of your many forms of BS.
Your reasoning seems to be from a 3 year old. There is history in between and so you should read the history before you write this immature conclusions.
Why do you call the Americas ‘America’ when you “should” call it Parias and America?
If you have the balls or ovaries to answer this question honestly, it will completely destroy your false narrative that frames everything that you post on this site. That is why you will not answer this question honestly. You don’t want facts, you want to pretend. You NEED to pretend.
this has already been answered. You seem to get stuck in nonsense. Why is the USA using the word "America" rather than Parias? you answer that...!
Roda, you got nothing!
so according to you, the USA stole the name "America" from the south of the continent???
If the Americans “stole” the name, then so did anyone living in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean who refers to their continent as America, North America, or Central America.
Their continent or region, that is.
Are you here to discuss why the USA is using the name America, which is rightly the continent's name, or are you here to deviate from the issue at hand so that you can claim you won some unrelated points about names used before on land that was yet to be discovered/mapped? Let me make it clear..."THIS IS NOT A RACE" noone is trying to win anything! This should only be a discussion on the issue of the name "America" and it should be a collegial discussion.
that was meant for you since you are the one trying to fight the stupid argument that Parias should be the USA and the rest is just America. Listen to your own arguments, you are not making any sense!!!
Again, your reading comprehension is *****. I am not arguing what you claim.
David wrote: "Why do you call the Americas ‘America’ when you “should” call it Parias and America?"... Don't deny it unless someone else is writing for you under your name. You keep touching the same stupid argument about Parias. Don't deny it!
Deny what?
Still nothing? I am shocked.