# TPUSA Halftime show featuring Kid Rock

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 6, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422 "2026-02-06T06:20:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 10

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/181 "2026-02-09T12:51:01Z")

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> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> He was listing all the countries in the Americas (maybe he missed a few of the smaller ones, I’m not too sure), not lumping Canada in with the USA.

It’s an insult to be called an American.

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**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/182 "2026-02-09T13:38:00Z")

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Perhaps he was using the old Latin-American meaning of the word “American”: From a country in the Americas, people from the U.S. are “Estadounidenses” (if we are being polite, if not it starts as “Yanqui” and goes quickly downhill from there).

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**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/183 "2026-02-09T14:39:12Z")

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My Latin and South American co-workers have long had a contingent that bristled at people from US being calling themselves American, pointing out correctly that being from the American land mass, they are just as entitled to the term Armerican as someone from the US.

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**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/184 "2026-02-09T14:43:53Z")

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Yeah my Maple syrup and Apple pie and Tequila are all in different cupboards, but they are still in the same kitchen.

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**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/185 "2026-02-09T15:04:59Z")

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> [@Frodo](#):
>
> Perhaps he was using the old Latin-American meaning of the word “American”: From a country in the Americas, people from the U.S. are “Estadounidenses” (if we are being polite, if not it starts as “Yanqui” and goes quickly downhill from there).

Yes, this was how he was using the term. You explained it better than I did.

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/186 "2026-02-09T15:19:08Z")

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Also note that Bad Bunny used the word “Americano”, not “American”. As those of us familiar with multiple languages know, it’s not unusual for words to have different connotations between languages. And the context of their usage clearly indicates “resident of the Americas”.

Edited to add:  
The speech by Bad Bunny at the Grammys shows plenty of opposition to Trump’s policies.

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**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/187 "2026-02-09T15:31:30Z")

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I will say for European Spanish, “Americano” will almost always be interpreted as being from the USA. I’m not sure if there’s a different connotation in Latin America. There is the more specific term estadounidense to refer specifically to people from the USA, but “Americano” would almost always be assumed to be the same unless otherwise specified.

Edit: Googled around a bit and “Americano” can have both meanings in central America, someone from the US or someone from anywhere in the Americas.

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**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/188 "2026-02-09T15:56:42Z")

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I will echo what has been said before in regards to countries in the Americas being sometimes being prickly(?) about people in the US assuming that American is only the US. There is a song by another Puerto Rican artist named Residente that is called This is not America which is kind of a rebuke on the very topic. Although I am a gringo, I don’t usually refer to anyone from the US as American, especially when writing, as I grew up in South America.

`//i\\`

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**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/189 "2026-02-09T16:19:46Z")

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It’s awkward because we don’t have a word in English for USA-ian

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**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/190 "2026-02-09T16:26:01Z")

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Trump and his goobers watched Bad Bunny.

> **[Trump in huge Turning Point USA betrayal as he’s branded a ‘lying hypocrite’](https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-super-bowl-nfl-36692932)**
>
> Footage from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Super Bowl party shows Bad Bunny's halftime performance playing on large screens, despite White House claims he would watch Kid Rock's alternative show

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/191 "2026-02-09T16:33:14Z")

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> [@bobot](#):
>
> I watched the official halftime show, and I can only guess that what has Republicans so flustered is the Español.

Yes, we shouldn’t have to listen to foreign music with incomprehensible lyrics. We should listen to sensible, all-American lyrics like

_Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy_  
_Said the boogie, said up drop the boogie_  
_Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy_  
_Said the boogie, said up jump the boogie_

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**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/192 "2026-02-09T16:33:56Z")

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> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> It’s awkward because we don’t have a word in English for USA-ian

We do, it’s “American.” Every other country that has/had “united states” in their formal title uses the rest of the place name as their demonym. That doesn’t mean “American” doesn’t _also_ mean something else depending on context, but let’s not pretend that isn’t what citizens of the USA are called, because it is.

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/193 "2026-02-09T16:35:36Z")

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> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#):
>
> Trump and his goobers watched Bad Bunny.

Of course they would. I mean if only to be able to know if something particularly reaction-worthy happened (not that their reactions weren’t already pre-scripted).

In any case he’ll just later SAY (falsely) that TPUSA’s show had amazing never before seen ratings for a competing show and insult anyone who questions that.

> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> That doesn’t mean “American” doesn’t _also_ mean something else depending on context

Right, “AmericanO” in Spanish and “American” in English are not _and don’t have to be_ identical in denotative and connotative usage.

OTOH, a lot of Latin Americans tend to fall into the same bad habit as some USAns, and presume that everyone who is “not the USA” thinks of “America” the same way THEY do.

When BB said it in that particular line, **speaking Spanish** he was contrasting that first he said God Bless America and then immediaty codeswitched and implicitly added “…but to the rest of us _this_ is America”.

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/194 "2026-02-09T16:45:41Z")

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> [@bobot](#):
>
> I watched the official halftime show, and I can only guess that what has Republicans so flustered is the Español.

and for good reason!

> **[Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad...](https://theonion.com/terrified-conservatives-lose-ability-to-speak-english-after-exposure-to-bad-bunny-performance-dios-mio-cry-millions-of-panicking-republicans/?fbclid=IwY2xjawP27k9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFKekFnVmFpbGE5dzdDaHRHc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHlmQH5P3GZ3P2M3pLE5C5ylQBoM5DwZrNhqj18O9qRxHX84wHPDdW_erhK5R_aem_W4fexRUvZpgA8sCiPe_vWQ)**
>
> BOISE, ID—Crying out “¡Dios mío!” and “¡Ayúdame!” as soon as they heard the opening notes of the Puerto Rican superstar’s “EoO,” millions of terrified conservatives reportedly lost the ability to speak English Sunday after exposure to Bad Bunny’s...

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/195 "2026-02-09T16:49:53Z")

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> [@JRDelirious](#):
>
> > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#):
> >
> > Trump and his goobers watched Bad Bunny.
> 
> Of course they would. I mean if only to be able to know if something particularly reaction-worthy happened

I prefer “Even Trump didn’t watch his own halftime show”.

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**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/196 "2026-02-09T16:56:12Z")

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“Americano” means “From America” and also “From the U.S.A.”, in the southern part of South America the first meaning was once dominant (and is now still significant).

I always wonder though, if “American” means only “From the U.S.A.” what in the hells was Monroe talking about when he said “America for the Americans”? “The United States for the UnitedStatesians?” me thinks the meaning of the word was not always so clear cut in “American” English either.

(Or the perennial favorite interpretation of the left: “America (the whole northern and southern continents) for the Americans (The citizens of the United States)” )

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**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/197 "2026-02-09T16:58:03Z")

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There are [several alternatives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonyms_for_the_United_States#Alternative_terms), including USian, but none of them have caught on. Even alternatives like USian (and estadounidense in Spanish) aren’t entirely exact since Mexico’s formal name is the [United Mexican States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico) (Estados Unidos Mexicanos).

“Americans” won’t want to hear it, but it pretty much comes down to ”United States of America” is just kind of an inexact, too broadly applicable name. The only worse option would have been “United States of Earth”.

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**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/198 "2026-02-09T16:58:31Z")

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I find it hilarious that the majority of the posts in this topic are about the Bad Bunny show and are technically off topic :D.

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/199 "2026-02-09T17:14:04Z")

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That’s how lame the TPUSA show was.

In hindsight there should have been a dedicated thread for both SB-LX halftime shows so we could contrast and make extraneous comments, but here we are.

BTW the Anglos need not fret about the language anyway, in any given BB track his vocal style makes it hard for some of _ **us** _ to understand up to half of what he says on first listen.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/200 "2026-02-09T17:44:05Z")

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Yes, my native Spanish-speaking friends said they had a hard time, too.

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