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 (1313)
Brilliant!!!
https://nomadcapitalist.com/2013/10/14/why-is-the-united-states-called-america/
A very poorly written piece.
How would you translate "americano" into English?
Americas-ian ;D
Wow, some of those things I have been saying here too! Thanks for sharing
The new world discovered by foreigners who invaded it, renamed it.
Eastern Hemisphere people colonized the new world.
They named it America.
They continued to still be America.
United States Of America
Yes, the new world, named America! And it continues to be America...one new world one new continent!
"Let's be free!!! The rest doesn't matter at all!!!"
José de San Martín "the liberator of America", before the battle of Chacabuco, Chile. After having crossed the Andes mountain range.
In America and for Americans, you!, would forever be an Argentinian.
that's why I am American.
In the United States of America and for US Americans
You are NOT AMERICAN for talking like that.
Canada citizens to Chile citizens ARE ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS, not only U.S. citizens, period.
Also from Wikipedia: “ The meaning of the word American in the English language varies according to the historical, geographical, and political context in which it is used. American is derived from America, a term originally denoting all of the New World (also called the Americas). In some expressions, it retains this Pan-American sense, but its usage has evolved over time and, for various historical reasons, the word came to denote people or things specifically from the United States of America.
In modern English, American generally refers to persons or things related to the United States of America; among native English speakers this usage is almost universal, with any other use of the term requiring specification.”
Evolved? Sure thanks to the wrong usage.
It might be trying to explain how the name got taken by the USA. We know all that.
Also from Wikipedia: “America is a short-form name for the United States of America.”
Wikipedia is a united statian organization. It is headquartered is in the US.
True. Media control!
Also from Wikipedia: “The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or simply America...”.
The word clearly has more than one meaning. This is a fact. You cannot and will not prove otherwise. Facts don’t work that way, payasa.
Made up after realizing that they had take the name of the continent. Let me tell you that it has a great marketing strategy but that will not change its original meaning, a continent's name.
Wikipedia is a United Statian company.
Some Wiki stuff: "America is the second largest continent on Earth, after Asia. It occupies much of the western hemisphere of the planet. Wikipedia
Area : 16.43 million mi²
Population : 1,002 billion (2016)
Density : 23.6 hab./km²
Subdivisions : North America ; South America ; Central America"
MesoAmerica is Central America and not in the USA!
Genius.
Mesoamerica is not in the middle of the USA! Meso meaning middle and America meaning the continent.
A little bit of geography of the top of my head: America is a continent subdivided into three subregions: North, Central and South. North America: Greenland, Canada, USA and Mexico.
Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
South America, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Las Guyanas, Chile. El Caribe: Cuba, Haiti, Rep.Domenicana, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Bahamas, Islas Virgenes, etc. etc.
What did I miss?
Las Americas was a nickname in plural in Spanish that the Spaniards would call the 3 subregions as they would call Las Europas when they also meant subregions like south, east ,west etc. Las Indias, Las Africas, that was how the Spaniards talked about the continents. Not that it was two continents in America as people think today.
You missed El Salvador from Central America!