# America/US/USA/etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690 "2015-12-17T14:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TheSpeculationElucidation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@TheSpeculationElucidation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSpeculationElucidation)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/21 "2015-12-17T23:27:46Z")
I use them interchangeably. I don’t think it matters. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/22 "2015-12-19T00:29:46Z")
“Usa” makes me think of “Gop.” In the English-language newspapers over here, the style is to cap only the initial letter if you pronounce the acronym as a word. Thus, it’s Nasa and Aids instead of NASA and AIDS. For a while, one of the papers was doing Gop instead of GOP when reporting on the US election cycle. Thankfully, someone finally clued them in and they stopped. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/23 "2015-12-19T01:48:04Z")
From a foreigner I have a very slight preference for US. From us I can live with almost anything but for some reason “American” always bothered me a little. I will admit to having used it myself, but something it always feels somewhat wrong. There are just too many other people, North and South American, for us to claim that title as our own. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/24 "2015-12-19T17:48:53Z")
The only accepted usage is “U-S-A! U-S-A!”. Remember that, foreigners, and we’ll get along fine. Also, note that referring to Americans as USers has a history on this board and not a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/25 "2015-12-19T21:52:17Z")
The only one I find annoying is Murikan. Since that’s not in the list, I think I’d be pretty okay with any you did list. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/26 "2015-12-20T01:09:38Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Yes, it should be “The US” or “The U.S.” because otherwise it’s asking “how do they do that in United States?” Agreed. I selected “the States” as being the only listed answer i would give, but I would also say “the US.” ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/27 "2015-12-20T02:03:09Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The only option I’d think to be wrong is Usa because it’s an acronym and that’s not the convention for acronyms. If I talked about the Ram in your computer, you’d be pretty confused, right?. 😕 Uh, no. Actually the opposite. I’ve always pronounced it as “Ram” and have heard it referred to as that. I did a quick check on Youtube and the first 2 videos I clicked both pronounced it as “Ram”. [Link 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7DZl6q4QqA) and [Link 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMV_Dwsd8dI). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/28 "2015-12-20T02:22:28Z")
Other than putting “the” before most of your choices in your example sentence, it doesn’t matter a bit, except perhaps for “Usa,” which I’ve never seen or heard before. I’ve seen acronyms like NASA written out as “Nasa” (I believe some UK style guides do that), but not USA, since it’s not pronounced as “You-suh” or “Oo-suh.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/29 "2015-12-20T02:44:39Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > If I talked about the Ram in your computer, you’d be pretty confused, right? No, I wouldn’t be confused because everyone pronounces it “ram” like the animal and that doesn’t change no matter how many letters you capitalize. I’d be confused if you wrote rem for R.E.M., though, since the only people who pronounce that one as anything other than R-E-M are the members of the band Franz Ferdinand. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/30 "2015-12-20T03:01:57Z")
Technically, the only ones that actually fit your blank are “America” and “The States.” Of the two, I would find it a big awkward to use “The States” except from someone in the UK. But I would prefer “the U.S.,” or possibly “the United States.” In print, I expect the periods (as I’d otherwise initially read it us “us”, plus it is what style guides recommend), and saying “U.S.A.” is just weird. “America” is okay, but there’s a slight accuracy problem–not enough to really matter to me in conversation, but “the U.S.” is better. And “the United States of America” is just so formal as to sound weird, unless you’re being facetious. And Usa is some place in Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/31 "2015-12-20T05:44:35Z")
**The US** is what I’d use, too. It’s more specific than “America” and easier to type. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/32 "2015-12-20T05:47:20Z")
While we’re doing this, I’d like to register my annoyance at Americans using “Britain” to mean “the UK”. They’re not the same thing and the correct name of the country is (for short) “the UK”. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/33 "2015-12-20T06:11:51Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > While we’re doing this, I’d like to register my annoyance at Americans using “Britain” to mean “the UK”. This appears to be standard British English too. I’m not sure why you think it’s an Americanism. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/34 "2015-12-20T15:33:01Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > While we’re doing this, I’d like to register my annoyance at Americans using “Britain” to mean “the UK”. They’re not the same thing and the correct name of the country is (for short) “the UK”. Both English-language newspapers in Bangkok, _The Nation_ and the _Bangkok Post_, both of which generally follow British style, have in their style guidelines not to use “UK” except in headlines. In the body of the stories, “Britain” is to be used and not “UK” unless it’s a direct quote from an English speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690/35 "2015-12-20T15:36:20Z")
I always say The Colonies myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-us-usa-etc/740690.md?page=1)