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Spider Jerusalem

(21,786 posts)

6. "American" has been in use in English since the 18th century, at least.

Fri Jul 5, 2013, 07:41 AM

Jul 2013

Then, it meant "from the British North American colonies"; after the American War of Independence, it continued to mean "from the United States of America". This usage is well-established and has a very long history. The United States, further, is the ONLY country in the Americas to have "America" as part of its formal name. If South Americans and Latin Americans have a problem with the commonly understood usage of "American" to specifically mean "from or relating to the USA", all I can say is "tough".

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What Does 'American' Actually Mean? - TheAtlantic [View all] WillyT Jul 2013 OP

I am a USA'en RC Jul 2013 #1

1976 - the year I learned to say ChazII Jul 2013 #2

I agree with the Argentinian. There are many countries in the Americas. Who gave us a monopoly demosincebirth Jul 2013 #3

You could call Mexicans "United Statans" as well Art_from_Ark Jul 2013 #4

I call myself... a la izquierda Jul 2013 #5

"American" has been in use in English since the 18th century, at least. Spider Jerusalem Jul 2013 #6

Agreed! Pretzel_Warrior Jul 2013 #15

I'm uncomfortable using American to denote a U.S. citizen cali Jul 2013 #7

Well, if "America" means "Latin America" to the citizens thereof, that's also myopic. WinkyDink Jul 2013 #8

du rec. xchrom Jul 2013 #9

The term American has an obvious meaning to the vast majority of English speakers. tritsofme Jul 2013 #10

When I was in Switzerland. Jesus Malverde Jul 2013 #11

I always ran into that dilemma while traveling between the continents. Cleita Jul 2013 #12

American is a big word� Central/South Americans are as welcome to it as North Americans. KittyWampus Jul 2013 #13

A little too PC for me. Those countries have their own names Pretzel_Warrior Jul 2013 #14