Re: Asimov Site

[Roy and/or Janet Miller <millers@inetnebr.com>]

LOL - nice reply Kelli

Roy

Kelli Halliburton wrote:

> "Paul Schlyter" <pausch@saafNOSPAM.se> wrote in message
> news:8olld6$161$1@merope.saaf.se...
>
> > > Actually, being Canadian, I'd like to say that I do not live in
> > > America.
> >
> > So where do you live then?  Not in America -- so it must be in Europe,
> > Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica or Oceania, because there are no
> > others to choose from....
>
> "North America"
>
> > > I live in Canada which happens to be in the continent of
> > > North America.  I prefer to be called Canadian but I won't object to
> > > being called North American.  However, I will strongly object to being
> > > called American.
> > >
> > > Canadians call people from the United States, Americans, so Americans
> > > are not the only ones who call them that.  It has been my experience
> > > that pretty much everyone calls people from the United States,
> > > Americans.  When I lived in Germany and travelled around Europe I was
> > > sometimes asked if I were American so even people who live in Europe
> > > call them that.
> >
> > There is no good replacement word for "Americans" -- the only one I can
> > think of now is "Citizens of the US", and that's too clumsy to use as
> > an everyday word.  Therefore I too say "americans" when I talk about the
> > citizens in the USA.
> >
> > However there *is* a good replacement for "America"(=USA):  "The US".
> > It's shorter both to pronounce and to write, and it leaves the word
> > "America" free to be used to refer to the continent, not one of the
> > countries there.
>
> Both continents already have their own names: "North America" and "South
> America."
>
> > And if "America" refers to the US, why doesn't "South America" refer
> > to Texas, Florida, etc ?  A lack of logic, isn't it?
>
> "Southern America" does in fact refer to that area.
>
> > Finally: suppose you meet someone whom you know live in either North,
> > Central or South America, but you don't know which.  However you do
> > know he doesn't live in the US.  What do you call him?  He's
> > obviosuly not a european, asian, african or australian.  And since he
> > doesn't live in the US he's not an american either.  Then, what IS
> > he?  You could of course say "North American, Central American or
> > South American", but that's a REALLY clumsy expression!
>
> "From the Americas"
>
> Really, what's so hard about this?
>
> Especially for a Swedish Scandinavian EUian European Eastern Hemispherian
> Periarctic Northern Hemispherian.