Nolan's Life is Average

isnerdy:

nolanslifeisaverage:

I recently had this commentary with someone, and I thought I’d bring it to the crowd.

While there is a North America and a South America, I don’t know anyone who claims their identity as North American or South American. No, instead, they claim their country as their identity: Brazilian, Argentinian, Mexican, Canadian. My friend noted that she didn’t think calling herself an American really made sense considering ‘America’ is technically most of the Western Hemisphere. 

So I present this as a hopefully non-American-centric commentary on why labeling yourself as ‘American’ isn’t some ‘ignorant American’ thing to do.

As country names are generally shortened (i.e. The People’s Republic of China is colloquially called China), then for The United States of America to be shortened to America is not an uncommon or arrogant thing.

No other group identifies as ‘American’, at least from what I can tell. While some folks may identify as European or Asian in their addition to their country, almost everyone else in their worlds identifies first and strongest with their national identity. 

If you ask people form other countries, the people who inhabit the land between Canada and Mexico are called ‘Americans’ - and that is often said with a note of disdain. I think if our identity is such that it can illicit a look of disgust, I should be able to claim it as my personal identity.

So, this has been my viewpoint with what evidence I can cite. I am not stating I am right, and I can see an argument for calling yourself ‘American’ to be a silly thing to do.This is just my two cents, my opinion, and what little evidence I have to back it up.

I was trying to write a response on my iPhone, but after typing 90% of it the app did something really weird, and I wound up losing the post.  Anyhow…

As someone who’s gone to South America twice, and as someone who has spent three years of his life studying Spanish, I can tell you this isn’t quite right.  This may be what Spanish-speakers say in English, but it’s not what they say in Spanish.  ”Americano” is usually used to refer to people from the United States in a derogatory sense.  ”Americano” as a non-derogatory term is generally used to indicate someone from the Americas.  In my experience, Chileans and Brazilians are fond of calling themselves Americans.  Probably the most famous musical group ever out of Chile, Inti-Illimani, recorded a song in the 1970s called “Si somos Americanos”  - the translation of the lyrics begins, “If we are Americans, we are brothers.  We have the same flowers, we have the same hands.  If we are americans, we will be good neighbors.”  etc, etc - you get the picture - it’s about hemispherical unity, but referring to all as Americans.

Furthermore, Spanish has some very specific terms.  ”Estadounidense” is just about the only non-derogatory terms used to identify people from the United States in Spanish, and it is how I identify when I’m traveling in a Spanish-speaking country.  Equally valid is “norteamericano” although that can be used to refer to Canadians as well.  Only once in my travels to South America have I heard someone use the term “Americano” to refer to someone as being from the United States in a non-derogatory way.  On my most recent trip, which was two weeks in Bolivia, I was typically called “gringo” or “gringito” by people who didn’t know me and wanted to refer to my nationality.

Informative commentary is informative.

I would still contend that ‘American’ - though there may be other words to indicate a United States American - is still predominately identifiable for U.S. citizens, and that we aren’t arrogant asshats for using that to identify ourselves.

And I mostly contend that because I have no idea what else I would call myself. I mean, when I was in Germany, I didn’t use ‘Amerikaner’ - I would say ‘Ich komme aus der Verinigten Staaten.’ But if asked my nationality by an English-speaker, I would probably say American…

Does that make me an arrogant asshat? :/