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)
"I am not looking for glories but the union of the Americanos and the prosperity of the homeland (Patria)"
Manuel Belgrano, hero of independence and creator of its Argentine flag. In the day of born aniversary, june 3 of 1770.
Re: welcome back.
Mr Southern Kisses, is that you? If so, reply to me here with the name of that song you played for me when I was in the office earlier.
Would be awesome to hear from you again.
Unfortunately I found out even the UN uses the word American as the official endonym to describe person from the United States of America, they should change that.
That's drooling on Mr. Trump's speeches of egocentrism and united statian superiority.
I read many articles by US Americans defending their name America but none titled "Of course we don't call ourselves America" and clarifying that they are abbreviating The United States of America, it seems that many of them do not know that it is not called America.
Very funny!!!
https://youtu.be/gOubIKqeVHU
Very true! I also hate that some people refer to the UK as England.
It seems that we are not the only ones with whom they dispute names of things, incredibly also with the English! ha!
The word is ... football !!! With this name, the sport of Pelé, Maradona, Bobby Charlton and Messi is recognized worldwide, but in the United States they say that football is the sport that is played with the hands, wearing shoulder pads and a helmet.
The English say that a sport with those characteristics cannot be called that (and we say the same thing) and clarify that it is "American" football, "if they renamed us the sport we invented as 'soccer', we can do it with their 'football' '"they must think.
A curious one, here in Argentina we have two districts called Buenos Aires, the Province and the federal capital city, the best known.
Curiosity is the Province of Buenos Aires is the only one of the two that uses a name that resembles its name, "Bonaerense", but the City of Buenos Aires uses one that does not, "Porteño". Similar to being from the United States and they name you American.
Would that be something similar to Washington State and Washington D.C. here in the USA?
something similar, except that the City of Buenos Aires (federal capital of the Republic) is located geographically within the Province of Buenos Aires, but the provincial capital is called La Plata
Very strange. Being from the United States of AMERICA and being called American. Who can even imagine such a thing? It’s impossible.
yes, it is so rare that a country called United States of America leaves out the first two parts of his name in his name, that is so strange US-American friend
Nothing wrong with being called American if your country is in the American continent.
thieves
Especially with all those other countries that have the word ‘America’ in their names. Who can even imagine? It’s crazy.
Perhaps it is because most other countries were respectful of the continent's name.
And considering the rule that exists in every human language that says that it is absolutely impossible to use the name of a continent for the name of a country. You know, those strict, commonly known, verifiable, factual laws of every single human language that say you can’t use the name of a continent to refer to a country. Every grammar book of every human language has this law printed on the first page. We all know this is true.
Perhaps, but the respect towards a name is sometimes a given.
That is, if it is together with the other two words, "United States", that they use the word America, both to refer to the country and the name (U.S. America // US Americans), it does not seem bad to me, it would not bother the rest of nations for which there still exists a single continent called America (even as it was also for the English language until the middle of the last century).
Before I thought that when talking about US arrogance, they were being excessively critical, but when reading how, even though they explain that saying "America" is just a byname, they actually use it too many times to believe it, knowing that when they started doing it still in English also considered America a single continent.
They didn't even come up with something like "U.S. America" (the official abbreviation is United States) and the demonym "US Americans"! nothing!
"they didn't even think of something like U.S. America" sorry, translator error
But, there is no historical explanation on how the name America ended up being a nation when it was given to a continent. Like for example when did it become only the name of a nation? When did it stop being the name of the continent? Why did it stop being the name of the continent in which that nation is located in? Why divide the one continent America into two? And change its name? So many loopholes in this case it would be a lot of work to try to investigate it..lol
yes Fabian the name America to call a country, was misused and spread all over the world. And just because something like a name which was wrongly used, is picked up and used by others in the world, does not mean it was correct. People defending America as the name of a country have been brought up with that concept, but they have not been able to explain how it really became a nation's name when it is also the continent in which it stands. Their explanations have been, that no other nation uses it in their names, or that the continent is no longer one, is two and it doesn't use the name America, but las Americas because its two continents, that the word America has different meanings, that Spaniards didn't really used it way back then, that the word was only written on the Southern part of the new world, etc. etc.