Geography quiz: what *is* an "American", and who are WE?

Question

The continents are called North America and South America, named after our ol' buddy Vespucci. So there's Americans: Canadians, Peruvians, Chileans, Mexicans, Panamanians, Brazilians, and on, and on, que no? How do USers get away with calling themselves Americans?

By who are "WE" I mean what is the appropriate name for people of our nation?

Answer 1

We are all Americans. I don't mind when people from the US use "American" to refer to themselfes, cause there is not another alternative. Though, I don't like when they use "America" as if it the name of their country. And istead of using "America" for the continent they use "Americas" or the infamous "Western Hemisphere", why is that? When I was I kid I learned that America is a continent and that South, North and Central America are subcontinets, lately I discovered that people from the US (and other countries) don't consider "America" a continent. I think this division of the American continent is artificial, geographically and politically.

Answer 2

Because we are technically the United States of American. Its a nickname--we don't get away with calling ourselves that--its a nickname.

From Wiki:

American may refer to:

A person or attribute of the Americas, the lands and regions of the Western Hemisphere
A person or attribute of the United States of America
The 4-4-0 type of railroad steam locomotive used in the United States

American is sometimes used solely to refer to:

American cheese, a type of processed cheese
American English, a dialect of the English language
American Airlines
American Express, a financial services company
American Motors, an automobile company
American Recordings, a record label
American University in Washington, D.C.
American McGee, game designer
Four automobiles have the name "American":

American (1899 automobile)
American (1902 automobile)
American (1916 automobile)
Rambler American


Who are WE? I don't know who you are, I know who I am though.

Answer 3

I had a friend from Panama in college who used to really get peeved when people did this. She got me to think about it and now I catch others (and myself from time to time) doing that. I just read a book of FDR's speeches and it's interesting to see how he always talked about people from this hemisphere as "Americans" rather than just people from the USA.

I think people are generally just ignorant and don't necessarily do it on purpose. Of course, I'm sure there are others that, even if they did think about it, would continue to do it because they think that the USA is the only thing that matters and "who cares about everyone else". These people are not only ignorant, they're jerks too.

I try my best not to do this, but it is hard some times, because "Users" just doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

Answer 4

More like
United Statesers

Answer 5

Because when we say "Americans", we're talking about us; North and South Americans.