Comment on How do you call someone born in the US besides "American"?
zepheriths@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Yes however the United States was the first modern nation to gain it’s independence in the Americas. In the English speaking world that’s the term, you can’t just make up a new term for ut
667@kbin.social 1 year ago
Can’t we though? All language is arbitrary at first. A person (or community) often names things, sometimes from pure scratch. The words “Kodak” and “Xerox” come to mind.
zepheriths@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Yes a community create a name that becomes used over time. However it has implications farther than just that. African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, are all very common terms for different people in the country by taking away that term, the names for many groups change as well. The fact is in English so many groups use the term, and every single one would have to change how they identify themselves for such a change. I don’t believe that is possible.