someone said that haiti is not part of america, ah yes america, the greatest country on earth, except that AMERICA IS NOT A COUNTRY, AMERICA INCLUDES NORTH, SOUTH, AND CENTRAL AMERICA, so if haiti is not in america then where the hell is it? australia? dont be so arrogant, the u.s. is not america itself, maybe you call the u.s.a. america for short, but dont tell me that haiti is not america because it is part of it, to quote wikipedia: "Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti, is a French and Creole speaking Latin American country located on the Caribbean", latin american, as in the latin part of america...sorry about this unnecesary rant, its just that a lot of people from the other american countries dont like it when people from the u.s. call themselves america, i know that the u.s. is supposed to be omnipotent but that doesnt mean it can take over the name and leave us out

Sounds like some one really made you angry. Yes you are correct, The USA is North America. The whole hemisphere are the Americas.

I hope you politely corrected them.

yea like 3 people said that haiti was not in america and when i tried to explain, the topic had already been closed and no one said that haiti is actually part of america, everybody just agreed that its not

Well the USA is not very popular with the Haitian Government , so that may color peoples opinions a bit. And of coarse we don't get much news from Haiti unless one uses the net.

CNN is to busy covering the Presidential Race and Hollywood. Best in News coverage my foot!

Some people shorten "The United States of America" to just "America" You are actually correct cheo, America consists of all of the land masses of North, Central, and South America.

You are very correct that Haiti is part of the Americas. And saying you're not American is like calling a Swede not European, but here's what you need to understand. Most other countries have an adjective to describe a person from that country (ie. people from Sweden are called Swedish; people from Haiti are called Haitian; people from Japan are called Japanese). There is no one word in the English language that has the definition of "someone from the United States of America." However, in the Spanish language there is an adjective used to describe people from the USA; the word is estadounidense, if I am not mistake. I am not excusing this behaviour; I am merely saying that the English language has not caught up with the Spanish language.

This is kind of a tough one...

Yes, America consists of North, Central and South America. However, the United States of America is shortened to just America, thus its denizens are Americans.

I got harshly corrected by a Canadian many many years ago when I was asked where I was from and I said "I'm American"

I don't know what the right answer is, although commonly people don't call Haiti, Cuba, or Panama, or Chile, Puerto Rico etc... "America" they'll typically say Caribbean, Central American, or South American. If they're refering to more than one area, it's often pluralized "The Americas".

If i'm out of the country and someone asks me where I'm from I've said a variety of things including: I'm from Seattle, I'm from California (it's amazing how many people think California is the entire West Coast. LOL), I'm from The States, or I'm from the US. I rarely will tell someone I'm from America. A couple of times I've told people I'm Canadian if I'm in an area of the world where Americans are less than well received. I NEVER say I'm from Washington.. not ever.. people automatically assume DC. See? I couldn't even avoid doing it there... I had to call people from the USA Americans because we're not US'ers, or Staters... and it's just to cumbersome to say "...where people from the United States are..."

I read and responded to your thread... I'd say to make yourself clear, next time say "I haven't seen this in the Americas" rather than just "America" ... It reduces confusion.

MMW, I think you said the magic word, Canadian.

English-speaking Canadians, unsurprisingly, do not take America to be synonymous with the United States of America.

Alas, there is no felicitous adjective that means "United Statesean," while there is such an adjective for Canadians.

So, invoking our God-given right to labial lassitude, residents of the United States typically say, "I'm American" to express "I am from the United States."

Some Unitedstateseans who live near the Canadian border respect the neighbors' sensibilities. MMW, Seattle, isn't it? Close enough for government work. And you are a very nice person.

This is an English language forum. Unfortunately, there is more than one English language. There are at least two on the North American continent alone.

The people who posted "Haiti is not in America" were simply reporting how words are used in their native language. No offense was meant, I am sure.

That the truth!!

I do try to be clear when I talk about where I'm from. For some reason it's important to me. After getting a verbal lashing from a Canadian boyfriend about a bazillion years ago, I've never since really called myself "American"

I am from Seattle, I do try to respect my touque wearin' neighbours And, I figure if I'm nice to my Canadian buds, they won't mind so much if I fib a wee bit when I'm somehwere where I'm not wholly comfortable telling people I'm from The States.

I am after all only a few clicks from the border. LOL.



I'd have to say thought that most people in the USA don't realize that calling themselves American to other people from the Americas can be perceived as offensive. Let's face it, most have never come across the problem unless they live in a populated border area with Canada.

well youre right about calling yourself american because you are from the americas and there is no better word to refer to people from the u.s., but then people get used to that and refer to the u.s. as america, i hear all the time about "mexicans coming to america" and similar stuff, i think this originates from the term "american citizen", though ive also hear "u.s. citizen"

No, it doesn't originate from anything other than the full name of our country is "United States of America" people almost immediately dropped the United States part... it's just too long of a name.

I found this cool list of alternatives people from the States can use though:

Wikipedia Source
Main article: Adjectives for U.S. citizensThere are a number of alternatives to the demonym "American" (a citizen of the United States) that do not simultaneously mean any inhabitant of the Americas. One uncommon alternative is "Usonian," which usually describes a certain style of residential architecture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Over the years, many other alternatives have also surfaced, but most have long fallen into disuse and obscurity. Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage says, "The list contains [in approximate historical order from 1789 to 1939] such terms as Columbian, Columbard, Fredonian, Frede, Unisian, United Statesian, Colonican, Appalacian, Usian, Washingtonian, Usonian, Uessian, U-S-ian, Uesican, United Stater." Nevertheless, with the exception of "U.S." or "U.S. citizen", no alternative to "American" has been seriously considered.

^{Maybe I should just call myself Washingtonian.... not only does it cover the country I live in, but the state too! That would be tidy. LOL.}

LOL I can see why some of them wouldn't be used. I would be embarrassed to be called "Uessian" or "United Statesian"

Appalachian? Now I have heard that term used to describe people from West Virginia, (parts of) Virginia, or Tennessee but never to describe everyone from the US. It wouldn't be a bad term to describe me if it didn't come with the connotation of being back-woods folk (I do love my countryside, but I'm more of a city girl )

EDIT: Thought--Maybe us Uesicans should start calling ourselves by the state we live in instead of our country.

Well first off I am from hawaii, and we generally call the us, "the mainland",and yes the people from the u.s. call themselves americans.Why and how does not concern me even in the least, I particularly do not care what I am called,and really I do understand the frustration with other people and the way they tend to label thing one way or the other, but in the end that will only serve an angry purpose,which will get a person nowhere.This coversation does not even belong in this section, but if I remember correctly from your other post someone made the comment that voodoo was not practiced in america, and I am assuming they meant the united states by that comment.

That statement is just as wrong, as there are alot of people who have immigrated to the united states who indeed do practrice voodoo.Infact new orleans is well known for the practice.Poeple just tend to be a little ignorant sometimes of the history behind a subject, and somtimes it is just the way they are tought while they are growing up, or they learn certain terms, because the people in that region use it as the norm.I can't even tell you how many times I have seen a commercial or something on tv talking about how one should be proud to be an american, with a visual of the u.s. flag behind it.This coupled with the suggestive undertones that canada, and all the rest of the south american countries really aren't part of america is a double standard.I'm sorry to say it, but IMO it is the fault of the propaganda machine and not in the individual.

Most people in the united states are tought from a very young age america this and america that, and generally associate themselves as being american,especially when they do not come from another country where they might assume another identity with another culture.The terminology is being tought this way because america has proclaimed a monopoly on the term american.The politicians do not call a mexican citizen an american mexican, but rather only call a person mexican american if he or she became a citizen of the united states.I know it is a double standard,but this is the way it is and it is a huge political debate, however it's not nessisarily cool to blame the average person for being an *** for not saying what you think might be the correct terminology or not.I say let people say what they want, and either they will be proven right or they will be proven wrong.In your case you were proven right.IMHO it's truely nothing to get to upset about unless you are talking about racism,or elitism, er social classes, but I do not feel like talking about that as it is a whloe nother arguement.

Anyways you were correct in your other thread, at least I think so.

Easy for you to say . But as a general policy,


Pity the poor sot from Massachusetts. Or worse, Maine (maniac?).

Nawww, they'd be MaineLanders... but it's going to confuse the Hawaiians! LOL

As for Appalacian.. yes, it's a mountain range in W. Virginia, but remember, that was a large part of the US back in the day. The list I posted is in order, by date, from when the term was popular. Appalacians was used well before the Declaration of Independence. Obviously not since. LOL.

Well if it it fits (No offense to you Mainers)


Actually, the Appalachians extend from Canada to Georgia, so they would basically encase all of the early U.S. In the time period it makes perfect sense (I didn't know that that term was so far back; I thought it was at least after the Declaration of Independence). My bad.

In reality, everyone labels things, however in some cases labeling "especially people" is just silly.

I'm just a Canucklehead. Yep...

And eight, I'm Canadian and have sometimes used the term Americans to mean citizens of the US. Many of us have. They refer thusly in the news also.

Cool.

You know how it is. Guests must be on their best behavior at all times. Family can forget to tuck in their shirts, and nobody says a word.

(I'll bet y'all still measure things in inches, miles, and pounds when nobody else's around.)

Hehehehe... I think we're all still confused about that!!

You should see me trying to buy a roast!

Don't forget Canada

I vote for Usonian - neat and compact.

However, have found "from the states" to be adequate for most travels. But in its self is useless as other countries have states too.

Aw heck - cant we all just get along?

Oh yes, group hug!!