# 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:** 2
**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, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/21 "2015-06-23T14:18:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You were taught that Central America is a _continent_? So there are only three North American countries? Yes. Well, four if you count France’s overseas departmente, St Pierre et Miquelon. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/22 "2015-06-23T14:30:11Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > 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. Yes but we’re looking for a term for citizen of the United States, and cotus is sure to bring snickers. ---
**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, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/23 "2015-06-23T14:30:22Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > 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. I’ve not heard any Canadians objecting, but maybe I don’t move in the right circles of offenderati. 😉 ---
**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:** [June 23, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/24 "2015-06-23T15:12:24Z")
The name of the country is The United States _of America_. Referring to it’s citizens as Americans is absolutely correct. There is no need to make up some silly word to placate a handful of idiots. ---
**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, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/25 "2015-06-23T15:26:13Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > The name of the country is The United States _of America_. Referring to it’s citizens as Americans is absolutely correct. There is no need to make up some silly word to placate a handful of idiots. Tell that to the handful of idiots who insist on calling my purse a man-purse. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/26 "2015-06-23T15:36:40Z")
When the Thai government clerk prepared my child’s birth certificate, she wrote “America” (in Thai) for Father’s Nationality. The supervisor made her use white-out and replace it with “American.” :rolleyes: ---
**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, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/27 "2015-06-23T15:55:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You were taught that Central America is a _continent_? So there are only three North American countries? Functionally and politically, it’s a division that makes some sense. Even grouping everything south of Mexico and along the top coast of SA makes some sense over arbitrarily deciding the Canal divides things. ---
**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, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/28 "2015-06-23T16:13:36Z")
Technically, it’s not the canal that divides things, it’s the Panamanian border. ---
**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, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/29 "2015-06-23T17:02:35Z")
“…Canal Zone…” Happy NOW? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/30 "2015-06-23T17:10:06Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > When the Thai government clerk prepared my child’s birth certificate, she wrote “America” (in Thai) for Father’s Nationality. The supervisor made her use white-out and replace it with “American.” :rolleyes: She couldn’t just write “n” on the end? (Oh, you said “in Thai”. :smack: Nevermind.) Personally, we’re the US of America, so I don’t have a problem with “American”. There’s no rule saying it has to be unambiguous. Native Americans and people from India are both “Indians”. People from the southern state of Georgia and people from the former SSR are both “Georgians”. People from England and people who aren’t Amish are both “English”. However, while I have no problem with “American”, I don’t mind if someone wants to start a movement for another term, as long as it’s catchy enough. “Yankee” seems derogatory, if only slightly. I kind of like “Rotus” as it goes with SCOTUS and POTUS. But it doesn’t have the familiar “-er” or “-an” suffix, and that will limit the rate of adoption. Certainly no other country would object if we started calling ourselves “Columbian”? It’s even spelled differently than people from Colombia. Or how about “Vespuccians”? Or other historical terms. “Puritans”? “Pilgrims”? “Know-Nothings”? “Cowboys”? “Pioneers”? “Whigs”? “Rough Riders”? We could adopt the moniker of an extinct (to avoid offending existing tribes) Indian tribe like the Pawtuckets, Yazoos, Palaches or Koyeti. I’m just trying to be thorough. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/31 "2015-06-23T17:10:30Z")
According to my wife (sample size: one), in Peru pretty much everyone just says _americanos_ except for a few select cranks who insist on _estadounidenses_ just to make a point. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/32 "2015-06-23T17:31:03Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > We could [use the name]…Yazoos… I think a bunch of us qualify as Yahoos. Does that count? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/33 "2015-06-23T18:17:08Z")
Just wanted to chip in that the analogous problem applies to the United Arab Emirates. The common usage here is to base the demonym on the entities that have united, i.e., the emirates (even though there are other Arab countries that are emirates), so a national would normally be called an Emirati. Historically, the same problem also applied to the [Federal Republic of Central America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America), whose constitution referred to the nationals as _centroamericanos_, analogous to what is commonly done in the case of the United States 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, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/34 "2015-06-23T18:38:43Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > “…Canal Zone…” > > Happy NOW? 🙂 Except that the Canal Zone ceased to exist in 1979 (and even at that was always technically part of Panama). ---
**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, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/35 "2015-06-23T18:41:48Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Yes. Well, four if you count France’s overseas departmente, St Pierre et Miquelon. Five, if you also include Greenland. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/36 "2015-06-23T20:38:53Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > 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. Isn’t that a Jewish thing? ---
**Author:** ![chiquitita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@chiquitita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiquitita)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/37 "2015-06-23T20:40:25Z")
“Étasunien(ne)” is sometimes seen in French newspapers articles. I don’t think anyone uses it in everyday conversation. ---
**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, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/38 "2015-06-23T22:19:34Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Isn’t that a Jewish thing? That was my point. Jews (or at least the subset of Jews for whom it’s a thing) have an actual reason for doing so. When Goyim do that, it’s nothing but a pointless affectation. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it is not a Jewish belief that Christians have any Noachide responsibility for deleting a letter from a Germanic deity name formed of electrons. Or ink, even. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/39 "2015-06-23T22:36:20Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > That was my point. Jews (or at least the subset of Jews for whom it’s a thing) have an actual reason for doing so. When Goyim do that, it’s nothing but a pointless affectation. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it is not a Jewish belief that Christians have any Noachide responsibility for deleting a letter from a Germanic deity name formed of electrons. Or ink, even. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered that, but then I don’t read Evangelical blogs. The way it works is that the old laws are invalid if they’re inconvenient, like those that prevent you from eating a cheeseburger, unless it’s something you disagree with and then they are a-ok. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207/40 "2015-06-23T23:07:49Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > a single country co-opted the name of a continent (or, depending on your school system, two or three). This, right here, is the entirety of the issue. Spanish-speaking countries are inexplicably taught that Argentina and Canada are on the same continent. They think there’s such a continent as “America” when there clearly isn’t. Even in Spanish, it’s plural, so I don’t really follow their chain of logic. Why did this happen? Because the British settled one area and saw that Amazonian area as “other”. The Spanish colonized the top and bottom, and so came to view them as the same area. But good luck trying to explain that there’s no such continent as “America” to anyone descended from a Spanish school system. No amount of personal testimony will displace what their schoolhouse taught them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-people-who-object-to-american-being-used-for-usians-propose/723207.md?page=3)