What the hell is a "North American"?

[nicoenarg]

Whenever I say "So I did this in America" or "You know America..." some Argie tries to correct me and says "no, its not America, its North America". A couple of times I asked, "I am not talking about the US, Canada, Mexico etc..." and they put on a dumb expression like they don't know what I am talking about.

So just a tiny question, when an Argentine says North American, do they mean people belonging to: The United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Haiti, Nicaragua, Barbados, Belize, Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Lucia....

Or do they just mean The United States of AMERICA?

Believe it or not, this is an honest question because since I have come here this has been driving me up the wall! No body corrects people if they say Mexico (officially, the United States of Mexico) or Brazil (the United States of Brazil)...where the hell does this come from?

Who the hell are they or anyone else to just turn around and change the name of America to suit their own pride and desires?

No one tells Brits that they should call their country just "Britain" and that they shouldn't say "Great Britain" because we don't think its all that great!

So, anybody...what the hell's the deal?!

 

[steveinbsas]

When someone calls you a Norte Americano (in Spanish) it implies that you are from the United States of America.

Geographically (in continental terms) , the term North American (in English) includes Canada and Mexico.

I suggest you read this thread: "Leaving America"

 

[nicoenarg]

When someone calls you a Norte Americano (in Spanish) it implies that you are from the United States of America.

Geographically (in continental terms) , the term North American (in English) includes Canada and Mexico.

I suggest you read this thread: "Leaving America"

Hey, what do you know! I am not the only one being driven up the wall because of this idiocy!

Visited Madrid a year ago, no one used the term Norte Americano to describe anything American.

 

[YanquiGallego]

They do not seem to differentiate North and South America. Argentines consider themselves ¨Americanos¨ thats why when you speak in reference to yourself or in general terms, like ¨In America¨.... many will interupt to inform you that they are also Americano and that Argentina is also America.

In Spain, the term most commonly used for from the US is Estadounidense.

 

[kurtdillard]

Argentinians consider themselves to be Americans, I've seen similar attitudes from latinos all over the Americas. The USA is part of North America, but so is Mexico and a bunch of other countries. Argentina is part of South America. Generally speaking when being polite people from the USA are referred to as 'estadoudienses' or 'norteamericanos.' Canadians are sometimes called 'norteamericanos' too. Less polite references include 'yanqui' and 'gringo'

 

[igor]

I think this country name is used for some historical reasons. See for example

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fr1788-2.asp

The most Christian King and the United States of North America ...

In the Soviet Union "United States of North America" (russian translation, of course) was the official name of the USA until fifties.

 

[nicoenarg]

I think this name is used for some historical reasons. See for example

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fr1788-2.asp



In the Soviet Union "United States of North America" (russian translation, of course) was the official name of the USA until fifties.

Thanks for these examples. Makes sense a little bit now. Still don't get why people get a free pass at renaming countries. Oh well, when in Buenos Aires, roll with the punches!

 

[steveinbsas]

Less polite references include 'yanqui' and 'gringo'

In over eleven years SOTB I've never met a single American er, I mean Norte Americano who was offended by either of these labels.

 

[nicoenarg]

And I've never met a single American er, I mean Norte Americano who was offended by either of these labels.

Honestly, I would prefer "Yanqui" over "Norte Americano"!

 

[Napoleon]

"North America" used to be two things:

Region: Mexico, USA, Canada (as in N.A.F.T.A.)

-"Central America" was Panama up to everything below Mexico
-"South America" was/is South America

Continent: Panama up to the North Pole

Now it's expanded as a way to lump Americans and Canadians together, because the two countries basically have the same culture.

Sentences will start like this: "In America we... [a Canadian in the conversation starts to raise his/her eyebrows]...in NORTH America, we have..." [Canadian's eyebrows go down because their existence is acknowledged and they are included in this example of the way life is in the 1st World.]

But that's when speaking in English. When speaking in Spanish there's a whole new set of chips on shoulders that have to be dealt with.

There's only ONE country that has AMERICA in it's name. That country has also swallowed up the US Virgin Islands & American Samoa (among other islands). It is the country known all over the world as "America". That being said, there are many Western Hemispherians who will argue until they choke to death on corruption and inflation that all Western Hemispherians are "Americans".

In SUMMARY:

See the first 3 lines of this thread.