Reply to Referring to people from USA as "American"

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[quote=Anonymous]South American here (from the south sub-section of the continent called America).  I agree with almost everything you posted. Except for one.

China is a country, so referring to it as "People's Republic of China" is unambiguous.  But, originally, America was not a country or a political entity -- it was a part of the world as referred to by the Europeans.  When the British created colonies in the east coast of the northern part of the continent known as America, they simply referred to as their colonies in the continent of America.  When the 13 colonies became independent, they referred themselves as the united states of America -- that is, the united states located in the continent called America.  But they could have called themselves the united states of North America. Or the United States in Eastern North America.

One could even argue that this country is one of the few that doesnt have an actual name, like Italy or India.  It refers to a collective political organization in a vague geographical location.

But I agree that the translation for "American" (ie someone from the USA) is "estadounidense" and vice versa.  Most reasonable Latin Americans wouldn't mind if Americans use that words in English in that context.  Similarly, the translation of "Americano" (ie someone from the continent of America , or if you insist, from the Americas) should also be "American."

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