America isn't a country, it's a continent.

According to the English speaking people, America is the country, the Americas is the continent...

There are only 2 Americas, North and South, and whichever you consider, none is a country. Ask English speakers in Canada, the Bahamas or Belize if they're not Americans. And ask Mexicans. They are as much as I am European. A fraction of the inhabitants of a continent do not redefine geography.
This sentence should state "America is a continent of immigrants", which it is...ignoring the natives as they would be ignored...

I prefer accuracy. There is no country with this name. It's a continent's name.

http://www.google.com/search?tb...as_nloc=Canada

^ Google News Search for the exact term "America" from Canadian news sources. Seems that Canadian news outlets are okay with calling their neighboring country "America".

Yes, of course you will find such examples where US citizens have coaxed the rest of Americans into abondoning their own identity. That doesn't make it right.

"America is a country because americans say so" is as valid an argument as saying that the Caliphate is a country because a bunch of Arabs say so. And what about Narnia?
Does Google make it real ? http://www.google.fr/search?hl=...rnia&btnG=btnG

Yeah, just like the Romanians coaxed the rest of Romance language speakers into abandoning their Roman heritage. Or like the Germans (Deutsche) coaxed the Netherlanders (formerly Duits) into abandoning their 'theodisc' (common Germanic) identity. Just the English got it mixed up and they call the Netherlanders Dutch while they call the Deutschen Germans although the English are Germanic themselves, which is really awkward.

And what about the citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia? They claim the name Australia for themselves although that's the name of the continent and the geographic continent is divided between three countries: the Commonwealth of Australia, Papua-New Guinea and Indonesia.

>Yeah, just like the Romanians coaxed the rest of Romance language speakers into abandoning their Roman heritage.

This is irrelevant. "Romanian" and "'Roman" are 2 different things, even if one derives from the other. Romance languages are still Romance languages, wether Romanian exists or not...

A "country" is clearly defined by the United Nations. And "America" is definitely not one of them. There is no such identity, no such passport, no such culture, no such music, no such movie industry, ...
And speaking of USA's characteristics as if they encompass the entire continent or continents is an insult to the culture of other nations that are located there, while I will never feel negated because Romanians call themselves that.
But if Russians were to tell me that I'm not a European because I'm not a ciitizen of the Federation of Russia, I think I would feel about the same as a Mexican, a Cuban or a Brazilian who is being constantly told that he is not American.

>And what about the citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia? They claim the name Australia for themselves although that's the name of the continent and the geographic continent is divided between three countries: the Commonwealth of Australia, Papua-New Guinea and Indonesia.

The case of Australia is a bit different because it is the only "continental" land mass of the Australian continent, the other parts being considered as islands, the same way Brits call "Europe" a continent in which they curiously don't include Great Britain...
But monopolising an identity to coax others into submission is wrong, in any case.

>Are you trying to change the way people speak? Good luck with that! I, for one, am certainly not going to stop calling the US "America" just because you think it's wrong.

That won't make it a country...
I can't stop you talking nonsense and rudely depriving hundreds of millions of non-US Americans of their identity.

You know language isn't a rigid entity. If the vast vast vast vast vast vast majority of people recognise "America" as the USA then that's what it is.

Don't you love evolution, sacredceltic? You need to get with the times and quickly.

>Don't you love evolution, sacredceltic? You need to get with the times and quickly.

Hey kid, sure you just got out of you shell, but It's been 2 centuries that "America" is claimed by USians, and the rest of the Americans still disagree...the times seem stalled in this case...

"America

America usually refers to either:

The Americas
The United States of America"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America

... game, set and match.

Wikipedia just reflects teenagers views like yours...but fortunately, countries are not defined by Wikipedia...

So I'm using a Dyson vacuum cleaner but I call it a Hoover. Are you going to say "That's not a Hoover, it's a vacuum cleaner".

If you are the sort of person who would do that you really are pathetic.

>Usage rules a language.

Errr...no. English yes, but not all...everything is not in your image

>So I'm using a Dyson vacuum cleaner but I call it a Hoover. Are you going to say "That's not a Hoover, it's a vacuum cleaner".

Create this most fascinating sentence, which is, would you believe it, the purpose of this service and you'll see who reacts and how...

>this is a common usage and a good example sentence.

Is it the question? I don't think it's a linguistic issue, but it's definitely an imperialism one...

Appeler ça "États-Unis d'Amérique" n'est je trouve pas plus juste que d'appeler ça Amérique. Comme si les USA doivent etre le seul pays du continent américain à pouvoir avoir des états unis...

>Hear, hear! Citizens of the United States of America shortening their demonym to "Americans" is a most outrageous act of imperialist aggression. This usage must be banned. The Security Council must act forthwith. Offenders have to be trialled at The Hague.

Why not go a step further by spontaneously combusting all humans that disagree with anything that sacredceltic says!

I wasn't doing it to create a sentence. I was asking what you would do, sacredceltic. I'm beginning to understand your character.

You probably already know that we're not supposed to call Cote D'Ivoire "Ivory Coast" anymore.

The Government officially changed the name to Cote D'Ivoire and it's registered in the UN as Cote D'Ivoire but "Ivory Coast" is still used in English. You'll probably say that is very IMPERALIST of me.

Are you going to say I'm wrong to say Ivory Coast? Most people in the English speaking world still say it and it was officially "Ivory Coast" up until 1985.

So if somebody writes a sentence on here like "I went to Ivory Coast last week" are you going to correct them and tell them it's wrong?

As an Englishman I agree with you CK.