Mueen Nawaz <m.n### [at] ieeeorg> wrote:
> Darren New wrote:
> > Charles C wrote:
> >> The term "American" has always bugged me when referring to citizenship
> >> of the
> >> U.S. _of_ A. 
> > 
> > Me too. But when I was vacationing in Europe for many weeks, people
> > would ask me where I'm from. I'd say "The United States."  They'd say
> > "You mean America? You're American?"
> > 
> > So I figured if other countries call me American, it's good enough for me.

>         Yeah - people from most nations refer to citizens of the US as
> Americans. Some of the same people insist that America is not just the US.

  Since there's no confusion, what's the harm?

  Nobody calls eg. a Brasilian an "American", even if he lives in the
Americal continent. The adjective "American" is reserved for citizens
of the USA, and nobody else in the continent is called like that. Everybody
else is called by their country.

  You could argue that it's unfair or pretentious or whatever, but since
it doesn't cause confusion, who cares?

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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