USA/Americans needing a new name.

Page 2 of 4 [ 50 posts ] Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next

Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 683
Location: temporarily trapped in Holland

07 Oct 2007, 1:25 am

VespucciLand! Named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian mapmaker who accidentally lent his first name as the moniker for two continents.

God bless VespucciLand! :lol:

MysteryFan3
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 Jun 2007
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,156
Location: Indiana

07 Oct 2007, 1:47 am

Actually, Mexicans call themselves Americans. They call US-ians and Canadians North Americans. I thought most other people called us Yankees or Yanks.

_________________
To eliminate poverty, you have to eliminate at least three things: time, the bell curve and the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Have fun.

jrknothead
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 3 Aug 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,423

07 Oct 2007, 3:34 am

The proper term for US citizens is Americans... non citizens, including Canadians and Mexicans, are properly called foreigners.

Triangular_Trees
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 17 Jul 2007
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,799

07 Oct 2007, 2:27 pm

psych wrote:

Triangular_Trees wrote:

but the reason its okay to call USA Americans, and not canadians or Mexicans, is that residents of the USA live in America. United States of America to be exact. Residents of Canada and Mexico do not live in America, They live in North America. they are North Americans, not Americans.

This has been helpful. However, consider the following hypothetical scenario;

Alaska & Canada join together and call themselves the 'United Kingdom of America'. By your logic wouldnt they then become americans? OR would they be disallowed from claiming the 'america' title and instead have to call themselves the 'United Kingdom of North America' (continuing to be called north americans). If so, then why - Is it simply a matter of first come first served?

Ive used Alaska & Canada, but the same question could also be applied to South American countries.

For one thing, that would never happen. Alaska being a US state, and Canada being a country that enjoys being in the Us favor.
Two why in the world would they ever even be considered to be disallowed to change their name to "of America" (which given their national bacground wouldn't happen in 200+ years). That's like saying the United States isn't allowed to use the word UNited, because there is a United Kingdom, oh and United Arab Emirates isn't allowed to use it either by the same reasoning. That's complete nonsense.

If their name was changed to of America than they too would be Americans. However, given the background of the state/country involved, we know that won't ever happen anywhere near our lifetimes

Fuzzy
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Age: 53
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,223
Location: Alberta Canada

07 Oct 2007, 5:59 pm

For lack of a more precise appellation, thats what they are called. And its a perfectly servicable name.

MADDuck
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 823
Location: Mid-Mo

07 Oct 2007, 6:04 pm

How about putting a Latin twist on it
Estados Unidos Americanhm, or Yankee go home!

_________________
Pain and pleasure are the twins who slowly out of focus spin around us until we finally realize, that everything that gives us pleasure also gives us pain to measure it by!

monty
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Sep 2007
Age: 64
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,741

07 Oct 2007, 7:08 pm

jrknothead wrote:

The proper term for US citizens is Americans... non citizens, including Canadians and Mexicans, are properly called foreigners.

Could you get any more ethnocentric? I don't think you could.

MADDuck
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 823
Location: Mid-Mo

07 Oct 2007, 7:38 pm

monty wrote:

jrknothead wrote:

The proper term for US citizens is Americans... non citizens, including Canadians and Mexicans, are properly called foreigners.

Could you get any more ethnocentric? I don't think you could.

Oh, I'm SURE he COULD, there's always dirty - stinking - thieving - foreigners!!

_________________
Pain and pleasure are the twins who slowly out of focus spin around us until we finally realize, that everything that gives us pleasure also gives us pain to measure it by!

Fuzzy
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Age: 53
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,223
Location: Alberta Canada

07 Oct 2007, 7:39 pm

Clearly he was making a.. well... A joke of sorts. Facetious, thats the term.

jdbob
Toucan
Toucan

Joined: 4 Jan 2006
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 263
Location: Oregon

08 Oct 2007, 1:41 am

I vote for "Yahoos"

greenblue
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 Mar 2007
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 7,896
Location: Home

08 Oct 2007, 2:23 am

psych wrote:

Its quite simple - America is a continent, not an officially recognised country.

Canadians are americans.
Mexicans are americans.
etc.

Even if we accept the national name 'US(of)A' as being of semantic validity (which im not at all sure about), we are still left the problem of what to call its residents. They are americans obviously, but what name is there to distunguish them from all the other americans?

any thoughts?

well, you have a point there, although I wonder where Russia actually belongs, are they european or asian, or both?

_________________
?Everything is perfect in the universe - even your desire to improve it.?

calandale
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 9 Mar 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 12,439

08 Oct 2007, 3:57 am

I've used United Statesians for some time
now.

Macbeth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 27 May 2007
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,984
Location: UK Doncaster

08 Oct 2007, 10:13 am

How about " Our young colonial children, out on their own for the first time, ahh bless, havent they done well for themselves, but still, lots to learn yet, maybe when they learn they can't have everything their own way all the time they can sit at the big table?- ians."

Or is that a bit long and unwieldy?

"Wayward subjects of the Crown" ?

"Citizens of the United States of Tax Evasion" ?

"Traitors towards the legitimate government of Her Majesty" ?

Nah, still not getting the concise feel am I?

"Taxdodgers" ?

(YES I'm being facetious, but the OP has a point. Europeans are all named by their nation.. Poles, Finns, English etc. Africans are often called Africans, despite having distinct nations of their own. North Americans might suffice, except there are more northern parts to the continent. Its tricky, given they named their country after the continent they are on, and United Statesians sounds a bit.. clunky to me.)

_________________
"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart,
that you can't take part" [Mario Savo, 1964]

UncleBeer
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 683
Location: temporarily trapped in Holland

08 Oct 2007, 10:20 am

Macbeth wrote:

How about ... "Wayward subjects of the Crown" ?

That didn't work out so well for George III, eh? :lol:

Macbeth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 27 May 2007
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,984
Location: UK Doncaster

08 Oct 2007, 10:52 am

UncleBeer wrote:

Macbeth wrote:

How about ... "Wayward subjects of the Crown" ?

That didn't work out so well for George III, eh? :lol:

Shocking waste of perfectly good tea, to my mind.

_________________
"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart,
that you can't take part" [Mario Savo, 1964]

Fuzzy
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Age: 53
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,223
Location: Alberta Canada

08 Oct 2007, 10:48 pm

Macbeth wrote:

UncleBeer wrote:

Macbeth wrote:

How about ... "Wayward subjects of the Crown" ?

That didn't work out so well for George III, eh? :lol:

Shocking waste of perfectly good tea, to my mind.

It was salty and cold after that.

Page 2 of 4 [ 50 posts ] Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next

Jump to:

USA/Americans needing a new name. Post Reply New Topic

USA/Americans needing a new name.