Yeah!

I totally agree.

But you still have to be careful around South Americans!

Americans calling the U.S. “America” is not malicious.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/a_fine_whine/2013/08/america_the_continent_vs_america_the_country.html

Ho-hum...obviously the author failed geography (or perhaps never studied it).

America is not a continent. There are 2 distinct continents, North and South America. They are currently locked together courtesy of plate tectonics, but have very distinct and separate geological histories.

So the Colombian lady should have called herself a South American and a Mexican proudly calls himself/herself a NorteAmericano.

Geographically speaking there is no such thing as an American, just as geographicallty speaking there is no continent of Europe, but that's a whole other can of worms....

Drop the PC nonsense. Pretty much everyone all over the world calls America, "America".

Drop the PC nonsense. Pretty much everyone all over the world calls America, "America".

Hope you are not implying that geography is PC nonsense...!

Drop the PC nonsense. Pretty much everyone all over the world calls America, "America".

Correct. And when speaking English, this usually refers to the USA. Except for my Canadian friends, who keep joking "I am American, but I am not from the US."

However, when speaking Spanish, "America" usually refers to Latin America.

So, you are right: Considering that there are more native Spanish speakers than native English speakers in the world, "pretty much everyone" calls America, "America".

When people ask me where I am from, I respond with "America".

I have been doing this for over 70 years and nobody has ever mistaken me for a Mexican or a Columbian.

I have no charts to support my claim so you will just have to trust me on this.

When people ask me where I am from, I respond with "America".

I have been doing this for over 70 years and nobody has ever mistaken me for a Mexican or a Columbian.

I have no charts to support my claim so you will just have to trust me on this.

Sure. You probably speak English with an "American Accent". No doubts there. Even if you spoke Spanish, my bet is that you wouldn't be mistaken for a Mexican or Columbian.

Have you ever been mistaken for a Canadian? Just asking.

Calling the United States "America" is rather like calling soccer "football". Both are technically wrong, but everybody does it.

Calling the United States "America" is rather like calling soccer "football". Both are technically wrong, but everybody does it.

Calling America the United States is technically wrong. Mexicans saying they are from Mexico are technically wrong. Thais who say they come from Thailand are technically wrong. When anyone sings "America The Beautiful" EVERYONE knows what country is being referred to.

When people ask me where I am from, I respond with "America".

I have been doing this for over 70 years and nobody has ever mistaken me for a Mexican or a Columbian.

I have no charts to support my claim so you will just have to trust me on this.

Sure. You probably speak English with an "American Accent". No doubts there. Even if you spoke Spanish, my bet is that you wouldn't be mistaken for a Mexican or Columbian.

Have you ever been mistaken for a Canadian? Just asking.

Nope. Never said "eh" in my life.

Calling the United States "America" is rather like calling soccer "football". Both are technically wrong, but everybody does it.

Nobody in Europe (where football was invented) would call football "soccer". Without doubt, it is technically correct to call football "football". It is played with the foot, you see.

Why Americans (... I mean US citizens ...) call their version of rugby "football" is beyond me though. Most of the time they seem to use their hands and shoulders. Shouldn't it be called "head-and-shoulder ball"?

Nobody in Europe (where football was invented) would call football "soccer". Without doubt, it is technically correct to call football "football". It is played with the foot, you see.

Why Americans (... I mean US citizens ...) call their version of rugby "football" is beyond me though. Most of the time they seem to use their hands and shoulders. Shouldn't it be called "head-and-shoulder ball"?

Having had the good fortune of being born in England, gone to a rugby-playing school at age seven, played rugby (union) for fifty years, enjoyed both Aussie Rules and Rugby League, I do tend to call the pansy game 'soccer' or girlie-football.

To say 'nobody in Europe' is too sweeping a statement, excepting only that many nationalities do not have the word 'soccer' in their vocabulary.

Do you read German or Austrian sports newspapers? They both use the word 'soccer' all the time - even though they have little else in the way of winter sport outside the skiing season.

Many years ago I had cousins living in Mexico City and whenever I asked them when they were coming to America they would reply we are in America consiquently I now call my birth country the US

Many years ago I had cousins living in Mexico City and whenever I asked them when they were coming to America they would reply we are in America consiquently I now call my birth country the US

You could make an argument whether it is technically correct to call the US of A, America, but calling it the US or United States is flat out wrong. That doesn't mean everyone doesn't know what country you're talking about though.

Same with Mexico. If you say you're from Mexico no one has an issue with that and says "No! You're from the Estados Unidos de Mexico or simply the Estados Unidos". That would sound pretty Silly.

Calling the United States "America" is rather like calling soccer "football". Both are technically wrong, but everybody does it.

Nobody in Europe (where football was invented) would call football "soccer". Without doubt, it is technically correct to call football "football". It is played with the foot, you see.

Why Americans (... I mean US citizens ...) call their version of rugby "football" is beyond me though. Most of the time they seem to use their hands and shoulders. Shouldn't it be called "head-and-shoulder ball"?

Football, I mean soccer, was invented in England, and the rules were first codified as Association Football, hence the abbreviation soccer. Soccer is indeed football, but so are Rugby Union, Rugby League, American Football, Aussie Rules, Gaelic Football, and doubtless a number of others. Why, I even have a neighbour who refers to Aussie Rules as 'real football'. All forms of the game except soccer are derivatives. That said, nobody would think of anything but soccer when someone refers to the Football World Cup (indeed, World Cup alone is sufficient!).

But people call it football, and that's the way it is.

Just so, people call the United States of America just 'America' for short (though if the discoverer had his druthers, the whole continent would be called Columbia, and then where would you be?)

Many years ago I had cousins living in Mexico City and whenever I asked them when they were coming to America they would reply we are in America consiquently I now call my birth country the US

The Canucks tried that one on me too, but when I'm not in Canada, I still call America, America.

Football, I mean soccer, was invented in England, and the rules were first codified as Association Football, hence the abbreviation soccer. Soccer is indeed football, but so are Rugby Union, Rugby League, American Football, Aussie Rules, Gaelic Football, and doubtless a number of others. Why, I even have a neighbour who refers to Aussie Rules as 'real football'. All forms of the game except soccer are derivatives. That said, nobody would think of anything but soccer when someone refers to the Football World Cup (indeed, World Cup alone is sufficient!).

But people call it football, and that's the way it is.

Just so, people call the United States of America just 'America' for short (though if the discoverer had his druthers, the whole continent would be called Columbia, and then where would you be?)

I doubt that football was 'invented' in England, but the rules of soccer were codified in Cambridge (where else?) and we are putting up a stupid statue in Parker's Pieces in the near future, modelled on a Subbuteo figure. I have seen the design and it is ridiculous.

The other forms of similar ball games are not derivatives so much as parallel developments, mostly being codified around the same time as soccer. Later ball games such as basketball and handball were developed for specific reasons, such as lack of space to play the real ball games.

Bat and ball games, such as cricket, tennis and baseball have a different history, as do hockey, lacrosse and hurling.

We still have much older ball games, such as the Eton Wall Game and various contests between villages where a ball or similar object has to be carried to a 'goal' in each village's territory. These are far older than the codified soccer rules or any similar game. It was the Victorian passion for regulating things like horse racing, boxing and other entertainments that brought us to the organised society that we now are.

Football goes back as far as anyone started playing with a ball. Soccer was, as you say, HB, codified in Cambridge. Rugby Union and Rugby League developed from it later. I don't know when the NFL version was codified, but I suspect later still. Aussie rules was codified in 1858.

Drop the PC nonsense. Pretty much everyone all over the world calls America, "America".

Hope you are not implying that geography is PC nonsense...!

Geography, Science - it's all just liberal P C claptrap. The only thing you need to read is the Racing Post, and if you want a book then Wisden's

Football, I mean soccer, was invented in England, and the rules were first codified as Association Football, hence the abbreviation soccer. Soccer is indeed football, but so are Rugby Union, Rugby League, American Football, Aussie Rules, Gaelic Football, and doubtless a number of others. Why, I even have a neighbour who refers to Aussie Rules as 'real football'. All forms of the game except soccer are derivatives. That said, nobody would think of anything but soccer when someone refers to the Football World Cup (indeed, World Cup alone is sufficient!).

But people call it football, and that's the way it is.

Just so, people call the United States of America just 'America' for short (though if the discoverer had his druthers, the whole continent would be called Columbia, and then where would you be?)

I doubt that football was 'invented' in England, but the rules of soccer were codified in Cambridge (where else?) and we are putting up a stupid statue in Parker's Pieces in the near future, modelled on a Subbuteo figure. I have seen the design and it is ridiculous.

The other forms of similar ball games are not derivatives so much as parallel developments, mostly being codified around the same time as soccer. Later ball games such as basketball and handball were developed for specific reasons, such as lack of space to play the real ball games.

Bat and ball games, such as cricket, tennis and baseball have a different history, as do hockey, lacrosse and hurling.

We still have much older ball games, such as the Eton Wall Game and various contests between villages where a ball or similar object has to be carried to a 'goal' in each village's territory. These are far older than the codified soccer rules or any similar game. It was the Victorian passion for regulating things like horse racing, boxing and other entertainments that brought us to the organised society that we now are.

Football, I mean soccer, was invented in England, and the rules were first codified as Association Football, hence the abbreviation soccer. Soccer is indeed football, but so are Rugby Union, Rugby League, American Football, Aussie Rules, Gaelic Football, and doubtless a number of others. Why, I even have a neighbour who refers to Aussie Rules as 'real football'. All forms of the game except soccer are derivatives. That said, nobody would think of anything but soccer when someone refers to the Football World Cup (indeed, World Cup alone is sufficient!).

But people call it football, and that's the way it is.

Just so, people call the United States of America just 'America' for short (though if the discoverer had his druthers, the whole continent would be called Columbia, and then where would you be?)

I doubt that football was 'invented' in England, but the rules of soccer were codified in Cambridge (where else?) and we are putting up a stupid statue in Parker's Pieces in the near future, modelled on a Subbuteo figure. I have seen the design and it is ridiculous.

The other forms of similar ball games are not derivatives so much as parallel developments, mostly being codified around the same time as soccer. Later ball games such as basketball and handball were developed for specific reasons, such as lack of space to play the real ball games.

Bat and ball games, such as cricket, tennis and baseball have a different history, as do hockey, lacrosse and hurling.

We still have much older ball games, such as the Eton Wall Game and various contests between villages where a ball or similar object has to be carried to a 'goal' in each village's territory. These are far older than the codified soccer rules or any similar game. It was the Victorian passion for regulating things like horse racing, boxing and other entertainments that brought us to the organised society that we now are.

They do not really look like Etonians, so is the picture taken during the 2 day Shrovetide match in Ashbourne, Derbyshire?

Football, I mean soccer, was invented in England, and the rules were first codified as Association Football, hence the abbreviation soccer. Soccer is indeed football, but so are Rugby Union, Rugby League, American Football, Aussie Rules, Gaelic Football, and doubtless a number of others. Why, I even have a neighbour who refers to Aussie Rules as 'real football'. All forms of the game except soccer are derivatives. That said, nobody would think of anything but soccer when someone refers to the Football World Cup (indeed, World Cup alone is sufficient!).

But people call it football, and that's the way it is.

Just so, people call the United States of America just 'America' for short (though if the discoverer had his druthers, the whole continent would be called Columbia, and then where would you be?)

I doubt that football was 'invented' in England, but the rules of soccer were codified in Cambridge (where else?) and we are putting up a stupid statue in Parker's Pieces in the near future, modelled on a Subbuteo figure. I have seen the design and it is ridiculous.

The other forms of similar ball games are not derivatives so much as parallel developments, mostly being codified around the same time as soccer. Later ball games such as basketball and handball were developed for specific reasons, such as lack of space to play the real ball games.

Bat and ball games, such as cricket, tennis and baseball have a different history, as do hockey, lacrosse and hurling.

We still have much older ball games, such as the Eton Wall Game and various contests between villages where a ball or similar object has to be carried to a 'goal' in each village's territory. These are far older than the codified soccer rules or any similar game. It was the Victorian passion for regulating things like horse racing, boxing and other entertainments that brought us to the organised society that we now are.

They do not really look like Etonians, so is the picture taken during the 2 day Shrovetide match in Ashbourne, Derbyshire?

Derbyhire born

Derbyshire bred

Strong in t'arm

Thick in t'head

The OP has a fair point. I generally say I am British, rather than the mre pedantically correct "citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ireland". Luckily the others call themselves Bretons, or Irish, so there's rarely any confusion

SC

The OP has a fair point. I generally say I am British, rather than the mre pedantically correct "citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ireland". Luckily the others call themselves Bretons, or Irish, so there's rarely any confusion

SC

Well noted. But we are talking continents versus countries, rather than countries versus provinces or states. Anybody saying he is Californian is understood to be from the USA. Anybody saying he is from Ontario is understood to be Canadian. Both are Americans.

I generally say I am European. But people don't understand that this means I'm German, as Germany is just one country on the continent called Europe.

The OP has a fair point. I generally say I am British, rather than the mre pedantically correct "citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ireland". Luckily the others call themselves Bretons, or Irish, so there's rarely any confusion

SC

Well noted. But we are talking continents versus countries, rather than countries versus provinces or states. Anybody saying he is Californian is understood to be from the USA. Anybody saying he is from Ontario is understood to be Canadian. Both are Americans.

I generally say I am European. But people don't understand that this means I'm German, as Germany is just one country on the continent called Europe.

My point was that Britanny, Great Britain, the British Isles, we're all British. But the Irish and the Bretons leave that name to us.

The OP has a fair point. I generally say I am British, rather than the mre pedantically correct "citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ireland". Luckily the others call themselves Bretons, or Irish, so there's rarely any confusion

SC

Well noted. But we are talking continents versus countries, rather than countries versus provinces or states. Anybody saying he is Californian is understood to be from the USA. Anybody saying he is from Ontario is understood to be Canadian. Both are Americans.

I generally say I am European. But people don't understand that this means I'm German, as Germany is just one country on the continent called Europe.

Canadians are not Americans, they are a subset of that population defined as North Americans. Americans are a subset of that population as well.

Although many Englishmen call themselves 'British' this is incorrect.

We Anglo-Saxons drove most British into the hills and mountains of Wales, or the wastes of Cornwall during the seventh and eighth centuries. We in turn were raided and - especially in the North - occupied by the Norse. However the King of Wessex, Alfred the Great, fought back and basically held the Norse in the South of what is now England, confining the Danelaw to parts of Norfolk. His daughter Aethelfleid was, if I remember correctly, married to the King of Mercia (say Lincolnshire across to Shropshire and as far North as Manchester). She continued the work of uniting the peoples of the land into one country until her death. Her brother Edward then took over and overcame the northern Danes and brought about a united England under Anglo-Saxon rule.

Then the bloody descendants of the Norse who had settled in Normandy came over the channel and ruined the place.

Although many Englishmen call themselves 'British' this is incorrect.

We Anglo-Saxons drove most British into the hills and mountains of Wales, or the wastes of Cornwall during the seventh and eighth centuries. We in turn were raided and - especially in the North - occupied by the Norse. However the King of Wessex, Alfred the Great, fought back and basically held the Norse in the South of what is now England, confining the Danelaw to parts of Norfolk. His daughter Aethelfleid was, if I remember correctly, married to the King of Mercia (say Lincolnshire across to Shropshire and as far North as Manchester). She continued the work of uniting the peoples of the land into one country until her death. Her brother Edward then took over and overcame the northern Danes and brought about a united England under Anglo-Saxon rule.

Then the bloody descendants of the Norse who had settled in Normandy came over the channel and ruined the place.

Are the chavs descendants of the Norse then?

Canadians are not Americans, they are a subset of that population defined as North Americans. Americans are a subset of that population as well.

I know that my Canadian friends will disagree with you.

Any Canadians reading this?

Canadians are not Americans, they are a subset of that population defined as North Americans. Americans are a subset of that population as well.

I know that my Canadian friends will disagree with you.

Any Canadians reading this?

With all due respect , your Canadian friends are ignorant.