I was having a conversation with a friend of a friend (who is from South America) about one of my co-workers, and I said something like “He’s born in England, but his mannerisms are very American.” She gave me this puzzled look and said “What kind of American? Like, from Argentina or Brazil?” I then said “No, American like the United States.” she looked upset and said “You know, America is a continent, not a country. You should really say from the United States, because America is 35 countries. Did they not teach this at your school?” It was a tense mood from that point on. AITAH? To my knowledge, the only non-colloquial demonym for the United States is “American.”
AITAH for referring to someone from the United States as “American”?
r/AITAH
Comments
NTA. “American” is globally recognized to refer to someone from the United States. It’s a common usage, not a geography lesson.
NTA. She’s is one tho.
NTA. “American” is normal English usage for someone from the U.S. She was just nitpicking.
From what I can gather, the use of “America” to mean the United States is quite controversial in Latin America.
NTA I think people are trying to distance themselves from the US understandably, but that doesn’t immediately erase that “American” has been used broadly / globally to refer to mainly the US. It’ll be an interesting road ahead.
NTA. The term is used everywhere to describe people from the United States. That doesn’t mean that others from the Americas don’t also have a claim to it, but the way you used it is the overwhelmingly predominant usage worldwide.
What the hell do they want us to say?
USAsian?
I’m Canadian, and I get super pissed when people (usually from Europe) refer to me as “American” because I’m from North America. Just, no. Never.
NTA.
Nah. You are NTA. It’s a touchy subject for people from literally one continent. Nobody else cares, and everybody else knows what you mean.
For some reason there is a group of people, particularly from South America, who think using the term “American” is some sort of imperialist micro-aggression. You don’t have to worry about saying it in front of anyone else except for her and the other small fraction of the population that pretends to be offended or confused.
NTA
There is no continent called America. There is a country called the United States of America. Latin American geography class has it all wrong. There are seven continents, not five. And two of them are North America and South America.
Was the conversation in english? If so, then no.
As someone from the US, not the first time I’ve heard this sentiment. Our American neighbors don’t love it, especially in Latin America for some reason. I think this can be traced back to history of being called American before the US really ‘took off’ so to speak.
Even though it’s not liked, we don’t have another term besides “someone from the US.” I guess “United Statetians” could have been used but it’s a bit clunky unlike “Brazilian” or “Colombian.” We’re also the biggest / most populated country, so as technically incorrect as it may be, I can see why “American” took off to refer to the US specifically.
But NTA. She is though for the way she approached it. She obviously knew what you meant. And she could have worded it differently or asked you to refer to us as something else.
NTA. Your friend is a bit of a twat. The term “American” is synonymous with the US. The term “The Americas” refers to a number of countries, including US, Canada, Central and South American countries. I knew exactly what you meant by using that term.
She just has a stick up her butt and thinks she asked a thought provoking question.. When someone bishes about an American, they mean someone from the US, full stop. And I bet she wouldn’t have made the comparison if you had been ragging on the person.
That’s dumb, I’ve never heard someone refer to a Brazilian or Canadian as an American..lol, sometimes people just wanna start arguments just to argue. NTA
NTA they are being pedantic and obnoxious. I’ve never heard of a Canadian or Mexican refer to themselves as “American”. That is silly
NTA. People from the USA have been referred to as Americans for literally hundreds of years. Since Trump got re-elected, and pissed off the entire world, people are starting to have a problem with this, but their reasoning makes no sense. People from other countries in the Americas are referrenced according to their countries of origin, not their continents.
NTAH, especially if you were speaking English. That’s our word for ourselves.
NTA ridiculous. The US is commonly referred to as America. She knows that. So petty.
NTA- everyone calls the USA American and us Americans. Seems especially true in Europe.
Actually, South America is a continent in North America is a continent but when you’re talking about America, it’s referred to the United States if you’re talking about the Americas, you’re usually talking about the two continents. It’s really easy to distinguish and it sounds like your friend is just being difficult.
NTA but it depends on where you are. I live in Asia. I’m from the US. I do not say that I am from America because I have had a significant number of people tell me that it bothers them. (Most if not all of these friends were from Central or South America)
I don’t find it particularly difficult to say I’m from the US or I’m from the States. Less people are confused since I’ve switched to that. And like what does it hurt?
NTA
NTA, and quite frankly her little lecture that she gave you was pretty rude
I hope you told her: no, I went to school in the USA, and that’s how they teach us here.
It really brings a lot of irony to the phrase “American exceptionalism.”
NAH
NTA. Your friend was being passive aggressive and feigning confusion to make a point.
yeah, but United Statesian sounds weird.
NTA – Despite being technically correct, your friend didn’t have to sour the mood over it. As others have pointed out, it is also very common for others to call anyone from the United States “American”.
In Mexicon im the Americano. And not the coffee. But I guess that is, too.
Also: this conversation was in English and took place in the United States.
I fucking hate this attitude from people it is so stupid and tired. If they put the word “America” in their country name then they have something to complain about.
ALSO Mexico’s formal name is the United States of Mexico so by their logic it’d ALSO wrong to describe an American as a United Statesian.
NTA. She sounds both exhausting and rude. Canadians get upset when no one can tell them apart from Americans. It’s not a battle worth waging, because Americans don’t care, and those that do will be upset regardless.
NTA. She’s just making drama over something completely unremarkable.
NTA. You are correct
NTA. “America” is specifically the country of the U.S.A. Your friend of a friend is further mistaken, as North America and South America are the continents. Argentina and Brazil are South America, where you would specify “South America.” When referring to Canada, I’d estimate 9/10 people would say Canada and not “America” or “North American.”
NTA. That’s how everyone refers to people living in the US – Americans. I live in the US but I’m originally from Poland and while there is united states of America as the full country name, we all say ‘Ameryka’ in polish when referring to the US.
NTA. We dont call ourselves United States of American, just American.
Nah. You’re good. That person needs to lighten the hell up. They were just looking for a reason to get all offended over some stupid shit.
Lol, you’re friends a trip. Never in my life have I heard of someone from any countrymen south or north of the US as an American. Thats reserved for America. We are Americans. Our Union is called the United States of America.
The Americas is probably what the friend thought they were referring to. Calling someone from the USA “American” is incredibly common globally.
I’m from Canada and dont refer to myself as American just because I live in North America.
TLDR: You are not the AH, your friend is ignorant.
My girlfriend is Mexican (I’m from the US) and she also dislikes when I call myself American. I don’t know which side is best, but this discussion is very interesting to me.
NTA Where does she get America is 35 countries? I mean even the America is divided into North, central aka Latin, or South America. I know quite a few people from my college days of coaching and none of the people from South, central or Canada referred to themselves or friends and family as American. They all would have been insulted except for the ones who became citizens and even then several still referred to themselves as Brazilian-American or Cuban American not straight up American.
NTA. It’s standard. That person is an idiot.
I can tell you my south American friends would not take well to being called “Americans”.
NTA, though I also have encountered this opinion when speaking to a person in El Salvador. You didn’t intend to offend or provoke an argument.
NTA – Argentina or Brazil would make them South American 😉
NTA she’s being ridiculous. You can also call people from the US “Yanks”, though, that’s an alternate name for them
I was born in and I love in in the United States. I’m an American.
NTA. There are only two countries (that I’m aware of) that have America in their official names (USA and Mexico). Mexicans don’t use this term. The only people I’ve ever heard referred to as American, are from the USA. Do you remember that song by David Bowie/Trent Reznor, ‘I’m Afraid of Americans’? Yeah, there was no uproar about who it was about. Nobody was like ‘Are you talking about Guatemalans?’. The person who confronted you is an idiot at best, or a gatekeeping idiot at worst.
The friend of a friend is the asshole. American is used worldwide to signify someone from the United States.
No. Lol
NTA.
American is how Americans (meaning people from the US) identify themselves, it’s no more YTA than someone saying they’re Georgian (which Georgia?)
She was looking to be offended.
My teacher pulled this shit on me in like the 2nd grade and I’m still mad about it
My wife is from Mexico, and gets pissed if I refer to people from the US as ”American“, because of the same thought process. She told me I should say “US citizen”, because Mexicans are American, as are Canadians and people from dozens of other countries. To turn the tables, I asked “which US?” because she is from “United States of Mexico”, even though she calls herself “Mexican”. I don’t know any Canadians, Mexicans, Colombians, or anyone from any other country than USA, who refer to themselves as “American”.
The reality is, that despite North America and South America being continents, people from the USA are the only people considered “American”, and anyone who argues with that is just being belligerent.
NTA. Argentinians are called Argentinians, Brazilians are called Brazilians, and Americans are called Americans. Everybody knows this.
The continent is North America which has the US and Canada… the country is America or USA
NTA. You’re American. If not, you just say the country.
NTA
I’m tired of this tired ass rhetoric. Someone from Argentina, Brazil, etc won’t even call themselves American. They call themselves Argentinian, Brazilian, etc.
Also, what the fuck else do they want us to call ourselves in English? United Statesian? GTFO
I emphasized in English because I know in Spanish they say estadounidense. However, that doesn’t translate into English. They can either come up with a better name in English or shut the fuck up.
NTA. People from Brazil or Mexico or Canada refer to themselves as Brazilians or Mexicans or Canadians. And they refer to people from the United States as Americans.
I suppose they like to gloss over the fact that America is part of the name of the country. It is “United States of AMERICA” so unless they included America as part of their formal country name, they can go pound sand!
NTA you’re encountering some weird insecurity Central, South Americans have about a commonly accepted naming convention.
This friend of a friend is out of line and you should make an effort not to interact with them again.
“He’s born in England, but acts very United Statesy.”
Hmm, not as nice of a ring as “American”
No.
When you say “America”, people think of the USA. If you call someone American, without North or South, they think youre referring to the USA.
‘American’ is the demonym of somebody from the United States, which in its full name is called The United States of America. As one of these Americans, I have no problem with someone from another country in either North America or South America wishing to call themselves this. It doesn’t affect me. However, I am always going to refer to myself and others from my country as Americans because that is the word for what we are. NTA.
NTA.
The United States of America is the only country with the word “America” in the name. So, of course we are “Americans”.
Who really refers to someone by the continent they are from? Then you should say we are North Americans or South Americans…
“America is a continent” has strong Mount Stupid energy. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve had many South American friends and coworkers and they all use “American” as a demonym for people from the United States, including the couple of Brazilians I’ve known. Pretty sure most of them knew North and South America are separate continents, too. She’s just weird.
This is a cultural issue where everyone in the US uses American as an equivalent for someone from the US, and everyone from Mexico southward is adamant It’s a more general term. Experience: working as an ESL teacher and getting into circular arguments with very offended students that did not agree it was OK that usage varies by location.
I try to stay far away from this topic because it always gets people fired up.
NTA. There’s this new obsession (?) to change what Americans are referred to as. The term USAmericans pops up a ton now online. It’s yet another Gen Z or maybe Gen Alpha “we have to redefine everything” thing. They’re obsessed with changing things for the sake of changing them. It’s annoying and half of them do it just because it annoys boomers, which I’m usually in favor of lol.
So arrogant of her to talk to you like that.
You’re obviously going to mostly get Americans saying there’s nothing wrong with it. As an American who immigrated from S America, I remember it used to bother me too bc we’re all Americans bc we’re all from America. Americans are generally globally self-centered and disregard the rest of the world (as evidenced by many comments here) so this is just seen as an example of that. BUT, bc it’s part of the actual country name, it really just is what we call ourselves based on that and so I’ve gotten used to it. I don’t use it in Spanish tho, and tend to say “from the US” too.
Also, those claiming there’s SeVeN cOnTiNeNtS further prove the disregard for other cultures. In some other countries, you’re taught there’s 5 continents. Continents are socio-political and geographical delineations. Europe and Asia are attached but are considered different continents bc of population. Similarly, America is one continent (one large mass), with some overlapping sociopolitical histories in some regards. And the Antarctic is a land mass without population so it’s not a continent.
NTA. It’s a clash of cultures and lack of understanding about contextual differences.
American is a colloquialism for united states. If you’re not from the United States you indicate which country you’re from i.e. Mexico Brazil Argentina etc. Anyone who argues otherwise is being deliberately pedantic and difficult.
i feel that this person was searching for the “probpem” because this overcorrection is insane… there’s nothing wrong with what you said. NTA.
She knew exactly what you meant.
NTA
I like to ask Mexicans and Brazilians and Argentinins if they’d rather I call them American and they always say no
I think she has her geography off… She is thinking North America, which has 23 independent countries. When someone says “American” it is generally implied to mean “of or relating to the United States.”
You are not the AH, but it sounds like your friend sure could be one… 🫤🫤
NTA. She’s have a Karen Day, wants to pick a fight.
Now, if you want to fire back, it’s North, Central, and South America.
Go stick that in your Panama Canal and smoke it.
south americans were taught differently about “america”. nta.
I always curious what the A stands for in USA.
You’re NTA but rather than echo all the other comments that I agree with, I will also point out that in Spanish they call people from the USA “estadounidenses.” This might explain some of the annoyance/misunderstanding, but hopefully Spanish speakers can realize there is no English equivelant that rolls off the tongue or is commonly used.
Speaking as a Canadian, don’t ever call me American.
I’ve never heard anyone try and own “American” if they were “South American.” If they’re from Central America, I’ve never heard someone not use the country they were from. Mexico pretty much dominates that area with a few others, they’re not going to describe themselves as “Central American.” Very prideful people. Brazilians too, Salvadorians, Argentinians… I could go on. They want to be identified as their country and will acrually take offense if you say South American because then you could be considered “racist” for not breaking down such a large continent. Americans will never give you a heard time for identifying them by what is synonymous for their continent/country.
“North American” in the US is solely used to describe animals or regions for other flora/fauna. Not no one says they are “North American.” Americans (US) will give you a WEIRD look if you try and argue they should call themselves North Americans. Not an argument I’ve heard Lantinx’s try to take on either, theyre focused on their own issues. No need to start that fight with Mr. MAGA.
Most Latin Americans I know specify “Latinx” (latino/latina) out of pride for their heritage or the Central/South American country they come from out of pride for home, there is also significantly less unification between South American/Central American countries vs the unification of the states under the umbrella United States of America, and the US is too big for everyone to claim only United States, think identifying as “Eastern Union.” Despite the fighting, the states have a lot of pride for the powerful country we are because of the unification. There is no way to say “United-States-er” or “United-States-idian,” and each state (Vermonter, Nevadan, Washingtonite, Massachusittian, etc) is much more casual. “American” is used for the patriotic sense of the United States of America. Latinx’s can definitely claim “American,” but I’ve only ever heard it done to prove a point about the continent, like your friend did here. A LOT more Americans will fight you on being a “true” American than Latinos will fight you on being American, especially with the discord between the countries. I don’t know anyone from South/Central America that isn’t claiming their country (Bolivian, Brazilian, etc) over “American.” It’s a prideful term at a certain point for patriotism.
There’s also something to say about the melting pot that is the US. Black Afrian Americans especially with a slave history rarely talk about their country(ies) of origin unless it’s a heritage conversation and you have to be a little careful bringing that up. Same with Latinx’s, especially in areas where there is a lot of racism and gentrification or speaking languages other than English. Most people here if you ask them what they are will ask you to specify if you mean ethnicity or race. If you’re foreign, you say that. If I ask someone what they are and they tell me Indian, English, and a bigger mix, without a country of residence specified, the assumption is American. Others, like Italians or Irish will use those terms to describe genetics and not country pride or patriotism or identification. I’m American, bur if you dig deeper, I will tell you I’m Italian, Swedish, Scotts-Irish, Swiss, and some sort of Eastern Germanic lost to the ages. There’s pride here for the building of lives that came from generations of some form of escape or kidnap from the rest of the world, especially if you don’t acrually know where part of your ancestry is from.
Thanks for this question, that was fun to parse out. I definitely have an American bias in this, but whatever, I guess it’s honest. Sounds like your friend needs to ask some natives from each country what they like to be called. You can get busted the fuck up calling someone American in The Dominican Republic or Honduras or Colombia. I think your friend could have been a little more tactful anyways. Like, is that her damn major? What a rude ass way to try and educate someone. Piss off, you’re obviously not from here. <- There’s my American showing through. NOT “There’s my North American showing” or “There’s my United States of America showing.” You’ll sound stupid, I promise. For a lot of the world too, we are referred to as “Americans,” she should probably educate herself on that.
In my estimation your real crime is asking a question that begins with AITAH.
Im from Canada and would be actually offended if someone called me « American » “because America is a continent”. She’s picking a fight. No one reasonably thinks this.
Apparently she missed the memo that the whole world refers to people from USA as American. If you want to make it inclusive to other countries you specify North American or South American.
Sounds like she has issues with you the go beyond “America is made up of 36 countries”
Nah your friend is for sure the AH here because everyone knows damn well what you mean when you say American as much as everyone knows they’d be offended as hell if they were Brazilian or Colombian and were called American 😂 come on now! Friend just wanted to pick a fight if you ask me. NTA at all.
What would you even call people from the US otherwise? United Statians? Unitedians? State Troopers? 😂Doesn’t even make sense. Mexico – Mexicans. Colombia – Colombians. Jamaica – Jamaicans. Brazil – Brazilians.
How would you honestly refer to the people from the US in a name besides “Americans”? Nothing else even makes sense so if you can provide me a good name to call them I’ll hear you out on it. It’s the United States OF AMERICA. Not of NORTH AMERICA. If you refer to a continent of folks it’s North Americans and South Americans. But when you’re referring to a country everyone knows Americans refers to the US.
The immediate reply needs to alway be “and what country has America in the title?” There is only one, but there are more than one United States in North America alone
I’m wondering who and why , someone from south America or Mexico ( or even Canada) would want to be known as an American
She’s just being pretentious.
>the only non-colloquial demonym for the United States is “American.”
In English, 100%. Even in Spanish, Americano is pretty common.
“He’s born in england, but his mannerisms are so United Statesian”
NTA. Keep them at arms length, they will start drama.
this is a lot more common than you think, source: met many south americans while backpacking asia
No, the other person is just a dipshit and trying to grandstand on some nonsense
She’s in for an embarrassing awakening. American is one hundred percent the word you are looking for.
“His mannerisms are very United Statesian” is nonsense
Your friend is a pompous moron
She’d be obnoxious, but technically correct, if you said “he’s English, but the way he acts, you would think he was from America”
NTA
NTA. And if she’s using it that way, America is two continents. Didn’t she learn that in school?
NAH
American is commonly used for someone in most of the world, but it is common in South America to consider everyone in the America’s as Americans.
I have spent considerable time in South America and have South American family. On several occasions I have been corrected when I referred to myself as an American, often the correction was to ‘North American’. Identifying as being from the United States or simply the states is not a problem.
Ask her what she calls people from the states. Yes, America is more than the States, but they’re called Canadian, Brazilian, Argentinian, Chilean, Peruvian.
United Statesian? USA-an?
Saying someone is American is completely different than saying “I’m/they’re from America”
She’s weird. I’m from the United States of America & have only heard American to represent ppl from here She sounds like she’s trying to be so woke that she woke up scrambled.
NTA sooo pedantic and cringe of that other person. Everyone understands what you meant
Start saying “United States of American”
Problem solved
I have found people from South America are very sensitive about this. NTA
God those people are so cringe. Just be happy you’re not one of them.
NTA – South American countries are uppity about this, but America formed before any of them were countries.
No NTA it’s common vernacular and your friend was just being an ass.
USA is the only country with America in its name. The continents are North America and South America. No one refers to people from any other countries in those continents as Americans.
I’m more confused as to why your friend was pressing it so hard. I’ve literally never heard anyone use the term “American” to describe anybody who was from somewhere on the continent, just the US. It actually makes sense if you think about it, because the US is a cluster of 50 small countries that group together like krill to look more intimidating 😂 I go to another country and tell them that my nationality is “Louisianian” they won’t know what the hell I’m talking about, but when you say “American” it’s understood that you’re from somewhere in the clusterfuck
NTA, but I’ve heard this is common in some areas of South America. I was taught in some of my Spanish classes that in South America many people also consider themselves “American” in some sense and get bothered if you refer to just the US/people from there as America/Americans
Absolutely NTA. Part of my family is South American, and all of my family is hispanic (me included). American is the correct term. I speak several languages and in all of them the term is American. There is a small group of people who in my eyes ARE TAH … who want to say that “America is the continent” just because they can’t accept/tolerate that’s the name of this country. And grouping everyone in south America, or the Americas as Americans is extremely ridiculous when even in between south American countries there are huge cultural differences and even quarrels over things and being differentiated, or discrimination, etc. Additionally, in Spanish there is like this official dictionary (DRAE or Diccionario de la Real Academia Española) in which the term American is accepted at USA’s demonym (although there is another word in Spanish – estadounidense which is also valid, but American is also widely used and understood… And most importantly, CORRECT). This dictionary is curated by the Real Academia Española, or Spanish Royal Academy, which is a group of linguists who observe, study and record the usage given to the language by all Spanish speakers (hence, you’ll find usage from Spain being described but also from south American countries, etc). Anyways, your coworker is TAH and the one missing some schooling.
NTA, when speaking in English “American” is the word used to describe people from the USA. It’s a common issue when it comes to countries named in acronyms, you take the last word (when possible) and add the suffix.
Now, if you were speaking Spanish or Portuguese and just said “americano”, she’d be right to be confused and annoyed.
LATM people love to bust our chops on this. Pure semantics. NTAH
she’s wrong and she should know she’s wrong…..Americans are known as Americans. The person from whatever South American country you were talking to is known as whatever country they are known from
You’re not an ah but your friend is right, America is a bunch of different countries
We aren’t United Stateicans, that sounds dumb as fuck tbh. American it is, American we are.
NTA. Everyone knows exactly what you meant, including the person you weee talking to. Some people get offended by it, but it’s true nonetheless.
I’ve been overseas a lot. No one ever asked me if I was from the U.S., they asked if I was American.
People from the USA call ourselves Americans, and Canadians/Mexicans know what you mean, but in south America thats how they refer to people from the Americas. Like a how a scot or Irishman would be offended by being called British, an Argentinian or Colombian would be offended at not being considered American.
Well we’re not Stateans, thats for sure. There’s been a trend in many Spanish speaking countries to use Estadounidense over “Americano” formally and officially but culturally most Latin American Spanish speakers refer to all Americans as “gringos”
People from the USA are globally referred to as “Americans,” for better or for worse. I (an american) do try to refer to the country as “The United States,” “The US,” or “the states” to honor the frustration of the many peoples from the rest of the Americas that we’ve claimed the whole damn thing for ourselves.
Your friend is a moron. I’m an American. My family conquered and settled this country. They arrived here in the 1640s as mercenaries and settlers. They weren’t immigrants.
No other nation state could or does claim to be American.
We’re the United States of America, we are referred to as americans by other countries. If you live north or south of the US be glad you don’t have the valid negative stigma associated with being American.
“American” is normal colloquial usage, but in left/anti-imperialist circles online, I’ve seen “USAmerican” increasing in popularity lately.
Ask them where the Republicanos federalistas brasilienses are – or do they think “Brazil” is the country name?
Same way “Republica Federativa do Brasil” becomes “Brasil”, United States of America becomes “America”.
She knew exactly what she was doing; being a bitter ass.
🎶🎵I’m proud to be an American
Where at least I know I’m free
And I won’t forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I’d gladly stand up
Next to you and defend her still today
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA 🎶🎵
In the US it is very commonplace to just be called American. But living in Australia though, most people get confused and I always have to say I’m from the ‘States’ not that I’m ‘American.’
This is actually really funny to me. NTA. They complain when we introduce ourselves as being from a certain state which we are more likely to do than say that we are American when traveling. They complain when we call ourselves Americans. Why not let people have their own language instead of saying well we call it this in our language so you shouldn’t call yourselves that in your language. It seems a little ignorant and very unkind. In English we call people from Japan, Japanese. We don’t expect them to call themselves Japanese. That would be rude. The Spanish word for Americans isn’t really relevant if we’re speaking English.
I double dog dare you to call a Canadian American in this climate.
Ask your friend if she’s happy for you to just call her American from now on. NTA.
I ran into this in Mexico many moons ago. I had to distinguish that I was from the Estados Unidos not just America.
NTA. This is a thing in Latin America though. It’s not uncommon for Americans (from the US) to hear something to the effect of “we’re ALL Americans” when traveling in Latin American countries. It’s pedantic but a lot of people get really stubborn about it.
I mean I refuse to use USian.
I would use South American for Brazil or Argentina anyway.
NTA, South Americans are the only people who try to pull this shit. Don’t listen to them.
NTA
Should have asked her when was the last time she referred to herself as American.
NTA if we are not Americans, because we are from the US, what should we be called? United Statesians? I get the vibe and the idea behind it, but, yeah.
nta, this girl sounds insufferable
Nta. If you were to talk about someone from central African Republic. You would say African, or maybe central African. You wouldn’t say Central African Republican. You don’t say United States of American. You.just say American. Unless your friend says people from Brazil are “,Federative states of Brazilian” or people from Argentina are “Argentine Republican” then he can’t say anything about the correct names of countries. That is assuming he knows that the full names of both of those countries are The Federative States of Brazil, and the Argentine Republic.
Its literally call united states of America. American is the correct term, no one else north or south goes by American, you have Canadian, Mexican, Brazilian, ect. Your friend just wants to pick a fight
No one calls us North Americans. It’s Canadians, Americans and South Americans. She’s being snide.
She’s not wrong but you’re NTA. I’m from the US, I’ve done a decent amount of traveling, to several different countries and contents, no one has ever questioned what country in from when I say I’m American.
She seems like an asshole honestly
Both are socially correct, and or were…it’s a matter of individual global awareness.
You might try “a ‘States-American…”.