# What do the people who object to "American" being used for USians propose? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207 "2015-06-23T02:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [June 23, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/1 "2015-06-23T02:59:42Z")
I occasionally see discussions on this board about some people objecting to the use of “Americans” to mean citizens of the USA, apparently on the basis that “America” really means all of the New World land mass. Two questions: 1. Is this a common objection or just some sort of fringe element? 2. What term do they propose to use instead of “Americans” to refer to citizens of the USA? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/2 "2015-06-23T03:12:51Z")
In some other languages, they use an equivalent of “United States-ian”; “estadounidense” in Spanish, IIRC, also “usona” in Esperanto. On the other hand, in French I say, “Je suis américan”. On the third hand, in English, I usually say “the States” instead of “America”… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/3 "2015-06-23T03:31:59Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > 1. Is this a common objection or just some sort of fringe element? In my experience, it usually comes from Latin Americans, and is not a real objection but rather a political statement about the domination of the hemisphere by the US. They don’t want to use the term _americanos_ for themselves; they just object to people from the US using it. > [@](#): > > 1. What term do they propose to use instead of “Americans” to refer to citizens of the USA? Although the word _estadounidense_ exists and is sometimes used, in practice, the most frequent term is _norteamericano_. This makes even less sense than _americano_ since technically it also includes Canadians and Mexicans, and is not even part of the name of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/4 "2015-06-23T04:33:17Z")
Some possible options: Gringo, Yank (or Yankee), Usonian, Fredonian, Uesican, United Stater. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/5 "2015-06-23T04:34:39Z")
I’m not aware of any US citizens who object to the term. I’ve heard that some Canadians and Mexicans object to it, but I don’t know the details. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/6 "2015-06-23T05:33:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Some possible options: > > Gringo, Yank (or Yankee), Usonian, Fredonian, Uesican, United Stater. [Freedonia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Wh66FXZJQ) might take exception! (“This means war!”) ETA: Fred might take exception too. USAian pops up fairly often here on SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/7 "2015-06-23T06:00:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In my experience, it usually comes from Latin Americans, and is not a real objection but rather a political statement about the domination of the hemisphere by the US. They don’t want to use the term _americanos_ for themselves; they just object to people from the US using it. > > Although the word _estadounidense_ exists and is sometimes used, in practice, the most frequent term is _norteamericano_. This makes even less sense than _americano_ since technically it also includes Canadians and Mexicans, and is not even part of the name of the country. What **Colibri** said. And for the first, very often they’re not really intending to use the longer and less-pronunceable _estadounidenses_; they just think it’s kind of bothersome that a single country co-opted the name of a continent (or, depending on your school system, two or three). _Africano_ refers to people from a whole continent, _europeo_ same, _asiático_ same… but _americano_ means people from a fraction of America-the-continent (actually, not even exactly that, as someone from Hawaii is _americano_ but not from the American continent). Hence the need to come up with “the Americas” and similar expressions to clarify that we’re talking about the continent, not the country. The objection tends to be more of a joke than anything else, the bother is… well, bothersome; more in certain contexts than in others. (“We’ll be having a meeting including people from European and American factories…” “_Brazilian raising hand_Will that include us or is it American-Americans only?”) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/8 "2015-06-23T07:36:04Z")
Not this again! I’d thought it was settled already. “American” is \*the \*correct term for Americans, and the only correct term, _when speaking English_. When using other languages, the rule may differ. In Spanish, the whole Western Hemisphere is _las Américas_, so _americano_ could theoretically mean anybody from either continent, which is why they have to specify _estadounidense_ for us. (Leaving aside the fact that we’re not the only _Estados Unidos_ on this continent! That could get _really_ complicated if we let it!) Really, my fellow USA citizens, thinking you mustn’t call yourself American when speaking English is as dumb as Christians typing “G-d” on the internet. It looks stilted, if not altogether phony. When speaking Spanish, call yourself _estadounidense_ or _norteamericano_. When speaking English, just call yourself American already and have done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/9 "2015-06-23T08:13:51Z")
In German-speaking countries, the expression _US-Amerikaner_ (“US American”) is quite common and it isn’t (at least not necessarily) derogatory. There are almost 600,000 [hits](https://www.google.de/search?q=%22us-amerikaner%22&oq=%22us-amerikaner%22&client=ubuntu&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl) for _US-Amerikaner_ on [Google](https://www.google.de/search?q=%22us-amerikaner%22&oq=%22us-amerikaner%22&client=ubuntu&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/10 "2015-06-23T11:15:11Z")
U.S.-based academic geographers I know tend to use “U.S. citizen” or “from the U.S.” instead of “American.” Mainly to make a minor pedagogical point to their audience – they don’t really expect the masses to stop using “American.” (They agree with Johanna that the common term is “correct,” in English. Not in Spanish, despite clueless ESPN commentators snickering when they mention the Mexican soccer team _América_). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/11 "2015-06-23T12:00:03Z")
As for the OP’s second question: I just thought of a term (surely I’m not the first): **rotus** , meaning “resident of the United States.” I like how it resembles the Latin word for “wheel,” evoking the American predilection for restlessly “hitting the road” – car culture, the Beach Boys, all that stuff… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/12 "2015-06-23T12:13:53Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I just thought of a term (surely I’m not the first): **rotus** Rodents of truly unusual size? I don’t think they exist. More seriously, it does line up with potus and flotus… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/13 "2015-06-23T12:27:50Z")
Rodents of truly unusual size do indeed exist: [Capybara - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capybara) They’re even natives of America. The continents that is. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/14 "2015-06-23T13:39:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Rodents of truly unusual size do indeed exist: [Capybara - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capybara) They’re even natives of America. The continents that is. Humans and primates are just overgrown semi-evolved rodents to begin with … and _gringo_ is an excellent word for Anglo-Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/15 "2015-06-23T13:54:11Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > …_gringo_ is an excellent word for Anglo-Americans. If you’re speaking Spanish, or to a Latin American audience, sure. Of course, you’d be speaking to the latter in Latin anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/16 "2015-06-23T14:04:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > …they just think it’s kind of bothersome that a single country co-opted the name of a continent (or, depending on your school system, two or three). … where does the third one go? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/17 "2015-06-23T14:15:10Z")
Colonials. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/18 "2015-06-23T14:15:12Z")
I was taught three: North, South and Central America. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/19 "2015-06-23T14:16:44Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Humans and primates are just overgrown semi-evolved rodents to begin with … and _gringo_ is an excellent word for Anglo-Americans. But not all Americans are Anglos. I’m askin if there is a generally accepted and generally used term in Spanish for citizens of the United States, other than American (Americano?) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/20 "2015-06-23T14:17:28Z")
You were taught that Central America is a _continent_? So there are only three North American countries? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207.md?page=2)