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Re: America- Country or Continent??
[Re: DE NIRO]
#791134
07/23/14 06:53 AM
07/23/14 06:53 AM
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,473 No. Virginia
mustachepete
Special
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Special
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,473
No. Virginia
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I think the ship sailed on "America" meaning anything but the US quite a long time ago. Geologically, it's two different continents with different names plus some little bits of smaller tectonic plates. It's unfortunate, but there is no common culture, either historically or philosophically. I think this issue really comes from government and education policy in Latin America. Unlike English, Spanish (and many other languages) have what amount to language police. This is the one that oversees Spanish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Spanish_Language_AcademiesI'm sure that there's no criminal penalty but, for instance, a student in a Spanish-speaking country would be considered "wrong" to refer to the US as "America." It wouldn't just be a matter of opinion or preference. A scholar probably wouldn't be allowed to use the term in a Spanish language research paper. So there's really no way of knowing what common people in Latin America really think of "America" as the United States. A couple of more things: Spanish speakers in the US are also governed by one of these entities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Academy_of_the_Spanish_LanguageAnd, these groups don't just say it's wrong to call Americans "Americans." It's also wrong to say that name of the country is the United States of America or USA.
Last edited by mustachepete; 07/23/14 06:54 AM.
"All of these men were good listeners; patient men."
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Re: America- Country or Continent??
[Re: DE NIRO]
#791352
07/24/14 12:18 AM
07/24/14 12:18 AM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,330 New Jersey, USA
J Geoff
The Don
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The Don

Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,330
New Jersey, USA
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Pretty interesting - thanks!
But to sum it up, just scroll to the last 40 seconds of the video to know the truth (as we Americans know it ;))
...but yeah, I've always considered Canada/US/Central/South as The Americas. But "America" is the term used and understood all over for the US, specifically -- but only by foreigners, by the way! We're American, sure, and if you say that anywhere in the world, you're assumed to be from the U.S. But when we're traveling abroad, we don't go "back to America", we're not "from America" -- we go back to the U.S., cuz we're from the U.S.
Other places may call themselves the "Unites States of...", but, we are The United States. And we're Americans.
Canadians are Canadians. Mexicans are Mexicans. Costa Ricas are Ticos (and, Costa Ricans) -- we're all "Americans", but the word itself -- today -- really only means those from the United States. But it's interesting to hear about the history of the word....
I studied Italian for 2 semesters. Not once was a "C" pronounced as a "G", and never was a trailing "I" ignored! And I'm from Jersey!  lol Whaddaya want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? --Peter Griffin My DVDs | Facebook | Godfather Filming Locations
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