Why do people born in The US, call themselves AMERICANS, when all of the people born in this continent ARE?

Question

I was born in South America, this means I am AMERICAN too, I hate when US people say, "cause we americans..." (meaning only them)
I sure know that I am american too. And also they don't say North American, they say American like ownign the continent or something, so what am I, an Alien, was I not born in the same continent as them?
So I am South American, I call myself that, why don't they call themselves North American?
I want smart answers please.

Thank you for your answers, well I let it get to me because once, I call myself American, and a guy from USA, told me I wasn't because even tho I was born in this continent I didn't have the right to call myself that.

Answer 1

I agree with the concept of Be Human, but seldom call myself a Earthling and never say that I am a Milky-wayian.

True, all of the New World is the Americas, but only one country is America, which is the short form of the United States of America. We are taught this in school with songs like "America, the Beautiful" and others.

There is never any need to get upset about anything so trivial. I will agree that citizens of the United Sates of America, but especially the younger ones and those of less education, tend to be outspoken to the point of arrogance when nationality comes into the picture. Please understand that is is a cultural thing and do not take it personally. It has caused the U.S.A. and her citizens much grief over the 200 plus years that the country has been in existence.

The phrase "North American" includes two additional countries and cultures. The United States of America is diverse enough without adding these.

When I look up the word "America" in my dictionary, it has two definitions. The first says "The United States", while the second says " also the Americas: The landmasses and islands of North America, Central America, and South America." What does your own dictionary say?

If you honestly want an answer to your Question, I recommend that that you read the book listed below:

Answer 2

Well, I really don't care, because after all, in Spanish there's a term for citizens of the United States; "Estadounidenses". It's only in English that there's a problem.

PS: To the Xok; who would want to be called "gringo"? Gringo is a pejorative term, and here in Chile it has a subtlety of stupidity if you ask me.

The girl asked a question not because she was jealous or something, it was a very valid question, because, after all, calling yourselves Americans makes it look like you were the only Americans and maybe she's bothered by that...

Answer 3

We call ouselves "American" because "United-Statesian" would sound kind of awkward. The use of the term "American" is somewhat a natural choice since it appears in the name of our nation, "United States of America". The term was adopted because it was the most convenient, and not as a way to exclude or look down on the other inhabitants of the American continents. The term was also already being used to designate U.S. citizens before most of the other nations of North and South America established their independence from the nations of Europe, so at the time, there was no other nation to say "Hey, we're American's too!" The convention of refering to U.S. as "America" and its citizens as "American" has stuck for over 200 years, and today it is not only perpetuated by "Americans", but by almost everyone else in the world. If you travel to Europe, Asia, or Africa, and tell people that you're an American, they will most likely assume you mean that you are from the U.S. Fair or not, that's just the way it is.

Answer 4

Because they are taught american refers to people who born in usa, so when you say american they think of someone from usa, not the whole continent america.

If i didn't know what they refer to by american, i would have been offended. Even i didn't know i try to have empathy, and avoid of conflict, and foul language.

You must consider the probability of same word has different meanings in different cultures. I am not suggesting that the other person has right to be inconsiderate, you tell him what you perceive by that word, if he understands then no frustration, but if he doesn't he is not worth until he is willing to get to know.

In conclusion, it is cultural. Good communication can prevent conflicts. One of the keys of communication is empathy, the other is get to know.

Perception is true, since each person's perception is different, there is no concrete true.

Since each person is unique, you must consider other person's perception.

Answer 5

It's really pretty simple. You were born in a country, say Brazil, Peru, Venezuela? You can call yourself Brazilian, Peruvian, etc. Should People born in the US call themselves "United States of Americans?" What would you suggest? We have no problem with you identifying yourself as American, I don't know where you get that idea. I guess I just don't understand why you would want to be identified by continent when country is more specific. I would not, if asked my nationality, say "North American", and I doubt any Canadians would either. You are really getting bent out of shape by a trivial matter.

Answer 6

1. the Europeans (Germans i think actually) were the first to speak of the Americas, after Amerigo Vespucci

2. after the various people of the continent liberated themselves from European rule, they got to pick a name. Canada picked Canada. Mexico picked Mexico (which works well with their Spanish/ Mayan, Aztec languages). The United States of America, chose America. after being called the American Colonies for a long time.

3. if various South American countries wanted to be called America (which is unlikely) they would have named themselves so, when they came up with the official names, flags, etc for their country. (Canada was never referred to as America, and had no desire to be known as America)

4. United States of America, is like the Republic of Mexico. Mexicans don't call themselves Republicans, they call themselves Mexicans

edit: it's like a person from Botswana calling themselves South African because they come from the southern part of the African continent. that's stupid. they're Botswanan and proud of it

Answer 7

I'm an AMERICAN because I was born in the United States of AMERICA.

If you want to call yourself an American because you're from an American continent, go for it.

But the problem isn't really the word. It's the concept of life in our country. The pride we project when we use the term "America" or "American".

Once we assimilate the term "gringo" and use it with pride, people from other countries are going to cry: "Hey! We're gringos too!"

Answer 8

I think that those of us in N. America do not deliberately leave you out of the loop. Yes, you are an "American" but not from N. America. As much as N. America likes to police the world, we also seem to like the distinction of being a separate entity.

I have no problem with you referring to yourself as an American. Just be glad that George Bush isn't YOUR leader. You have the leisure of American status without the cowboy imagery.

Answer 9

some blacks call themselves "African American" because they favor to well known their African ancestry, a lot to the dissatisfication of a few close by born Africans. some Africans sense that because black people were no longer born on the continent, and customarily do no longer recognize or adventure different cultures of Africa, that black people haven't any excellent to declare "African" indentity. even as alot of black people opt to apply the time period black, many are not any further fairly hostile to using "African-American" as they comprehend that there are more suitable significant issues to argue about.

Answer 10

The full name of the US is not "US", it is "The United States of America", so "America" is part of the name of the country. America in the name of the USA does not refer to North America or South America, it refers to the United States of America. So residents of the USA can properly refer to themselves as Americans because that is part of the country name. Racism has nothing to do with it; that is about as absurd as you could get.

In reading over some of the subsequent answers I am amazed at the level of prejudice and ignorance displayed by many answerers. They simply do not know the answer to this question so they make it up to suit their prejudicial bias. Most of them are completely off the mark and have no clue; only a couple of others mentioned the correct answer to this question, and everyone else is totally wrong.