Just curious - what do you say when ppl in foreign countries ask where you are from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So just out of curiosity, what do you "people from Canada" call us? If someone asks, "what nationality is Bob" do you just always conform your answer to say "she is from the States" so that you don't have to say "she is American?" Or do you use some other term? If you see the Stars and Stripes, do you say, "look, they are flying the flag of the United States of America?" instead of calling it the American Flag? And when we sing God Bless America and America the Beautiful, do you think we are talking about you too?

And what do you call denizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

Canadian poster from 19:32 here. To address some of your note, I would just say: "Bob is American"; I don't have an issue with that classification. Like a previous poster mentioned well, I thought, Canadians are from Canada, Americans are from the US, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am from Argentina and when I hear America, it makes me think of Canada all the way down to Argetina. If you go to Argentina and say you are American someone will reply I am from America also. This will be followed by where in America are you from..

It's a bit of a touchy subject since for some reason people from the US seem to think they are the only "Americans" ....[/

But we don't view the continent as "the Americas" As said before, we see the continents in our hemisphere as North America or South America.

We are just abbreviating our country name, as do many other countries:

People's Republic of China= China or Chinese (not Peoples Republicans)
The United Mexican States= Mexico (not Uniteds or Mexican States)
Republica Argentina = Argentina (Not Republica)
Federative Republic of Brazil = Brazil (Not Federative Republic or Federative Republicans)

I could go on and on. It is an abbreviation, just like many other countries abbreviate, including your country of Argentina.

I was talking about how we in the rest of us in Latin America are taught that we are also "Americans". I really have no problem some people say the "States", "US" or "America". I don't think most people from the States really mean any harm when they say it. I just think maybe they don't realize it is a bit of a touch subject when traveling in Latin America. As for my wife who is Mexican, she just says Mexican. The only thing she will just say to some people who don't realize that Mexico is part of North America and not Central America.

Ment to say **don't mean any harm***

[Anonymous]

OP, this is an excellent question! I spend a lot of time abroad and I find it much easier to simply answer that I am from Washington DC. Everyone in every country knows that this is in the US.

Replying that I am from America, leads to all sorts of geographical questions. If I answer that I am from the US, I found that that also leads to lots of questions.

On another note, I've met many Canadians abroad who interestingly like to answer that they are "North American"...?

Your question leads me to another interesting question... Sometimes when I am abroad and meet other Americans from the US, when I tell them that I am from Washington DC, they do not offer to share where from the US they are from. I never gave this much thought or asked about it until now...

Does anyone know why another American from the US meets a Washingtonian abroad, that they do not care to share where their own hometown may be?

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I did not think this question would spark such lively discussion

Thank you everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is an excellent question! I spend a lot of time abroad and I find it much easier to simply answer that I am from Washington DC. Everyone in every country knows that this is in the US.

Replying that I am from America, leads to all sorts of geographical questions. If I answer that I am from the US, I found that that also leads to lots of questions.

On another note, I've met many Canadians abroad who interestingly like to answer that they are "North American"...?

Your question leads me to another interesting question... Sometimes when I am abroad and meet other Americans from the US, when I tell them that I am from Washington DC, they do not offer to share where from the US they are from. I never gave this much thought or asked about it until now...

Does anyone know why another American from the US meets a Washingtonian abroad, that they do not care to share where their own hometown may be?

Dunno. Deep-seated hatred for all things federal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So just out of curiosity, what do you "people from Canada" call us? If someone asks, "what nationality is Bob" do you just always conform your answer to say "she is from the States" so that you don't have to say "she is American?" Or do you use some other term? If you see the Stars and Stripes, do you say, "look, they are flying the flag of the United States of America?" instead of calling it the American Flag? And when we sing God Bless America and America the Beautiful, do you think we are talking about you too?

And what do you call denizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

Canadian here. what nationality is Bob is't a common question but I do typically say that someone is "from the States' or 'he's from New York' rather than he's American. Not consciously in that I want to avoid saying American, it is just how I frame it. I would probably say the US flag but might say American flag. I don't ever sing or hear either of those songs so have never given it much thought. I have never used the term America for the US to identify the country as I've hear the US referred to that way in Canada so that just sounds odd to me. I call someone from the UK British or English and I call someone from Ireland Irish.

[Anonymous]

The States. But my heritage? German/Swedish.

[Anonymous]

"Washington, DC"?