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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#97376: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:45:05 PM

97372: Also, for the Falklanders, the most dick-ish in my country (Argentina) call them "Kelpers".

edited 29th Jul '15 3:46:22 PM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
Skycobra51 A suitable case for treatment from The US of A Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Only knew I loved her when I let her go
A suitable case for treatment
#97377: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:45:12 PM

[up]x4 Yes

edited 29th Jul '15 3:46:10 PM by Skycobra51

Look upon my privilege ye mighty and despair.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#97378: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:45:25 PM

Aszur: Most of those have names derived from their country name that I'm more familiar with.

Aprilla: Well it also doesn't derive from our name and we've already been known as America for 200+ years. Changing now would be tough.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#97379: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:47:57 PM

I beg your pardon

How is "Kiwi" related to "New Zealand" in name at all? Or "Tico" to "Costa Rica"?

Or any of those, really?

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Skycobra51 A suitable case for treatment from The US of A Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Only knew I loved her when I let her go
A suitable case for treatment
#97380: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:51:46 PM

Maybe its a slang term.

Like calling British brits or my favorite Limeys.tongue

Look upon my privilege ye mighty and despair.
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#97381: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:52:12 PM

[up][up][up]Well, I don't remember the source, but between the roman conquest of Greece and the Greek Independance most Greeks referred to themselves as Romaioi, which means Roman. And they used that name for about a millenia, if they could change, so can the US.

edited 29th Jul '15 3:52:26 PM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#97382: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:53:10 PM

Aszur: I'm not saying those names derive from the country name. I'm saying there are others I've heard.

  • Costa Rica->Costa Rican
  • Dominican Republic->Dominican
  • Guatemala->Guatemalan
  • Honduras->Honduran
  • New Zealand->New Zealander
  • Philippines->Flipino/a.

Maybe the ones you listed can be used too but in my experience these are the ones people use.

edited 29th Jul '15 3:53:47 PM by Kostya

TotemicHero No longer a forum herald from the next level Since: Dec, 2009
No longer a forum herald
#97383: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:54:35 PM

@Washingtonian: I am fairly certain that Washington himself would not want people getting named after him, since that reeks of royalty (and he hated royal trappings).

I'm also certain most people who live in the U.S. would not like to think of themselves as named after doing lots of laundry. tongue

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#97384: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:54:53 PM

Brits can be Limeys, Rooinek, Tommies, Poms, Rosbifs or Bifes.

But the U.S being anything other than good ol' "'Mericans" seems to be a potentially communist concept.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#97385: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:56:38 PM

[up][up][up]Dutch: try getting "Holland" or "Netherlands" from that. Even the region of Vlaams gets lucky with "Flemish". Even though they're technically Beligians. The US was started by the Dutch... embrace your heritage: go weird!

[up]Only Brits who move to South Africa are Rooineks. The rest are Limeys.

edited 29th Jul '15 3:59:29 PM by Euodiachloris

Skycobra51 A suitable case for treatment from The US of A Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Only knew I loved her when I let her go
A suitable case for treatment
#97386: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:56:54 PM

[up][up]That's ignoring that were called Yankees, Cowboys, Imperialists, and Capitalist dogs.tongue

[down]Or until the world does which aint likely. You got a better chance of China adhering to enviromental and anti pollution laws.

edited 29th Jul '15 4:02:35 PM by Skycobra51

Look upon my privilege ye mighty and despair.
JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#97387: Jul 29th 2015 at 3:57:48 PM

Lets be clear, citizens of the United States will never ever stop calling themselves Americans unless the rest of the continent invades US, destroys our culture,literally not in the bullshit conservative arguments, and makes it a crime punishable by death for citizens of the US to call themselves Americans.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#97388: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:00:57 PM

[up] [up] [up] Ma'am. There are no Belgians.

But yeah, sorry. "Ticos" or "Catrachos" and everything are just as acceptable demonyms. They have a history. In particular, during the wars against fillibuster, William Walker, the armies were under a general named "Xatracho". So, when they came, like The Cavalry, people started shouting "Ahí vienen los Xatruches!" (Here come the Xatruches!)

That later turned into "Catrachos" and that is why the Hondurans are also known as "Catrachos".

"Yankee" likewise, has a very important and historical component to the identity of the United States, as does Gringo.

So what's the problem with more?

edited 29th Jul '15 4:01:24 PM by Aszur

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
TotemicHero No longer a forum herald from the next level Since: Dec, 2009
No longer a forum herald
#97389: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:02:23 PM

Okay, we're now in the territory of the culture thread.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#97390: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:03:28 PM

And I do not know where you get "France" from Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Skycobra51 A suitable case for treatment from The US of A Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Only knew I loved her when I let her go
A suitable case for treatment
#97391: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:08:06 PM

Doesnt that fit the Italians from World War 2 better? I always thought the correct term for frenchies was frogs.tongue

edited 29th Jul '15 4:11:16 PM by Skycobra51

Look upon my privilege ye mighty and despair.
JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#97392: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:13:50 PM

[up] I believe Italy's thing is switching sides and being comedically ineffective.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#97393: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:25:29 PM

That, and their awesome infantry. (No, really.)

JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#97394: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:27:39 PM

[up] Yeah people keep saying that.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#97395: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:31:29 PM

There are problems with calling people from the United States of America plenty of the things suggested:

  • Unitedstatian - We're as much the only united states as the only people on America - potential other Unitedstatians include, but are not limited to, people from Australia and Mexico.
  • Yankees - As accurate as calling every single person in the United Kingdom "English". Yanks or Yankees are New Englanders. Or if you're in the Deep South, everything north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
  • Washingtonians - Even more specific demonym, Washingtonians are people from the state of Washington.

edited 29th Jul '15 4:32:37 PM by Balmung

Cid El Cid Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Hiding
El Cid
#97396: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:32:31 PM

Dutch: try getting "Holland" or "Netherlands" from that. Even the region of Vlaams gets lucky with "Flemish". Even though they're technically Beligians. The US was started by the Dutch... embrace your heritage: go weird!
If I'm not mistaken (and if I am, my grandparents will kill me), people from the Netherlands use Nederland for the country, Nederlander for the people, and Nederland for the language.

"Dutch" seems to be an English invention. According to The Other Wiki, it means language of the common people. Adorable.

As for the whole "American" thing, the other Latin American countries do not like it because daddy Spain taught us that "América" was just one continent, from Canada to Argentina, although it could be divided in subregions like North America, South America, the Caribbean Islands, etc. That's why, in the Hispanospehere, we can say without irony that we all live in América.

Edited to add: Here's what the RAE* says about the word América:

América.1. Debe evitarse la identificación del nombre de este continente con los Estados Unidos de América (→ Estados Unidos, 4), uso abusivo que se da sobre todo en España.

Even the institution that regulates our language (because we actually have rules), says that América is the name of the continent.

[down]It's one of those differences between different cultures, in this case the Spanish vs the rest of the world. Another example of how weird we are is in the "Billions". We say it's a million millions (1,000,000,000,000), while english speaking people say it's a thousand millions (1,000,000,000). [lol]

RAE stands for Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy) and they're the institution responsible for overseeing the Spanish language. When they say something is true, then it's true when speaking the Spanish language.

edited 29th Jul '15 4:53:08 PM by Cid

Skycobra51 A suitable case for treatment from The US of A Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Only knew I loved her when I let her go
A suitable case for treatment
#97397: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:42:56 PM

As far as I'm aware, North and South America are two different continents, tectonics and all that, with the only surface link being Centeral America, at least until the Panama canal.

Which means the Spaniards didn't know their geology.tongue

[down]New Brittania? Really?

New York is shorter and easier to say. Blame the British, they named everything in the original 13.

edited 29th Jul '15 4:57:08 PM by Skycobra51

Look upon my privilege ye mighty and despair.
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#97398: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:50:18 PM

América, ist wunderbar! Cadillacs zoom in it! Twelve share a room in it!

What's wrong with 'gringos'? I mean, besides it sounding awful. Or what about USA Citizen? Kinda dry, but we tropers are no strangers to boring yet efficient descriptive names?

Aaah, why couldn't them findy fathers find a better collective name for those united states of America's? Like, New Britannia (ALL HAIL!), or Mercadia, or something.

Heck, why isn't the State of New York called New Yorkshire? Why isn't there an Aftersex and a Bessex to match Sussex and Essex?

edited 29th Jul '15 4:53:03 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
TotemicHero No longer a forum herald from the next level Since: Dec, 2009
No longer a forum herald
#97399: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:53:14 PM

Yorkshire is the name of the county in England, York is the name of the central town in said county. So if you're going to name a city by adding "New" to another name, why wouldn't said other name also be a city?

(Conveniently ignoring that it started out as New Amsterdam, of course.)

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#97400: Jul 29th 2015 at 4:53:48 PM

Still separate tectonic plates. Actually, there's a few small ones in-between (continental North America ends around the Guatemala-Honduras border and continental South America starts at the Colombia-Panama border (though that's a bit of a simplification of the plate tectonics of South America)).


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