bankside
JUB 10k Club
In Canada we call people from the USA, étatsuniens. At least when we're speaking French. It is the equivalent of unitedstatesians.
I have never met a Canadian in my life that would call himself an American… unless he has dual citizenship with the United States.
Without exception, the whole thing from Ellesmere Island to Tierra del Fuego is never ever referred to as America. If you had to speak about the whole land mass from tip to tip, you would have to say "North and South America" to be understood here. Or in most cases you could also just call it "the western hemisphere" or "the new world" and it would be understood. The adjectives follow. I'm a North American, not an American. Someone from Columbia is a South American, not an American.
We don't call the United States "America." That would sound decidedly odd. When I think back to people I know who have travelled there, they would all say "Oh, I'm going to the States for a holiday," or "I'm going to the US" but never "I'm taking a business trip next month to America." In Canada, there is no country called "America." However, since there is no other possible use of the word in Canadian English that would cause any confusion, we refer to the nationality as American. Makes sense? Who can say. The way it is? Definitely.
In casual conversation, in a discussion of limeys, kiwis, aussies and canucks, we would call them yanks. When I was 30, I learnt this is apparently unpopular for someone who traces his roots to Atlanta. So, if you're from Georgia or Texas or Louisiana, sorry, but you're yanks.
Finally, there is no real definition of where one continent ends and another begins. Probably because "geography" started out as less of an international science and more the "mapmaking department of the local army." So each country or region has its own historical biases and its own academic conventions about where one continent ends and another begins. I was taught that Mexico to Panama and the Caribbean is "Central America," while apparently Mexicans are taught they are part of "North America." I'm sure the Europeans also argue over who is an east European or a central European depending as much as anything on the political aspirations of the government of the day.
So is the Columbian wrong? I don't care. If geographers can't figure it out amongst themselves whether we have 3 continents or 7 or any number in between, what hope do the rest of us have. If he's visiting Canada, he's not an American, he's a South American.
BTW, what do you call someone from the Australian / New Zealish part of the world or the adjacent islands? They've tried to get "Oceania" to catch on as the name of the region, but I don't know anyone who has actually called it that in conversation.
I have never met a Canadian in my life that would call himself an American… unless he has dual citizenship with the United States.
Without exception, the whole thing from Ellesmere Island to Tierra del Fuego is never ever referred to as America. If you had to speak about the whole land mass from tip to tip, you would have to say "North and South America" to be understood here. Or in most cases you could also just call it "the western hemisphere" or "the new world" and it would be understood. The adjectives follow. I'm a North American, not an American. Someone from Columbia is a South American, not an American.
We don't call the United States "America." That would sound decidedly odd. When I think back to people I know who have travelled there, they would all say "Oh, I'm going to the States for a holiday," or "I'm going to the US" but never "I'm taking a business trip next month to America." In Canada, there is no country called "America." However, since there is no other possible use of the word in Canadian English that would cause any confusion, we refer to the nationality as American. Makes sense? Who can say. The way it is? Definitely.
In casual conversation, in a discussion of limeys, kiwis, aussies and canucks, we would call them yanks. When I was 30, I learnt this is apparently unpopular for someone who traces his roots to Atlanta. So, if you're from Georgia or Texas or Louisiana, sorry, but you're yanks.
Finally, there is no real definition of where one continent ends and another begins. Probably because "geography" started out as less of an international science and more the "mapmaking department of the local army." So each country or region has its own historical biases and its own academic conventions about where one continent ends and another begins. I was taught that Mexico to Panama and the Caribbean is "Central America," while apparently Mexicans are taught they are part of "North America." I'm sure the Europeans also argue over who is an east European or a central European depending as much as anything on the political aspirations of the government of the day.
So is the Columbian wrong? I don't care. If geographers can't figure it out amongst themselves whether we have 3 continents or 7 or any number in between, what hope do the rest of us have. If he's visiting Canada, he's not an American, he's a South American.
BTW, what do you call someone from the Australian / New Zealish part of the world or the adjacent islands? They've tried to get "Oceania" to catch on as the name of the region, but I don't know anyone who has actually called it that in conversation.
