America is the name of a whole continent.
The USA is just a country made of > 50 states. Weird and confusing to see "America!" and "We americans" always being used in mainstream media while they mean to talk about just a small part of that whole continent. And America is named after one of the colonizing EU citizens ages ago (Amerigo Vespucci).
Why not come up with some new names which are less confusing, and also get rid of the past ? In Holland several streetnames have gotten new names to get rid of the (South Africa Apartheid) memories of the past. How about THE GREAT PLAINS as a new name ? :)
The USA is just a country made of > 50 states. Weird and confusing to see "America!" and "We americans" always being used in mainstream media while they mean to talk about just a small part of that whole continent. And America is named after one of the colonizing EU citizens ages ago (Amerigo Vespucci).
Why not come up with some new names which are less confusing, and also get rid of the past ? In Holland several streetnames have gotten new names to get rid of the (South Africa Apartheid) memories of the past. How about THE GREAT PLAINS as a new name ? :)
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@albert I suppose in either case it's shorthand.
America is not a continent, there's "North America" and "South America," "The Americas" for both, I suppose...though that seems odd. The country isn't America but "The United States of America".
I suppose American could mean "Anyone from the two distinct but connected continents." but that doesn't seem terribly specific as a descriptor of someone.
It could also probably mean a descendent of Vespucci. :)
