# What to call people from the USA, other than "Americans?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031 "2017-07-11T19:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/102 "2017-07-14T23:59:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Vespucci had a earlier (and disputed) voyage which landed in 1497 and definitely landed and showed that South America was a continent in 1499. How in the world (pun intended) did Vespucci show that South America was a continent?" Did he explore enough. The accounts I see is he sailed from Guyana to 6 degrees south latitude which is about 1100 miles. That’s less than the north south stretch of Great Britain, which is not a continent. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/103 "2017-07-15T01:54:58Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > These are not NEW definitions. As shown by the Monroe quote, the name “America” has been used to name all the lands discovered by Columbus (and mistakenly assumed to be discovered by Amerigo Vespuccio) for centuries. > > And as I said, I understand why it would bother you (as in def #1 Americans) to suddenly being asked to change the definition you have been used to all your life. > All I said is, consider that it bothers other people the other way too, have it in mind, nothing else. Please quote the text of the Monroe doctrine that you think says that “America” has been used to name all the lands discovered by Columbus. I can’t find that. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/104 "2017-07-15T02:46:25Z")
I suspect the dispute arose recently due to our increasing usage of terms like “European,” “African” and “Asian”. They are wondering what to call people from the American continent(s)? Might I suggest Pan-American? ---
**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:** [July 15, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/105 "2017-07-15T02:50:21Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > America is our last name. It’s a good one. Mexico goes by it’s middle name because that’s better than it’s first or last name. Back when there was a USSR all four of their names sucked so they just used initials. The English can’t even figure out what their name is. Canada only has one name so they have to use that. This is more funny than strictly true. But I like it. Humans have a bad habit of not carefully naming things with due regard for complete logic, total backwards compatibility, and including a strong dollop of future proofing. For disambiguation and maybe for “fairness” to the people we shared the continent with back then, we should have named the country the United States of \. But they were too stupid to think of that then and now we’re stuck. Think of it like some stuff left over from Windows 95 or Lotus 1-2-3 or the QWERTY keyboard. It made sense when invented but now we just have to work around it. Because of the huge installed base and the entrenched expectations of billions of naïve users are so strong we’re stuck carrying this forward. While admitting “Yup, it’s not real logical. But it made sense at the time. Just go with it.” After the OP’s whiners “fix” this problem, perhaps they can turn to reforming Unicode as a way to ram Latin alphabet orthographic standardization on all the non-Latin scripts around the world. Now that’s an illogical swamp ripe for the draining. Yeah right. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/106 "2017-07-15T03:48:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is almost certainly wrong as among the actual users of that slang, terms are used and changed or abandoned quickly. > > There’s even a term for this “Mockney” , as in Cockney Rhyming Slang used by outsiders. IN Aus I’ve been called a ‘septic’. There must be many Australians who wouldn’t recoognise the term, but there are many recent migrants. (I here that Aus is currently the most multicutural/migrant country in the world) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/107 "2017-07-15T03:57:43Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > IN Aus I’ve been called a ‘septic’. There must be many Australians who wouldn’t recoognise the term, but there are many recent migrants. (I here that Aus is currently the most multicutural/migrant country in the world) Well, you’re totally wrong about [that](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/07/18/the-most-and-least-culturally-diverse-countries-in-the-world/). > [@](#): > > The only western country to break into the top 20 most diverse is Canada. The United States ranks near the middle, slightly more diverse than Russia but slightly less diverse than Spain. 2013 report, but I can’t imagine much has changed dramatically. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/108 "2017-07-15T21:51:24Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, you’re totally wrong about [that](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/07/18/the-most-and-least-culturally-diverse-countries-in-the-world/). > > 2013 report, but I can’t imagine much has changed dramatically. Yes, it has. This is the first year Aus made the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/109 "2017-07-15T22:14:08Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Yes, it has. This is the first year Aus made the top of the list. Oh. Cool. Where is the list? ---
**Author:** ![Remember\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Remember\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Remember_me)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031/110 "2017-07-17T08:31:12Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > It seems to me if you want to talk about chauvinism, saying Europe is a different continent from Asia, but North and South America are not has got lots of other things beat. > > And what about Antarctica? Yes. That is certainly a case of Euro-centric chauvinism back when I was in school - I must give you that. Antarctica didn’t count, probably because it is mostly uninhabited, give or take a few scientists. I was also taught, that the five Olympic rings represent the five continents (which is also a myth). All this never really made much sense. And as far as I know, current teaching uses seven continents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-call-people-from-the-usa-other-than-americans/791031.md?page=5)