Who Is An "american?"

[ghost]

Sorry but Estates Unidos really sucks. We in the states do not refer to Argentina as Small Silver or to Buenos Aires as Good Airs and tend not to translate proper names. The accents may move around a bit but the names stay put. I don't mind Yankee as long as you don't use the slured out Jankee version.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Sorry but Estates Unidos really sucks. We in the states do not refer to Argentina as Small Silver or to Buenos Aires as Good Airs and tend not to translate proper names. The accents may move around a bit but the names stay put. I don't mind Yankee as long as you don't use the slured out Jankee version.

Personally, I dislike "Yankee" partly because, as a Dodger fan, I have always detested the Yankees. On top of that, "Yankee" more precisely applies to New Englanders except when used pejoratively, by Southerners, to describe anybody not from a slave state.

 

[PhilipDT]

Who is an ämerican"?

I AM.

But I usually answer the "de donde sos?" with "los estados unidos". Not because I care about offending the overly sensitive, but because I've always answered that same question in english with "the US"; which is just so much easier to say than "America".

 

[camberiu]

Sorry but Estates Unidos really sucks. We in the states do not refer to Argentina as Small Silver or to Buenos Aires as Good Airs and tend not to translate proper names. The accents may move around a bit but the names stay put. I don't mind Yankee as long as you don't use the slured out Jankee version.

I don't like when they refer to Sao Paulo as San Pablo either. We don't translate Buenos Aires to Portuguese, so I am not sure why they do it to Sao Paulo. Good thing I am not a huge fan of that city anyways......

 

[internationalguy]

I don't like when they refer to Sao Paulo as San Pablo either. We don't translate Buenos Aires to Portuguese, so I am not sure why they do it to Sao Paulo. Good thing I am not a huge fan of that city anyways......

I don't like it either but others do it all the time all around the world even translating things as simple as New York.

In Europe it seems to be very common to translate city names. I know italians do it a lot.

As far as Brazil goes, I always thought the right way to refer to them in spanish was brasilenos... (that's how I was taught), yet here they use the same word as brazilians.... brasileros..

 

[Lulu-Kyoko]

To be a Canadian is to not be an American. We distinguish ourselves via "toque" (hat) or "voyage" (travel) or whatever... maybe south-pole and north-pole.

ajoknoblauc

 

[arlean]

Yes but I think the discussion is about a word that describes us rather than our point of origin. We can all say I am from Canada, I am from Switzerland, I am from England. I am from the United States. No problem. But a Canadian can say I am . . . well . . . Canadian. Switzerlanders can say I am Swiss, Englanders can say I am English. But does a USofA-un say I am American? I am laughing at PhilipDT who says "Who is American? I AM." I think that might be my attitude except that now I am actually Argentinian--and I have the document to prove it. It says clearly I am "nationalidad." Hohohoho!

 

[nlaruccia]

You can say soy oriundo de EEUU or you can say soy estadounidense.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

You can say soy oriundo de EEUU or you can say soy estadounidense.

Estadounidense is a very clumsy word, but not quite so ugly as its English translation.

 

[wreReynolds]

What does bother me intensely is the use of the term "nortemamericano." Newspapers here (even the smart ones like La Nacion) regularly refer to US ambassadors and officials as nortemamericano, as if they also represent Canada and Mexico. North America is three countries, with different histories, languages, systems of governement and cultures. As a Canadian I am not fond of being lumped in with the US - although, I must say some of my best friends are Americans : ) , just to bring this thread full-circle.

RR