mail wrote:
it looks like we will have a vote to decide what to
call notable u.s. citizens. the top two choices are
"people from the united states" or "americans"
[[Talk:List of United States people]]
Well, we don't really vote on such things, we seek for consensus.
The poll looks sort of fun, though, so I recommend people play with
it. Like someone else who wrote, I can't figure out what I'm supposed
to do to 'vote', though.
I, myself, was swayed by the arguments on the page. The real question
is: What do speakers of English think when they hear "American"?
Well, we know what Americans think, we think it means us. :-)
But if the following appeared in a British or Australian or other
English-language newspaper, anywhere in the world, would people be
confused? "The Americans are preparing for war with Iraq by sending
troops to the Middle East." Would anyone be confused about that?
Would anyone be surprised to read it?
I think, no. Here's an example of a self-described "americano
from the Latino South" writing in a UK newspaper:
http://www.observer.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,788149,00.html
Throughout, he refers to the U.S as America.
In English, then, referring to "Americans" is unambiguous in most
contexts, is natural, and inoffensive.
--Jimbo