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)
It's the same as "United Provinces of Rio de La Plata", which originated at the same time as "USA". The noun here is "Provinces". "Rio de La Plata" denotes the location, same as "America" in "USA". But the country was never referred to as "Rio de La Plata". They later came up with a glamorous country name: "Argentina".
But the USA is referred to very often as America, as you well know, so your observation has nothing to do with anything. Try again.
That goes for Roda too. Terrible.
@David
You're frustration comes from the need to muddle the history the name coined for the New World in one
of the many efforts you have put forward to lend legitimacy to misrepresenting the United States as America. All this because you like to think of the continental term American as your nationality.
The United States however is but 1 of 35 American Republics. The United States is no more America than Saudi Arabia is Arabia. Had the United States been founded in Africa its long form name would have been United States of Africa.
There isn't anything left to be said so for my part I'm moving on. Good luck to you.
How do you explain the labeling of the map?
You surrendered the moment you defended an obvious falsehood, you dimwit. This is Trump level BS on your part. For shame.
How do you explain the labeling of the map?
America is not a country, America is a continent, and this continent was first than the county of the United States, which was founded in America, the continent.
America is clearly both a continent (or continents) and a country, among other things.
United States is a country founded in America. The United States and America are not one and the same.
You conflate the United States with the name of its geographical location because you like to think of the continental term American as a nationality.
There is a North American continent and a South American continent. I don't believe there is an "American" continent.
Roda, I am sorry to hear that you feel you are misusing and abusing ‘America’ when you use it to mean the Americas, since this isn’t its original meaning. But don’t worry! You aren’t misusing and abusing the word. Words can and do have multiple meanings. Your use of ‘America’ as the Americas isn’t the word’s original meaning, but it is a real and valid meaning. It is exactly the same when ‘America’ means the USA. This isn’t the word’s original meaning, but it is real and valid, and it is used very commonly all over the world. Cheer up! The Etymological Fallacy isn’t a real rule that must be followed, so you don’t have to use the original meaning of ‘America’. You are free to use your altered version of the word.
And don’t worry, the original meaning of ‘America’ as South America doesn’t cease to exist just because you use the word to mean the Americas. I never read or hear people using this original meaning, but the word’s history obviously continues to exist even when people use newer meanings.
David, sorry but the ones misusing the word America are the ones using it to name a country which is in America. Sometimes you don't make any sense.
The facts make perfect sense. It is your lies and/or misunderstandings that don’t make sense.
America is the name of the New World. Like David I suppose is your Name. America is what the New World was named in 1507. No one short of being misinformed or having an agenda disputes this fact.
The meaning of the word "seven" is the decimal number 7. It is used as a name. The meaning of the word America is "Lands of Amerigo." The word was coined specifically as the name of the New World. Some people and places have been named after it. Our country in particular, the United States, makes reference to being OF it in its long form name.
America is host to 35 independent republic and is home to over 1 billion Americans. Today it is the most diverse continent in the entire world. Stretching from pole to pole.
It would be disingenuous to pretended not to know why we were taught to hate America
https://media.giphy.com/media/1ykDxFXMTjQ1HOpb5H/giphy.gif
“America is what the New World was named in 1507.”
Wrong. America is what SOUTH AMERICA was named in 1507.
It makes me frustrated and sad that there are people like you who will totally and obviously misrepresent what a source says. Your false words do not change the fact of how the 1507 map is labeled. Your lies don’t change what Schöner knew and said about Parias and America. We can all look at the map and see that you are wrong. How do you explain that what you are writing doesn’t agree with the map?
You're frustration comes from the need to muddle the history the name coined for the New World in one
of the many efforts you have put forward to lend legitimacy to misrepresenting the United States as America. All this because you like to think of the continental term American as your nationality.
The United States however is but 1 of 35 American Republics. The United States is no more America than Saudi Arabia is Arabia. Had the United States been founded in Africa its long form name would have been United States of Africa.
There isn't anything left to be said so for my part I'm moving on. Good luck to you.
"The island of Parias, which is not a part or portion of the foregoing [America] but a large, special part of the fourth part of the world"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldseemüller_map
This is the paragraph were David got that quote from and one can see it in many different ways. "The name for the northern land mass, Parias, is derived from a passage in the Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, in which, after several stops, the expedition arrives at a region that was "situated in the torrid zone directly under the parallel which describes the Tropic of Cancer. And this province is called by them [the inhabitants] Parias."[11][12] Parias was described by Waldseemüller's follower, Johannes Schöner as: "The island of Parias, which is not a part or portion of the foregoing [America] but a large, special part of the fourth part of the world", indicating uncertainty as to its situation.[13][14]"
It can only be seen in different ways if you are being dishonest, which is what you are. The quotes clearly show that Parias and America were considered separate lands. So Parias isn’t America. So America isn’t all of the New World. So when you call all of the Americas ‘America’, you are not using the original meaning of the word. Stop lying.
He specifically says that Parias is not part of America. Only a liar or a very stupid person would claim that “one can see it in many different ways.”
Navigators were still finding new lands, and this one, Parias, they seemed to have called it accordingly as to the natives called it. Schoner, says that it is not the same as the one they have already named, but it is another one that is also part of the 4th world. Thus, the author says it indicated uncertainty as to what was happening. I would add, happening with the new lands being discover and have not been mapped yet but they knew they were going to be part of the same new world. Here it shows us that what I was telling you about those days and the discoveries were new and abundant that one can not think that they would had just stopped and named only the first lands they encountered. No, they continued on and found more lands which are part of the continent as we know it today.
And ‘America’ was first used to name South America, not all of the Americas.
If Waldseemüller and Ringmann intended ‘America’ to refer to both North and South America, why didn’t they label the map this way? Why use the name ‘Parias’ if they really meant to call it ‘America’? They made the map. They labeled it as they wanted. They didn’t label both North and South America as ‘America’. What are the facts that support the claim that they intended ‘America’ to refer to both North and South America? And I mean historically accurate facts that can be properly cited. I don’t mean the fantasy BS that you are fabricating to suit your ill-informed and simple-minded ideas of the way things should be. I am talking about reality here and the way that words are actually used, not your imaginary world.
"How words are used" will be my defense if ever I decide to commit Identity Theft. Put a sock in it fool.
You can’t answer the questions because you know you are wrong. Pathetic.
No amount of evidence will ever get in the way of you wanting to think of the United States and America as one and the same. All so you can justify misrepresenting the term American as your nationality. Will you admit to as much? I don't think you will.
In the United States, "football" is not what the rest of the world knows. US citizens call FOOT-ball a sport of their own that is not played with the FEET, but the HANDS. Are we sure that their own definition of "America" matters?
The kicking of a ball by foot is an integral part of American football.
Here in Germany, "Amerika" refers to one continent. The United States is just one of the 35 sovereign countries in the American continent.
And you know that speakers of German also commonly use ‘Amerika’ to refer to the USA. Don’t pretend otherwise.