ubzrvnT t1_jbgbzsf wrote on March 8, 2023 at 9:06 PM

Reply to comment by ocasas in Humans Started Riding Horses 5,000 Years Ago, New Evidence Suggests by Magister_Xehanort

Pretty simple. You and I were taught two different continental systems. What do you call someone from the United States?

ubzrvnT t1_jbggjmp wrote on March 8, 2023 at 9:35 PM

Also, I wouldn't call someone from Louisiana "South American" because I was taught South America was a different continent. I would be more inclined to think you might call a Canadian or a Brazilian an "American" since all Americas are one giant continent in romance language education.

ocasas t1_jbgprnd wrote on March 8, 2023 at 10:34 PM

Canadians, Brazilians, Argentinians, Mexicans, etc. are all Americans, since they all are from 'America'.

The bit about Louisiana, what I'm trying to say is since the USA co-opted the name 'America' for the country, you can't call the south of your country 'south America' or the north 'north America'. It's confusing!! So you just go by 'The South' because 'America's South' or 'American South' is confusing as well!

ocasas t1_jbgns5k wrote on March 8, 2023 at 10:21 PM

In spanish: Estadounidense. [Royal Spanish Academy on the subject] (https://www.rae.es/dpd/Estados%20Unidos) <- see number 4: "It souldn't be forgotten that America is the name of the whole continent and every inhabitant is american." The Royal Spanish Academy has final say on everything concerning the spanish language.
In english, it's a bit tricky: 'American' is the accepted demonym, but Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Oxford Learner's and dictionary.com list 'American' as an inhabitant of the continent, but also an inhabitant of the USA. So 'american', as a demonym for someone from the USA, is not very useful. Hence our problem with 'American history': USA history? or the continent history? Although Merriam-Webster does list United Statesian as a native from the USA.