Americans (inhabitants/citizens of US) when people from other countries come to theirs : "These people need to speak English"
Americans when they visit other people's countries : "Why don't these people speak English???"
EDIT : By the context of this post it's blatantly obvious which definition of 'American' is being used lol, but I added an explanation above anyway. π And yes there is more than one definition of "american", usually context makes it clear which is being used for most people
The vast majority of Americans do know Spanish. The only people who don't are Canadians, USians, maybe Brazilians, Jamaicans, etc.
Why on earth would Canadians speak Spanish. We already have two official languages with 1/3rd the country fully fluent in both.
Canadians are very bilingual, they are good.....the Americans are still struggling with English, let alone a second language
Most Americans do not speak Spanish. Knowing a phrase or two does not mean you're speaking the language.
Exactly
I think you need to research what the words "vast majority" mean lol. The vast majority of Americans definitely do not know Spanish π
Are you defining Americans as "people that live on the American continent and the Caribbean" or "people that live in the United States of America"?
I think OP means the former.
Mexicans do not call themselves Americans even knowing they are from North America.
Nobody in the Caribbean calls themselves Americans ππ
People from and what they are called in English : Mexico - Mexicans, Canada - Canadians, Colombia - Colombians, Venezuela - Venezuelans, Panama - Panamanians, Brazil - Brazilians, Etc etc
Do you see a pattern? People from United States of America - Americans
Only on Reddit or Lemmy and places like them would you get a bunch of nerds storming in to say everybody in North, Central and South America are Americans.
On CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Voice of America etc.,etc Americans are the people of the USA.
Or when they present poll results of Americans, they polled in Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador, Canada etc etc too?
I'm defining Americans as most people do, the people that fucking sing God Bless America. Nobody in Latin America calls themselves Americanos, americanos son los gringos, de los EEUU
Not even the "american continent", that would include Canadians and they are not Americans. Los EEUU, the United States of America... And the fact that I have to explain that is irritating af, it should be obvious what "Americans" means. The TalibΓ‘n does not target Colombians, Mexicans, Chileans, etc when they go after Americans
Mexicans are Americans too fam.
(North Americans)
If you have Asians, Europeans, and Africans, why is it that "Americans" is assumed to be a nationality instead of a continental/racial designation?
Because thats how the word has been used in English since at least the 18th century. This weird little hangup people have with it all the sudden is just people looking for a reason to hate on Americans. The folks trying to change the usage don't even have good alternative word which shows that it isn't an argument in good faith. The only alternative I've seen is "united statsians" which is nonsensical in English and cumbersome. Even the whiner from the original comment didn't spell it out.
Funny, the only people I hear call it out are from other American countries. This comment chain was interesting in that it was started by a Spaniard.
I wonder why, prior to modern times, people just didn't give a shit what the other people on the continent(s) had to say on the matter?
First of all, most of the countries that those folks are from didn't even exist when the usage was created. They would be very justified in criticizing the US government, but instead they'd rather shit on the American people over word usage (in a secondary to them language) that predates all the countries involved. It's fucking silly and they should really get a grip on what's really important.
...
Lul
Pointing out every flaw in your argument would require a small essay. Enjoy, hopefully, the rest of high school because God help us if you're an adult.
"I disagree with you and am unable to articulate it, you must be a child." Great argument, just a straight up personal attack.
LIsten to the news, the media, everyday conversation. If someone says "the american people", 'American companies', 'american politicians' american culture', 'american products', the 'american economy' etc etc they are talking about the United States... Why say Mexican-American, African-American,? What do they mean? They mean people of those descents in THE USA... The usage of American is understood to mean people from the USA,.... write America with your keyboard and see the american flag pop up as a suggestion.
Oh, I know. Most of the people complaining are from countries that didn't even exist when the usage began. They could have very justified grievances with the American government, but randomly shitting on the American people on the internet over nonsense is what they prefer to discuss.
Wrong fam
Because that's what people from the United States call themselves.... If they viewed Mexicans as Americans there would be no problem at the border, only on dumb internet forums full of self righteous nerds are everybody in the Americas called Americans
You are talking scholarly stuff, I am talking real life usage
Let a Mexican in a foreign country go to an American Embassy and see how much help he gets lol
You're pretty salty about this.
Why is that?
I live on a island in the Atlantic invaded every year by American tourists, and I don't mean people from South America lol... USA should pick better people to send out as tourists π
I think you need to reevaluate what the word American means. It includes the southern continent. So of the 35 countries that are over here 3 speak English, 1 Portuguese, 1 French and 30 Spanish. So yes, the vast majority of Americans speak Spanish.
In the common vernacular of today 'American' refers to people from the USA, or something of or related to the USA. That is one of the dictionary definitions of American, and quite frankly the most common usage in today's world. Anyway, to make it clearer for people like you I edited post above to specify
You live in an alternate reality, use some common sense, when people say Americans it refers to people from the USA
GOD BLESS AMERICA....