[WikiEN-l] Re: Lists which are sheer nonsense

[Richard Grevers]

On Sat, 1 Mar 2003 11:49:23 -0600, Sheldon Rampton 
<sheldon.rampton at verizon.net> wrote:

> Zoe wrote:
>
>> Nonsense.  Americans are the citizens or residents of the United States. 
>> DESIGNED to provoke controversy?  Only if you're looking for something 
>> to make controversial.
>
> I've been wanting to avoid wading into this discussion, but the term 
> "Americans" does have a double meaning, and its usage as a reference 
> solely to U.S. citizens  rankles with some people from Canada, Mexico and 
> other parts of North and South America who also consider themselves 
> "American" as well. The term is commonly used in reference U.S. citizens, 
> and it doesn't particularly offend me personally, but I know people who 
> object to it.
>
> Using "Americans" in reference to U.S. citizens is a bit like using 
> "Indians" in reference to Native Americans or "cripples" in reference to 
> the physically disabled. I know there are people who find it silly and 
> irritating that they should be asked to use more "politically correct" 
> language, but whenever possible I think it's best to be sensitive about 
> these things. I don't see a downside to saying "United States citizens." 
> It's precise, unambiguous and offends no one. That would be my preferred 
> usage.

Given the near-universal* usage of "American", I see it as preferable to 
the cumbersome "United States Citizens" (also given that "United States" 
itself is an incomplete descriptor**). The other nations on the North 
American continent both have good adjectices to distinguish them (Canadian, 
Mexican), and the term "North American" is a manageable collective 
adjective.

* The most common term in Australia/NZ might in fact be "bloody yanks", but 
I concede that this might not be appropriate :-)
**After all, would you simply stop at "Federated States" if you were 
talking about Malaysia?
-- 
Richard Grevers