What the hell is a "North American"?

[AlexanderB]

Where I live no one speaks English, so it doesn't matter.

They ask me where I'm from and I say Chicago.

This often results in a mock machine gun pantomine.

Interesting; perhaps it would be prudent for me to say I'm from Chicago. Sounds like it would set the right tone.

Not far from the truth, really. I was born in the Soviet Union but did much of my growing up in northern Indiana.

 

[mulderfox]

estadounidense is used a lot as well in argentina and that is the correct spanish term.

 

[YanquiGallego]

Argentinos claim to speak Castellano and Español is what they usually refer to the ¨Spanish of Spain¨ (the Spanish that they tell me that I speak--with the lisp)

This makes no sense as Castellano is the Spanish that originated in Castille (Spain) so its technically Spanish of Spain also!

In Spain, Castellano is used to be politically correct as there is no ¨Español¨ since the autonomous communities which are also in Spain have their own languages such as Catalán, Euskera (Basque), Gallego (Galician) , etc.

 

[surfing]

This topic has been covered extensively in the past.

 

[Crema Americana]

The US has somewhat claimed the name "America" in most of the world. Why this bothers Central and South Americans more than say Canadians, I'm not sure... since Canadians don't seem to have an issue... "but we're Americans too!" Or maybe they do? I never heard it. Maybe they're confident enough in their identity.

Besides, I don't know of any latin American countryman (Argentine or otherwise) that would get away with calling themselves Americano in Europe or elsewhere. You usually go by your country's name... not your continent. Nobody in Europe ever asked me "so which country in the Americas are you from?" after stating I'm American.

 

[sesamosinsal]

Oh and America is "Estados Unidos de AMERICA" in Spanish so its not like its a language and translation problem.

'nuff said.

But which "Estados Unidos" are you talking about? Because there are Estados Unidos de America in Mexico too...

 

[KarlaBA]

But which "Estados Unidos" are you talking about? Because there are Estados Unidos de America in Mexico too...

I agree. The root problem of all this confusion is that the 'United States of America' is a very bad name for a nation. It is basically just a generic blah name. It says that there are some states that are politically united and they are located in the continent of America. However there are also a lot of other states in that same continent of America which are also in various legal versions of 'united'. Even the UK was smart enough to give themselves a more descriptive name - The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Even the USSR name was more descriptive. It is this farce of a name for a nation that is the root of all the trouble about what to call citizens of said nation. Just recognize that and be a little more kind in understanding of the trouble other languages and nations have in assigning a term for said nation's citizens.

It could be worse, you could be from Brasil and have to deal with another culture that while pronouncing your nation's name nearly correctly, insists on spelling it 'their way' with a 'z' for no apparent reason. Or worse yet, some people from the USA insisting that the official name of República Federativa do Brasil is in fact "The United States of Brazil".

 

[nicoenarg]

I agree. The root problem of all this confusion is that the 'United States of America' is a very bad name for a nation. It is basically just a generic blah name. It says that there are some states that are politically united and they are located in the continent of America. However there are also a lot of other states in that same continent of America which are also in various legal versions of 'united'. Even the UK was smart enough to give themselves a more descriptive name - The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Even the USSR name was more descriptive. It is this farce of a name for a nation that is the root of all the trouble about what to call citizens of said nation. Just recognize that and be a little more kind in understanding to the trouble other languages and nations have in assigning a term for said nation's citizens.

It could be worse, you could be from Brasil and have to deal with another culture that while pronouncing your nation's name nearly correctly, insists on spelling it 'their way' with a 'z'.

You're still stuck with translation issues while that's not a problem here at all. As for bradleyhale's post, I took that as a joke (it appears as a joke too, you know, United States of America in Mexico? Hahaha, or jajaja).

Again, it matters exactly squat what you or someone else thinks the name of the United States of AMERICA should be. That's what the name is, deal with it. People of the United States of America are called Americans, deal with that too.

Anyone in the Latin American world has a problem with that, well...freakin' deal with it!

Even Israelis are okay with calling Arabs in Gaza and West Bank "Palestinians" and the Argies think they have a point?

PUHLEEZE!

 

[nicoenarg]

Oh and as for Brazil being actually Brasil. Yeah, I never said it wasn't. That is a translation difference. You wanna go with translations, the spanish for the United States of America is Estados Unidos de America.

 

[KarlaBA]

Again, it matters exactly squat what you or someone else thinks the name of the United States of AMERICA should be. That's what the name is, deal with it. People of the United States of America are called Americans, deal with that too.

Anyone in the Latin American world has a problem with that, well...freakin' deal with it!
PUHLEEZE!

There is a much more subtle and yet more important issue why Latinos do not like the USA appropriating the use of the term 'Americans' for it own. I am sure it is lost on you though. In US English the concept is called 'Ugly American'. In Argentina the term is imperialismo.

By the way, Mexico is officially called 'Estados Unidos Mexicanos' (Mexican United States'). It is not The United States of Mexico. That is a big difference.