The United States is the only country in the world that does not have a gentile for itself. They call themselves citizens of the continent that they share with other countries, seeming to appropriate the entire continent.
At the time it was the only “country” on the continent. There were people actually arguing for not including the “of America” too, so it would just be “United States”
It’s one of those things that made sense at the time, but looks a little weird if you don’t account for the history.
Folks living in the British colonies wanted to differentiate themselves from the English, so they called themselves “Americans” because they were in the “American colonies.”
The name stuck after the colonies became the United States.
But the same did not happen in the Spanish or French colonies, or even in other English colonies such as Canada or Belize. It is still weird and pretentious
The hostility with England has a big role in “American” sticking. It used to be a general term for any European colonist coming over to the Americas, but when British colonists started getting more and more pissed at the homeland, they started embracing that general term more and more.
This stuff always looks a little weird in a vacuum, but if you playback the tape and get familiar with the history, it makes a lot more sense.
It makes a lot more sense if you look back at what the colonies were called when the name was adopted. It’s really just a holdover from a naming solution that wasn’t very weird during the time that it was introduced. Language evolves in weird and funky ways.
I like the spanish demonym for those of us from the United States: estadounidense. If you were to translate it literally it’d be like unitedstatesian, like brazilian (braziliense)
This is a really extreme example of something Ive noticed lately about accents transcending languages. Like people have a tendency to maintain certain aspects of accents even when speaking a different language than where the accent derived from.
For example, the new pope yesterday speaking Italian still had Chicagoan inflections when speaking Italian. I once dated a girl from South America who was ethnically entirely Italian, and she spoke Spanish but with a northern Italian accent. Her Mom did too but it far more noticeably.
Rural American people completely ignoring the pronunciation of Spanish words and having thick drawl is virtually the same thing, but stupider
It’s not always the case that you have the same accent in a different language. That guy is extreme to the point of caricature. I’ve been told I sound argentinian when I speak spanish yet I’m a new englander who learned spanish in colombia.
I remember calling a business in Canada and they asked me where I was from and I replied “America.” They replied with “We’re in America, too.” Then I was speaking with a guy from Poland who said he was vacationing in “America” so I asked which state and he said “Roatan.”
Pope Francis, who was born in South America: “Am I a joke to you?”
first Yankee* Pope.
The United States is the only country in the world that does not have a gentile for itself. They call themselves citizens of the continent that they share with other countries, seeming to appropriate the entire continent.
At the time it was the only “country” on the continent. There were people actually arguing for not including the “of America” too, so it would just be “United States”
It’s one of those things that made sense at the time, but looks a little weird if you don’t account for the history.
Folks living in the British colonies wanted to differentiate themselves from the English, so they called themselves “Americans” because they were in the “American colonies.”
The name stuck after the colonies became the United States.
But the same did not happen in the Spanish or French colonies, or even in other English colonies such as Canada or Belize. It is still weird and pretentious
The hostility with England has a big role in “American” sticking. It used to be a general term for any European colonist coming over to the Americas, but when British colonists started getting more and more pissed at the homeland, they started embracing that general term more and more.
This stuff always looks a little weird in a vacuum, but if you playback the tape and get familiar with the history, it makes a lot more sense.
It’s a very American thing to do.
It makes a lot more sense if you look back at what the colonies were called when the name was adopted. It’s really just a holdover from a naming solution that wasn’t very weird during the time that it was introduced. Language evolves in weird and funky ways.
It was Thomas Jefferson’s dream after all
I like the spanish demonym for those of us from the United States: estadounidense. If you were to translate it literally it’d be like unitedstatesian, like brazilian (braziliense)
Same thing in French : États uniens, États uniennes
So do French call themselves Republicans instead of French?
Id love to hear someone from Kentucky take a crack at that one
Esta-dooni-dense
Oh god, I’m not sure I’d be able to keep a straight face if someone pronounced that with a southern drawl.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Xe2MbMxuUuY
This is a really extreme example of something Ive noticed lately about accents transcending languages. Like people have a tendency to maintain certain aspects of accents even when speaking a different language than where the accent derived from.
For example, the new pope yesterday speaking Italian still had Chicagoan inflections when speaking Italian. I once dated a girl from South America who was ethnically entirely Italian, and she spoke Spanish but with a northern Italian accent. Her Mom did too but it far more noticeably.
Rural American people completely ignoring the pronunciation of Spanish words and having thick drawl is virtually the same thing, but stupider
It’s not always the case that you have the same accent in a different language. That guy is extreme to the point of caricature. I’ve been told I sound argentinian when I speak spanish yet I’m a new englander who learned spanish in colombia.
This dude was just doing it for fun - I’m fairly certain.
But “American” is what people from the USA are usually called.
I remember calling a business in Canada and they asked me where I was from and I replied “America.” They replied with “We’re in America, too.” Then I was speaking with a guy from Poland who said he was vacationing in “America” so I asked which state and he said “Roatan.”
Sounds about right of them to take more than they are entitled
Yeah, I sometimes say USAian or United Statesian, but that obviously doesn’t flow. It exists in other languages, but not English.
Also, personal nitpick, I don’t love when the continent of America refers to both N and S America.
“But it’s one landmass!!1!” Yeah, so is AfroEurasia. Continents don’t actually have an agreed upon meaning, so… it’s just, like, my opinion man.
Usonian?
You could always go with the classic “Yankee.”
I like the term seppo myself
For the non-Australians, Yank rhymes with Septic Tank, thus seppo
Wait, are you Australian or Cockney?
Pope Yippee ki-yay
I love it! Pope Bob rolls off the tongue better though so I’ve decided to go with that one lol
US American
The funny thing is it’s always South Americans trying to force their cultural norms on others and getting angry.
Wdym? I’ve always thought this USian thing was just typical Western Europeans + Aus/Kiwis
To be fair, South Americans have a lot of very legitimate reasons to be angry at the US.