Why Do Brits Call The United States "America"? (graphic design, island)

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by RubyandPearl

The name of the country is The United States. The "of America" is geographic, ie. the continent of the Americas. In that regard, Canada could be called America, or Peru or Mexico.

Calling the US "America" would be like calling Scotland "Britain" or France "Europe."

Every British person I've ever spoken to in the UK has referred to the country as America. Rarely if ever the US.

Mexicans from Mexico, Canadians from Canada, Germans from Germany, most populations are identified by using some form of their county's name. What is your suggestion for a simple one word identification of residents of the United States of America? USA'ers, USA'ens, Staters? Don't you think 'Americans' does the job? It's not like people in the south or central America's don't have many different countries with names they identify with. Nobody is going to confuse someone from the US who calls themselves 'American' as someone from one of those other American countries.

[roodd279]

Lengthy tradition there.


"God Bless America" wasn't written about SOUTH America.
"America the Beautiful" wasn't written about CENTRAL America.
"America..." (my country tis of thee) is not about Paraguay.

When the French said (waaaay) back, "We're all Americans now" they weren't referring to Canada.


And 1000 other examples. No, it does not make perfect geographical sense, nor is it technically correct - but it IS the way things have shaken out over the last 130 years or so - and if you declare, about yourself, in nearly any nation on Earth, "I'm an American" - nearly no one will wonder if you are from Mexico. It's just - like many things - "The Way It Is."


Re: UK or Great Britain or England - If I'm going to England, I would be correct in saying any of those, right?

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by porterjack

used to be Yanks when i was a kid growing up in blightly

I worked for a British family in the 1960s that had just come to California, and they would either say "Yanks" or "the Colonies" but probably just to tease me.

[RubyandPearl]

Originally Posted by roodd279

Lengthy tradition there.


"God Bless America" wasn't written about SOUTH America.
"America the Beautiful" wasn't written about CENTRAL America.
"America..." (my country tis of thee) is not about Paraguay.

When the French said (waaaay) back, "We're all Americans now" they weren't referring to Canada.


And 1000 other examples. No, it does not make perfect geographical sense, nor is it technically correct - but it IS the way things have shaken out over the last 130 years or so - and if you declare, about yourself, in nearly any nation on Earth, "I'm an American" - nearly no one will wonder if you are from Mexico. It's just - like many things - "The Way It Is."


Re: UK or Great Britain or England - If I'm going to England, I would be correct in saying any of those, right?

There are some people in other countries in the Americas who object to the citizens of the US being the only ones to be called Americans, and I kind of see their point.

I'm referring to the country name though not what the residents are called.

The States is fine for a shorthand name, the US is too.

Re your last sentence, to many Americans going to England means they are actually going to London. England = London to many of us and there's nothing beyond that, sort of like France is Paris.

Or the US is New York to Brits.

[roodd279]

I was also referring to the country - not the residents - with the songs.

[recycled]

Originally Posted by RubyandPearl

There are some people in other countries in the Americas who object to the citizens of the US being the only ones to be called Americans, and I kind of see their point.

I'm referring to the country name though not what the residents are called.

The States is fine for a shorthand name, the US is too.

Re your last sentence, to many Americans going to England means they are actually going to London. England = London to many of us and there's nothing beyond that, sort of like France is Paris.

Or the US is New York to Brits.

The States is an inferior shorthand name for the USA. The United States of Mexico (official name of Mexico translated to English) or The United States of Brazil (official name of Brazil translated to English) could actually be called The States too since they are federal systems with their own states. That's why calling the USA "America" as a shorthand name is better, because "America" is uniquely part of of the official name of the United States of America that is used by no other country in their official name.

When somebody here in Germany asks me what country I am originally from, I say (in German) that I am from the USA. Simply my preference for a short answer. I know a few other Americans (people from the USA) here in Germany who sometimes say America instead of the USA - it's all the same and no big deal.

FYI, I attended high school in Chile for a year in 1971, and the most common term used by my classmates to refer to me (aside from gringo) was Americano. I've been to almost every Spanish speaking country in the Americas, and only a handful of intellectual or overly-politically-correct people use the term "Norteamericano".

[evening sun]

Heck, many Americans call themselves American.

[RubyandPearl]

America is a continent not a country.

The United States is a country on the continent of North America.

Citizens of the US call themselves Americans but technically any resident of the Americas could do so. We don't have exclusive right to the designation.

But then once again I'm not taking about what the citizens are called. America isn't the name of the country, The United States is. The "of America" part was inserted by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration as a notice to the king that the colonies were no longer his property, that they were Of America, not Of England. Calling themselves American, rather than English, was also a revolutionary act that emphasized the separation.

Brazil might officially be the United States of Brazil but that's not the same as Of America since Brazil is actually a country and "America" is not. Same with Mexico, ie. actually a country name.

The US has fifty states that are very culturally different from one another, especially the states that were added in the 19th and 20th centuries. It's one of the things the country is known for, Louisiana is very different from Montana, West Virginia very different from Virginia, California from Illinois.

So calling the country the States or the US for short is fine, everyone knows what country they refer to.

[SimplySagacious]

Originally Posted by RubyandPearl

Yes, our official designation is The United States of America, but the continents are all the Americas.

North America, Central America, South America
Whenever I talk to Brits they always refer to the US as America.

What are Brits? Why are you using a colloquial term to complain about another colloquial term?

And why are you admonishing "Brits" when people all over the world use the term "America" colloquially to refer to the US?

No one thinks that "America" is the formal name of the US.

Our country isn't really "America", there are many other countries that make up the American continent.

All of them could include "America" in their country names.

They could but they don't. They can change their country names if they want to.

Originally Posted by RubyandPearl

There are some people in other countries in the Americas who object to the citizens of the US being the only ones to be called Americans, and I kind of see their point.

I have seen this claim a few times but the objections seem to only come from far, far Left US citizens and they never provided evidence.

Re your last sentence, to many Americans going to England means they are actually going to London. England = London to many of us and there's nothing beyond that, sort of like France is Paris.

I know absolutely no one who thinks like this.

[Jezer]

Much Ado About Nothing.