Is there any difference in meaning between saying 'America' or 'United States'?

Answer 1

Actually, I disagree with the first answerer. Canada is in North America. North and South America are the Americas, not America. When a person refers to America, they almost always mean the US. Canadians live in Canada. There is no reason for them to say they live in North America. I don't know what distinction they would be trying to make if they did this except to stress that Canadians and Americans are pretty much the same, and they want to be associated with Americans. When people from outside your country ask where you come from or which nationality you are, they don't want to know which continent you come from. I've never met a South American who wants to be labelled by any other name that that of their nationality. The same with Europeans. An exception is with Africans. The Chinese would prefer to be distinct from other Asians, as would the Koreans, etc. When a European wants to lump us all together, they would refer to us as North Americans or South Americans. North and South Americans have very different cultures. In fact, even some North American countries are so distinct from the US and Canada, that they are called and call themselves Latin Americans, or Latinos.

I've read some of the other answers to your question. There is NO continent called America. There is North America and South America. Check out a map. If North and South America are the same continent, then Asia and Europe must be the same continent as well. North and South America span two hemispheres and are connected by a very narrow strip of land that was narrow enough to be sliced through to create a canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Asia and Europe are separated by NOTHING but tradition. The Europeans will say that they are separated by the Bosphorus, but if you look at the map you will see that Eastern Europe becomes Asia. There is no Bosphorus separating the two. They are connected by a huge swath of land, AND they are in the same hemisphere. North and South America together are called THE AMERICAS. Notice the plural.

Answer 2

Yes. There's north america, central america and south america. United States is refering to a specific country that is the United States OF America. America can mean any part of the americas which is why I always find it funny when people say things like "God bless america"

Answer 3

In most contexts in the United States, there is no difference. If you are in Canada, there is a difference, but in Europe the two mean the same in most contexts. Technically, of course, there is a difference, but in actual usage there is only a difference if you are in Canada or talking to a Canadian.

EDIT: And to correct an incorrect piece of information. America was NOT named after Amerigo Vespucci. That myth originated over 100 years after Columbus. America would be "Ameriga" if that were the case. At the time America got its name, there was a very popular legend that the Knights Templar had fled Europe to the west over the Great Western Sea. The Knights Templar coat of arms featured a ship sailing west to a great western star that was named Merica, or, in French, La Merica. When Columbus came back to Spain the story quickly spread that he had found the land the Templars had fled to, under the star La Merica. The Catholic church, which had banned the Templars, couldn't have their New World named after a Templar symbol, so when the German cartographer invented the Amerigo Vespucci myth, the Church pounced on it as correct.

Answer 4

America is North America, or South America or Central America... Canada and Mexico are part of North America.. the USA is The United State OF America... get it?

Answer 5

Absolutely. Canada is in America (the continent) but is not in the USA. In fact South America is part of America as well. If it wasn't we wouldn't have to include the 'North' and 'South' to differentiate.
However many people use America instead of USA, but that doesn't make it correct.
Just like most people talk about cement sidewalks. If they ever ran into one they sure would get their feet very dusty
It is like calling ice, water. It certainly contains it, but that doesn't make it it ... Anyone disagrees?
Funny thing about the name America. It got the name because a German cartographer was under the impression that Amerigo instead of Columbus first set foot on the continent. He put that name on the maps he produced, and the name stuck. Otherwise it would have been Columbia...
The United States of Columbia or USC for short..

Answer 6

I'm a Canadian living in Switzerland. In my experience, Canadians refer to the United States of America as "the States", whereas British people (and other Europeans when speaking English) refer to it as "America". All those people use the term "American" to refer only to citizens of that country.

I do now sometimes refer to that country as "America" but I feel goofy about it, not because I think "America" should include Canada or any other country besides the USA, but just in the same way that I feel goofy calling my cell phone a mobile, or vice versa.

It's interesting that some people have compared the expression "America" to "Europe". I'm actually finding more and more that "Europe" means the EU, and therefore includes Ireland but excludes Switzerland.

Answer 7

Of course, America is the continent, United States is the country.

Answer 8

1. America is thousands of km. larger than the US.
2. America is a continent while the US is a country.
3. America is multilingual and multiethnic while the US, as any country does (with the exception of Canada) aims at discouraging variety.
5. The US is a federation of 50 states, and therefore is a no name country.
6. Reducing America to a conglomeration of 50 states amounts to highlight the imperialistic impetus of said states.
7. The US is robbing a whole continent of its name.

Answer 9

Actually America is a Continent, as N. America, S. America, Cen. America. United States of America is the proper name for our country.

Answer 10

Yepper.
The United States of Mexico don't take kindly to our use of "The United States" as a moniker, although they're not in much of a position to bicker. Also, America is the name of the whole continent, so appropriating that as the name of our portion of the continent is a tad snarky.
Propertly this here nation be "the United States of America" or the "USA" for short.
But go ahead and call it America, or the US. After all, since we're bastards politically, we might as well be bastards terminologically.