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 live in Argentina. If I am not American, what am I? African? Asian? European? Oceanian? Antarctic?
You are an Argentine, South American, and American. ‘American’ is not commonly used this way in English, but it can be used this way, and it isn’t incorrect to use it this way. However, the rarity of this usage means that one is likely to be misunderstood when using it.
Where are your veritable facts on this? You ask of everyone for facts but you talk out of the air but do not follow your own criteria.
Truly dumber than dirt.
Organization of AMERICAN States (OAS): is a continental organization that was founded on 30 April 1948, for the purposes of regional solidarity and cooperation among its 35 independent states.
So what? This doesn’t prove what you pretend it does.
You turn a blind eye when its not convenient for your point of view.
Education in Latin America
https://tinyurl.com/yxaess2v
Yes, the chart says "United States" (not America).
Both official and common names exist.
There should never be 2 or more official names for the same country such as the USA.
“The adjective "United" is a modifier. The noun "States" is a subject. "Of" is a preposition. "America" is a prepositional object. The noun here is "States". That being said, the name of the country is "States".”
By your “logic”, Mexico’s name is also ‘States’ in English, and the names of all of these countries is actually ‘Republic’: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, and Burundi. That is just A through B. There are many dozens more whose real name also is ‘Republic’. That must explain why these countries are all called ‘Republic’ when mentioned in the newspapers. All of their seats at the UN are labeled just ‘Republic’. When they participate in the Olympics, they are all called simply ‘Republic’. This is all factual and makes perfect sense. It perfectly conforms with what we know of reality.
True story: when I traveled in Austria, all the Austrians called themselves ‘Republicans’, and their country ‘Republic’. When I used the words ‘Austrian’ and ‘Austria’, they said those were not the proper names, and that I was an ignorant Statesian who needed to return to States as soon as possible.
Even truer story: Then when I went to Brazil, they also called their country ‘Republic’ and themselves ‘Republicans’. They said these were the official, proper, logical, obvious, sacred, historical names. I was very confused. I am obviously not as knowledgeable and worldly as German/Roda/Lio.
Sarcasm is the last resource of the desperate. I don't mind all the grammar lessons or use and abuse of nouns, adjectives and so. My only point here is that its official name is just US (or USA in the better circumstances) and that is a fact that nobody can change. All other countries have unique, proper and distinctive names, no matter if they are republics, federations, kingdoms or whatever; particular names that don't require a geo-political circumstance to make them recognizable, without bothering others who share the same Earth's portion.
Well, i'm a brazillian and i have never heard someone call Brazil "Republic". Of course, it's our model of government, but we have never ever called Brazil "republic" or - even worse - called ourselves "republicans". We are brazillians, we live in Brazil and Brazil is our country. People just refer to it as a "republic" in geographic or historic contexts, mostly in school.
Lio is right. I am being sarcastic. I am desperate to show that German only posts complete nonsense, because I don’t want his fantasies to pollute the internet.
David: The only fact here is that there is no OFFICIAL document having "America" alone as the name of the U.S., and many OFFICIAL documents or institutions only say "US" not even "USA". America is not “the name” of the US, it is only the way many refer to it, PERIOD. The use of "America" instead of "US" is a custom originated by the same US inhabitants, and if from your point of view it is completely fair that people can decide, beyond official restrictions, to call a place with a name that make sense to them, and it is something that you respect and support, then it is also fair that many Mexicans call it "Gringolandia", mainly because they refuse to call it "America", and this is a fact. Are you Ok with that or you only support what fits your mindset? Do you think this is disrespectful? it is only the way everyone has learned to call each place, just as you argue about those who say “America” instead of US.
Hilarious. All you can do is downvote relevant facts that clearly disprove your “arguments”. You cannot provide any relevant facts that actually support a coherent, truthful argument. It is way too easy to completely destroy your false narrative. Is this the best you got?
Downvote! Downvote! It’s the only thing you can do. Poor *****.
Lots of interesting stuff here: http://www.cecies.org/ediciones_digitales.asp
This is a great resource.
German, please look up how words are used in Spanish before you start posting nonsense about how the words are used “incorrectly” only in English. You don’t even know how words are used in your own language (Holanda and holandés, for example), so why would we take your word on how words are used in English or any other language? You have absolutely no clue what you are writing about. Do some basic research. This assumes that you have the intellectual ability to do basic research. So far you haven’t proved that you have this ability.
http://www.rae.es/recursos/diccionarios
What have we learned today? Once again, German is posting things that are factually inaccurate. It isn’t wrong to refer to the Netherlands as ‘Holland’. Again, it’s simply the difference between a common or colloquial name and an official name.
It’s not just the Americans who use ‘Holland’ to refer to the Netherlands. The Dutch do it. Speakers of many other languages do it. The Dutch government does it. Spanish speakers do it.
German, please learn how to do some basic research, and how to cite actual facts, before posting again. You are contributing absolutely nothing. You never post relevant facts that come from reputable sources. You just post your feelings and your uninformed and false ideas about how things are or how you feel they should be. You are trying to pass off your fantasy world as reality. Stop embarrassing yourself.
Holland is a region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. The name Holland is also frequently used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. This usage is commonly accepted in other countries,[2] and sometimes employed by the Dutch themselves.[2] However, some in the Netherlands, particularly those from regions outside Holland, may find it undesirable[2] or misrepresentative to use the term for the whole country.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland