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Comment on How do you call someone born in the US besides "American"?

The proper term is American.

everybody born in the american continent is technically “american” too

The implied context of your question is in English.. In the English-speaking world, there is no American continent. People from North America are North Americans; people from South America are South Americans. People from the United States of America are American. There is no ambiguity. There is also no good term to collectively describe everyone from the Americas but there’s also rarely any need to discuss that.

I consider terms such as “USonian” and whatnot to be highly offensive. Nobody should tell a people what they are allowed to call themselves in their own language just because the same word means something else in another language. It would be like telling French people they’re not allowed to call their arm a bras because it refers to an article of clothing in English. Other languages where America means something else already have their own terms for people from the US. English, however, has no real ambiguity except that caused by those trying to shame Americans for calling themselves Americans.

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lazyslacker@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
“highly offensive” lol wow chill out bud. It’s weird but doesn’t bother me at all. Let em call me whatever they want in whatever language they have.

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- kirklennon@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Telling people what they're allowed to be offended by is usually a bad choice.
  
  Let em call me whatever they want in whatever language they have.
  
  That's not what this is about though, which is precisely the point. In other languages, "America" means something else, and they all have other terms to refer to people from the US. The whole discussion is about what Americans should be called in English.
  
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  - lazyslacker@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    It’s ridiculous to give such weight and care to silly things like labels.
    
    I don’t care what they want to call me in English. My comment was intended to read as dismissive of the entire conversation.
    
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kent_eh@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

People from North America are North Americans; people from South America are South Americans. People from the United States of America are American. There is no ambiguity.

Thank you for eloquently responding to the pedantry underlying OP’s question.

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valveman@lemmy.eco.br ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

In the English-speaking world, there is no American continent.

I didn’t know that, thanks.

Nobody should tell a people what they are allowed to call themselves in their own language

Look man, I’m not american and I didn’t ask the question to create some debate about the ethics or whatsoever. I just wanted to know if there was a specific word for that.

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- kirklennon@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Just to be clear, I didn't think that you were being offensive. It came across entirely as a good faith question from a foreigner, but it ties into (ironically arrogant) advocacy from some foreigners who call Americans arrogant for using the term American.
  
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- milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  In the English-speaking world, there is no American continent.
  
  I didn’t know that, thanks.
  
  Eh, I agree common and mostly unambiguous usage is that ‘America’ refers to USA, but even in English it feels incongruous sometimes.
  
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HardlightCereal@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

In the English-speaking world, there is no American continent.

Not true. North and South America were made up by the government to brainwash people. It’s a conspiracy.

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- slackassassin@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Sure, 4 out continents, but what about incontinence.
  
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- hikaru755@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This is about language, not geology. Doesn’t really matter how it came to be that way, North and South America are effectively treated as separate continents and very rarely referred to as a whole, and you saying “but actually” doesn’t change that.
  
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  - HardlightCereal@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Words can be coined. America is a continent. There, if the word didn’t exist before, it does now.
    
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    hikaru755@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You’re right that words can be coined and their usage changed, but you seem to be misinformed about how that happens. You just deciding we’re gonna do it this way now is not gonna cut it, sorry
    
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Phrodo_00@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

It would be like telling French people they’re not allowed to call their arm a bras because it refers to an article of clothing in English.

And yet I’ve seen so many Americans chastising Spanish speaking people for saying the color black in their own language.

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Granixo@feddit.cl ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

In the English-speaking world, there is no American continent.

You mean, in USA world.

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- TheSanSabaSongbird@lemdro.id ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  No, it’s the entire English-speaking world, which actually makes sense since the practice originated with the British Empire long before American independence.
  
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