h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I live in Florida which makes me an American. We also call it the United States of America which I guess makes me a US of Aian. My point being we don't have 2 nationalities like some do. I mean the Brits have England and Britain and are called both British and English and hey whats up with that?
Any how I'm proud to be American but not proud of some of the things Americans(Bush for example) have done.

because "hey are you english?" is not somthing you want to say to a scottish person, thats why we are also called the "brits"

You're forgetting, cowboy, that you probably also identify with your State. Maybe even root for your college team over other colleges.

America is the continent on which you live, specifically North America. The Canadians and Mexicans are also americans, even if you don't generally hear them claiming it.

In addition, the states are Sovereign Entities. The 'United' part is what holds them together. The United States, of America. So, the world understands how Alaska fits in there, but Hawaii is confusing as it's nowhere near the Americas.

You are a Floridian (I presume) as well as an American, as well as a United States citizen.

Hey! What's up with that?

Well yeah I would call myself a Floridian(although it's not my birth state) and I have heard Canucks refer to themselves as North Americans and some times Mexicans are refered to as South American although they really should be Central Americans. And yet they are included in NAFTA(North American Free Trade Association).
Dang I'm gettin a headache.

~*~America is the continent on which you live, specifically North America. The Canadians and Mexicans are also americans, even if you don't generally hear them claiming it.~*~


Semantics! Quit arguing over semantics! Can't we just stick with conventions? Having to say "a citizen of the United States of America" everytime is quite a mouthful, and "United Statesian of America" is just weird, and also a mouthful, and as long as we all know who we're referring to, what difference does it make?



~*~In addition, the states are Sovereign Entities.~*~

Not really. That's what the Civil War was about. The Confederates lost, so we're not separate countries within a larger entity. Hence, Hawaii is part of the United States of America because it joined after the name was established. Although this does bring up an interesting question. Say we got a new state that was part of Europe, would we still call ourselves Americans, or would we change the name?

Not that that's likely to happen anytime soon.

Everyone's forgetting that "America" is the name of the continent that occupies almost all of the Western Hemisphere. Everyone from Canadians to Peruvians are "Americans" and the continent is referred to in 3 sections: NORTH America (Canada, the U.S.A., Mexico and Greenland - yes...Greenland is an island of N.A.); CENTRAL America (e.g.: Panama, Nicaragua, Belize); and SOUTH America (e.g.: Brazil, Argentina, Chile). Thus, I as a Canadian and longhaircowboy are both "Americans" but, understandably, Canadians tend not to refer to themselves as "Americans". An analogy is that both a German and an Italian are "Europeans". I've always delighted in answering the question from my adopted fellow-Britons " Are you American?" with "Yes, but not as we know it, Jim!" Incidentally, both Captain James T. Kirk and Scotty the Engineer were played by Canadian "Americans".
Longhaircowboy says he has "heard Canadians refer to themselves as North Americans..." Well, not quite. We use the term "North Americans" witihn earshot of "Americans" just to gently inform them that they don't occupy/own the entire continent. We're sort of saying: "Yoo hoo!!!...CNN...there's more to the World than just the U.S.A., even right here on your northern border!"
Have a nice day!

Yeah, we know. But like it or not, common practice is to refer to "United Statesians" as Americans, and that's not going to change. Frankly, I don't see what you're getting all worked up about.

I used to work at a restuarant on the beach with a couple from Canada and they liked to say "you're just an American, we're North Americans". Me, I would just shrug and say "okay". Meaning it didn't really matter to me. After all we're all brothers and sisters.