Indeed, U.S.A. is not America!
America is the name of a whole continent. United States of America means that the United States belongs to America and NOT that America belongs to the United States. So, next time you want to refer to The United States of America, you can do it as U.S. or the States or whatever you want but not as only America. Gotcha?
How should I use the term America then?
Here we will show you some wrong and correct uses of the term America:
This is how we do it in America.
This is how we do it in the States.
- America is my country and I love it.
- The United States is my country and I love it.
- America lost the Vietnam war.
- U.S.A. lost the Vietnam war.
- Here in America we love Mc Donald's.
- Here in the U.S. we love Mc Donald's.
Please, note that this page in not about demonyms (gentilics) but about the way to call a country.
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Comments (1253)
David, like I said, powerful nations write their history based on their view of it. You can probably go on google to look for 1898 war between Spain the U.S. and will find that they call it the Spanish-American war. If you go to Spanish sites you will see it called "EEUU vs Espana" or La guerra de Estados Unidos con Espana. The treaty of paris was signed after and we have already discussed much about that treaty in how the Treaty mentions England having possessions in other parts of America (not the U.S.) and Islands in the continent.
Mrs. Anonymous, I understand why you whine and why you are so butthurt. I just disagree that it is incorrect in any way in a naming sense to call the US ‘America’. It is not incorrect in any way to use ‘America’ as a name for the US. It violates no rule of naming to do so.
I don’t care that you don’t like it. I don’t care that you think it’s stolen. I don’t care how you feel about it. I understand why you feel the way you do. You have explained it ad nauseum. I just don’t care. Your feelings don’t determine the rules of naming. It isn’t incorrect to call the country ‘America’ just because you don’t like it. Your approval and acceptance aren’t required.
Your approval is not important at any length. So if there are no laws, which there might be one that we can't find, hypothetically if another nation (similar in size and power to the U.S.) decides to name itself "America" what would be the U.S. response? Let's go even further, if that new nation decides to name itself United States of America what would be the U.S. reaction or as you suggest there shouldn't be any reaction since there seems there are no laws against using some other continent or nation's name. This would be okay according to the way you think or not?
I explain to the US Americans who enter the web so that they understand the origin of the annoyance; Latin Americans (Argentinian, Brazilian, Mexican, etc) use the word "América" to refer to South America and North America as a whole, but also to refer to Latin America or South America without clarifying what is "Latin" or "South". So sometimes saying "America" we can be referring to South America, or to refer to Latin America we can even say "nuestra América" (our America).
This is part of the hypocrisy when people who use the words this way then complain about using ‘America’ to refer to the US.
It's like the linguistic tradition in English-speaking countries, which is different. Where the word "America" alone in the singular is used more than anything to refer to the United States, because in its other uses it is always accompanied by a clarification such as "South" America and "North" America, which to refer to them as a whole is uses the expression "the Americas".
And also of course to refer to "Latin" America and "Anglo" America.
Javier, are you saying that some Latin Americans are annoyed with ‘America’ referring to the USA because they use it to refer to Latin America and/or South America? I think that is what you are saying, but I just want to be sure.
Your lack of reading comprehension is showing! Didn't you see that Javier wrote South and North? Anglo and Latin?
It bothers us because we are unaware of the cultural linguistic issue that differentiates and distinguishes us, but if we know about it, that annoyance will probably disappear. Even if we maintain a certain criticism (although we must MUTUALLY RESPECT these linguistic traditions) that the origin of the English-speakers regarding their use of the word "America" may have to do with a certain US American egocentrism.
Don't know if in Argentina they teach that there is another subdivision of the continent but there is. Central America and the Caribbean Islands. America is the entire continent and landmass and this landmass is divided into various divisions. America thus is divided into North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Yes the Caribbean Islands are in America even though they are Islands. So all of these nations are in America. Not in the United States but in America!
So, let me get this straight. According to you, the rule of naming is that a given usage of a name is correct if Mrs. Anonymous thinks that usage honors the original usage (or, in the case of ‘America’, not the original, but the second usage). If Mrs. Anonymous thinks a given usage of a name is an act of stealing, then that usage is incorrect. Do I have that right? You think that your subjective opinions about honor and theft determine whether or not a usage of a name is correct or incorrect? You’re a delusional idiot.
Not when they usage comes with a change of the thing they are taking the name from. Like when the U.S. started using the name of the continent they knew of the issue and so the U.S. began to teach a two continent view of the new continent America and changing its name to "The Americas". It is easy to understand, if you want a name to be only yours, you take it and then you change the other name of the thing you took the name from.
It became very common in the US to call the country ‘America’ starting in 1898. It became very common in the US to consider the Americas to be two continents around 1950. If, as you claim, the former caused the latter, why is there a half century gap?
We know that it became common some where in the past to call the U.S. as America, that is why we are discussing this issue here on this forum. The how, the why, and the who.
“and just because people can't stop calling the US as America it should be correct?”
And just because people can’t stop calling America Ferrera as America it should be correct?
And just because people can’t stop calling Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V. as América it should be correct?
Think, payasa. Think!
No el payaso eres tu! Your examples are not the same because they both are honoring the name of a continent and not stealing the name of a continent like the U.S. did!
Hahaha! You are such a moron. How did the actress’s parents and the football club not steal, but only honor? How did the country not honor, but only steal? This is all just your biased, subjective BS. It’s all just your moronic opinion. There is no objective difference. They are exactly the same situations. A name is being used in a way that is different from its original use. This is also true of your preferred use of ‘America’ because, as you know, the name originally referred to only South America. You don’t like one particular use, so you call it stealing. You approve of the other uses, so you call it honoring. But in all cases the name is being used in a different way from its original use. You are nothing more than a biased hypocrite.
You are stupid.
“Its me again” did NOT speak BS. He is not at all a hypocrite or anything negative. He spoke truth and not his opinion. He is correct as he said, “USA DID STEAL the name and demonym of a continent”.
So you are a lot more than a biased hypocrite as you keep on telling false information.
La verdad es que ya te perdiste! David, for a long time i have been offering the reason why i say the USA has been stealing the name of the continent rather than just using as honoring the continent. If it were like you say, then the continent would not be for the English speakers ,including the United States, called "The Americas". When the U.S. sought the name of America for itself to be used as their name they knew that the continent's name is America, but hey they wanted it right? So, they started to teach that the continent was two continents and therefore the name would not be America but The Americas. Hence for this action, your example is not accurate because naming your child or a soccer team "America" is in no way taking the name of the continent away like the U.S. did with parting the continent into two and giving it another name thus "The Americas".
As you know, most Americans & many other people view the Americas as 2 continents. They use ‘the Americas’ to refer to the linked landmass that is composed of the 2 continents of North & South America.
The names ‘North America’, ‘South America’, & ‘the Americas’ have existed in many languages since before the USA existed. Americans & many other people already called the USA ‘America’ long before the mid-1900s, when it became much more common to consider the Americas to be 2 continents. Some people considered the Americas to be 2 continents long before that time.
You think the name is stolen. I disagree. Even if the name were stolen, it isn’t incorrect in a naming sense to call the US ‘America’. No rule of naming is being violated. Your personal notions of honor & stealing don’t determine the rules of naming. You have even admitted that no rules of naming are being violated. A name isn’t incorrect just because you think it’s stolen. You don’t make the rules.
Maybe you can see in antique maps they used to write the cardinal directions which are North, South, East and West. Something like for example a North Africa, Central Africa and South Africa and West Asia, East Asia, Etc. So when you see the continent of America in maps you are seeing the cardinal directions like South America, Central America and North America for it was sometimes very customary to write it on the maps.
They called the landmasses North and South America on many old maps. “America Septentrionalis’ and its variants are Latin for North America. ‘America Meridionalis’ and its variants are Latin for South America. Do a search for these names and you will find many old maps. You can also find old maps in English that say ‘North America’ and/or ‘South America’.
Published around 1675: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3200.ct007039/?r=0.197,0.167,0.387,0.218,0
Drawn in 1589: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maris_Pacifici
Published around 1652: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3300.ct000612/?r=-0.022,0.265,1.189,0.671,0
Published around 1719: https://bit.ly/3S3nGle
There are many, many more.
Yep that is how they used to put the cardinal directions on maps especially of America. If you can see most of those maps have written in the upper top "Septentrio" or in the bottom "Meridies" in different languages to give pieces of lands a cardinal direction on a map. America is America not matter if the map has America Septentrional or America Meridional because they are both being set as where they are in the world either in the North or in the South. Maybe this is the reason for the confusion as to why the English speaking world thought of a two continent view of America and continued teaching it. Either way, if the continent was divided by the English then the United States would not had had the "of America" but instead it would had correctly being "The United States of North America" if that is to go by the two continent view.
Liar. Those are the names for the divisions of the Americas. They are not simply labels for the cardinal directions. You are so dishonest.
You are the liar David.
“North America” and “South America” are the Americas, and the Americas are the divisional names of America. They ARE SO simply labels for the cardinal directions. “Its me again” IS NOT SO dishonest. Instead, they spoke truth! Therefore, the Americas combined ARE AMERICA!!
“North” and “South” ARE BOTH Cardinal Words for DIRECTIONS and they truely explain the locations for the name of a place. Therefore, North America IS OBVIOUSLY “the NORTH location of the place named AMERICA”! Therefore, “the Americas” ARE AMERICA!!!
While the continent got its name from a cartographer who traveled through the Caribbean, Florida and mainly the eastern coast of Brazil, Amerigo Vespucci (Some have contested the real name to be Alberigo and that he got the name Amerigo from the Nicaraguan mountains Amerikes when he had to stop there to get away from a storm) others were putting it on writing somewhere in Germany and on a map. Later this map was distributed all over Europe and hanged on Universities and thus the name for the new world was accepted as America. Many other cartographers continued making new maps to add new lands discovered to the continent of America.
The new world was coined and accepted as the fourth part of the world a new continent called "AMERICA". In this continent, a nation formed by different sovereign States with the intention to be strong enough to stay as a union so that other countries in the old world, thus Europe(mostly) would stop their intervention and control of the new lands. This new people from the union of states were especially interested in letting Europe know that they were no longer possession of any of the old world kingdoms such as Spain, and mostly England. England was in Europe and the states were ruled by the king of England. For the Europeans, those in the states were in another continent not in Europe so they would call them the Americans because they were in the continent of America. This would even be before the United States even came to be a nation. So, people knew back then that the continent was America and the nation was not yet born.
And then many people began to call the US ‘America’.
exactly but erroneously!
What rule is it breaking that makes it wrong? Think, idiota. Think!
Common sense! A lie does not come true just because it has been repeated millions of times and people think is the truth! You yourself know that the continent's name is America. How did the U.S. come to grab the name if it was the name of the continent which houses other nations and not just the U.S.? Just because a nation is powerful does not mean it has done the right things all the time. Actually, most powerful nations have stepped onto smaller nations without consequences. The result from imperialistic nations is that they do what they please in the world and since they are the winners, they write their own history in the way they see it or want others to see it. You were brought up with that side of the story and have a very hard time see it from the eyes of others. Try.
Tinker Bell Real and True, can you make a valid argument that is supported by facts? How am I the one with the reading comprehension problem when it was you who misread what I wrote? You can’t even come up with your own words that make any sense. You just copy my words and misapply them to me when they actually perfectly describe your idiocy. Canada has one of the best education systems in the world. You obviously didn’t benefit from it. Maybe they have a comfy home for the mentally defective that you can reside in. You can alternate between staring out the window and drawing with crayons. Just make sure you don’t eat them.
There goes more of your BS again.
I’m one of those people who do make sense with my own words. I do not speak my own idiocy. So …
Your 2nd to 4th sentences are definitely what describes your idiocy being as they are all incorrect.
“What U.S. Americans need do is quit pretending United States is one and same as America.”
It’s very revealing that so many of you start your “argument” with this BS. In all my life I have never read or heard someone use ‘America’ to refer to US while thinking that the US is all of the Americas. This is a classic straw man argument. You pretend that people who call the country ‘America’ think that the country is all of the Americas. The country obviously isn’t all of the Americas, so you pretend that the people who call the country ‘America’ are all horribly stupid, ignorant, and wrong. You have no real argument, so you have to start from this BS false premise. Again, there may be a few people in the world who think that the US is all of the Americas, but I have never encountered one of them. Everything about your “argument” is BS, starting from the foundation.
Anonymous’s argument is NOT BS. No one has ever said that the U.S. is all of the Americas. According to your 4th sentence, I’m impressed that you are one of many people that pretend other countries who call the country ‘America’ think that the country is all of the Americas, because most people (like myself) know that United States 🇺🇸 is not all of the Americas. So it is you David who pretends that the people who call the country ‘America’ and its people ‘American’ is the correct nationality, because all people who do refer to United States and U.S. citizens only when saying ‘America’ and ‘American’, are all horribly stupid, ignorant, and wrong.
This shows you have no real argument, so you have to start from your BS false premise. Again, you are one of a possible few people in the world who think that the US is all of the Americas, but I have never encountered one of them (including you) in person. So everything about “your argument” David “is BS”, starting from the foundation, because my argument is NOT AT ALL BS and never will be.
I specifically said that I have never met anyone who considers the US to be all of the Americas. I don’t think it’s all of the Americas. You need to work on your reading comprehension.
I wrote: “The country obviously isn’t all of the Americas…”.
You might be even stupider than Mrs. Anonymous. I didn’t think that was possible. Congratulations.
She is not stupider than me and I am NOT even stupider than Mrs. Anonymous. Both her and I are NOT even stupid at all.
So you need to work on your reading comprehension and know that you might be even stupider than yourself being the stupidest on this site. I didn’t think that was possible. Congratulations!
I could mention, the country of Turkey 🇹🇷 has changed its name (just this past June in 2022) to “Türkiye”. So the question is: If Turkey has changed its name, just as recently as over 4 months ago, then … why can’t USA do the same thing (like Turkey) by changing its current name to something different that is more better for them? I just think, what should stop or prevent them from changing their current name, as of 2022?
Turkiye, has always been "Turkey's" real name.
In case of "United States of America" the genitive "of America" simply states where "United States" was founded.
It need not change its name. What U.S. Americans need do is quit pretending United States is one and same as America. Motives being obvious, they should be happy they can get away with using the term U.S. American (which translates to American from the United States). The alternative being United Statesian which many not all seem bitter about.
This shouldn't be controversial but good luck getting through to most of them.
Hi Anonymous! I like your comment. However, I would like to know your nationality, if you don’t mind!
The US could change its name, but it won’t anytime soon, if ever, because there is practically zero desire among the general public or the government to do so. Whiners like you are few in number, and most of you aren’t Americans, so your crying isn’t going to get a law passed to officially change the name of the country.
"most of you aren’t Americans"
Who is American?
You already know, but I will play along. In the national sense, US citizens are Americans. In the continental sense, all the people of the Americas are Americans. Context determines which sense is being used. As you know, in English ‘Americans’ almost always refers to US citizens. I’m willing to bet that even you are just intelligent enough to understand from context which meaning is being used.
@David(United States), the problem with your statement is that America is genuinely not the name of your country. It's the name of the continent your country was founded on. What you term "The Americas" is what's actually America. That's what "of America" in United States of America genuinely means. Americans being the peoples of said continent. Not of any one country in America. But I digress, U.S. Americans like yourself have been pushing misinformation across the world misleading and encouraging others into associating the term American as if it were your nationality. And then using the end result of propaganda as an argument against the truth. I know I know you don't care but even if you fail to admit it, you do know that I am factually correct.
“A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right, and evil doesn't become good, just because it's accepted by a majority.”
― Booker T. Washington
I am NOT a whiner and I am NOT one of a few in number.
Whiners like you in the United States are few in number, and most of us in The Americas ARE AMERICANS, and I am NOT crying.
So your false information won’t stop me from calling you “stupid”.
You whiners are very few in number compared to the billions of people around the world who happily call the US and its citizens ‘America’ and ‘Americans’.
You remind me of Mrs. Anonymous claiming that there are so many of you whiners. Her “proof” is the existence of this website. Hilarious! There is a very small number of people who post here, and most of the posts come from people who create multiple accounts. Your numbers are nothing compared to billions of people.
@David … You are 1 of many whiners in the United States and I am one of many NON-whiners in all of the New World America.
@David … I don’t have numbers and “numbers”, “contexts”, etc. do NOT have anything to do with the words “America” and “American”.
Even if I did have numbers, then my numbers are something compared to billions of people. So quit your BS!
David said "and most of you aren’t Americans,"..........And that is where you are WRONG David! People who were born in the continent of America are Americans just as you would call those from Europe; EUROPEANS, or those from Asia; ASIANS, or from Africa; AFRICANS. SO yes those from America are AMERICANS.
Do you also have a problem with the official name of the country, not just the unofficial name of ‘America’? The government can only change the official name. It cannot prevent people from using the unofficial name ’America’. Even if the government did change the official name, lots of people would still call the country ‘US’, ‘USA’, ‘United States’, etc.
You're correct in stating that no one can stop individuals from deceiving themselves and others in to believing that America is the name of a country.
Billions of people call the USA ‘America’. If this isn’t a name for the USA, then what is it?
name /neɪm/
n., v., named, nam•ing, adj.
n. [countable]
a word or phrase by which a person or thing is identified or known
https://www.wordreference.com/definition/name
It’s amazing how many idiots there are like you. You don’t like how billions of people use the name ‘America’ so you pretend that it’s not a name for the US. You know damn well that it is an unofficial, common, colloquial name for the US. How can it be used as a name for the US but not be a name for the US? You cannot honestly and factually answer this question because ’America’ obviously is a name for the US. Your BS doesn’t alter reality.
@David … Just as Anonymous would say: “A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right, and evil doesn't become good, just because it's accepted by a majority.” (In this case, billions of people) ― Booker T. Washington!
Of course, Anonymous hasn’t stated BS, so you have to stop saying your BS!
and just because people can't stop calling the US as America it should be correct?