| Thomas Bushnell BSG 2004-09-04, 5:51 pm |
| "John H. Robinson, IV" <jaqque@debian.org> writes:
> Having been borne and raised in the US, I support and use the term
> ``Usian'' to refer to those from the US. American is not precise enough,
> as it can refer to anyone from either continent.
>
> Yes, Canadians, Brazilians, Mexicans, and Colombians are all Americans.
> Just like how Frenchman, Germans, and Spaniards are all Europeans.
Of course, "French" refers to the Franks, which were in charge of more
than just what we today call "France", but nobody seems to insist that
it's wrong to call Parisians "French" on the grounds that Kiel and
Brussels are also French. "Hispania" included modern Portugal, but I
don't hear anyone complaining that we can't call folks in Madrid
Spanish on the grounds that people in Lisbon also live in ancient
Hispania.
Nor have I ever heard someone from Toronto call themselves
American--though the word "North America" certainly does apply. Of
course, oddly, Mexico is certainly part of North America, but in
Mexico "norteamericano" refers to people in the US and Canada only.
Place names are not logical; they simply are what they are. The only
adjective we have in the English language to refer to people in the US
is "American"; and it's really outrageous for Frenchmen or Australians
to presume to decide what North Americans should call ourselves.
If it don't stop, I'll adopt "felon" for people in Australia, and
"barbarian" for people in France. How's that!
Thomas
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