this post was submitted on 03 May 2024
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Well that is a broad generalization spoken from a place of ignorance. I promise you that the vast majority of Americans (that is, people from the U.S.) know about the Americas (that is, the continents).
That being said, colloquially, the term "America" generally refers to the United States. And that's true most everywhere, not just in the U.S.
Most people will say "North", "South", or "Americas" (plural) when talking about the continents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas
Click on the language button, you'll see the continents are called singular America in most languages (Spanish, French, German, etc...)
Afaik people in South America tend to refer to the continents as America as well, and say "united stadians" to people from the US
Language is a complicated and very fluid social construct. What means one thing somewhere might mean something different somewhere else, even if the same language is spoken in both places. Both usages of the word are correct, and it's both the responsibility of to the speaker and listener to understand each other. It's confusing, but that's how things are in the real world. Of course you can say "America" to refer to the continents, and if that's what's dictated by social contract where you're from, then more power to you. I'm just saying that you can't judge an entire nation of people based off the colloquial usage of a word (not that you were, I'm referring to the person I responded to).