On 2011-10-02, Camaleón <noela...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sun, 02 Oct 2011 12:58:16 -0400, Stephen Powell wrote: > >> On Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:58:01 -0400 (EDT), consul tores wrote: >>> >>> United States of America. Does "of" tell you something? >>> >>> i am from El Salvador of America, but we do not take "America" only for >>> us; maybe it is related to common sense! or maybe low knowledge of >>> Geography. it is the same with North America without Mexico. >> >> You're right. United States of America is the full name of the country. >> But we tend to be lazy and shorten it. USA is shorter still. But it >> does not lend itself to alternate forms. For example, would I tell >> someone that I am an USAian? It doesn't work. American flows off the >> tongue much better. But taking America in the larger sense, meaning >> North America, Central America, and South America combined, you are, in >> that sense, an American also. >> >> You can say you are an El Salvadorian. But what can I say that I am? A >> United States of American? It just doesn't flow at all. It's quite >> awkward. So what do I call myself then? Calling ourselves Americans is >> not technically correct, using the larger sense of the word American, >> but it's apparently the best we can come up with. > >:-) > > The mess comes from the gentilic we (Spanish speaking users) use for > "American" people (i.e., United States inhabitants). The proper way to > call them in Spanish is "estadounidenses" (plural form), which refers > specifically to the country, not the whole continent. > > But it seems that in English the correct demonym for USA people is indeed > "Americans". >
Yes, that is the common usage in English. Much to the irritation of Canadians, Mexicans, and many others. -- Liam O'Toole Cork, Ireland -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/slrnj8hu76.2d1.liam.p.otoole@dipsy.tubbynet
