OK,
In English - how do you (politely)  refer to someone who is a citizen
of the USA since "American" is incorrect?

A "USAan" just doesn't sound right.

RP

On 29/03/06, Gerhard Fiedler <lists@connectionbrazil.com> wrote:
> peiserma@ridgid.com wrote:
>
> >> Really?  Well our German teacher was saying that it was correct to say
> >> "Ich bin Amerikana" if we are from "America" and she said that Canada
> >> was part of America.
> >
> > She's definitely wrong on that! And it's spelled "Amerikaner" (or
> > "Amerikanerin" if you're female)
>
> That about the spelling is correct, but I disagree on the judgment of the
> meaning.
>
> > "America" generally refers to the political entity aka USA. At least in
> > the USA (I presume your teacher is in the USA).
>
> That may be correct so far (at least for the USA). But don't forget, no
> matter where the teacher is or was, that this was a German lesson, so the
> usage of "America" in the USA is not relevant to the issue, but the usage
> of "Amerika" in Germany very much is.
>
> > In other languages, it may well refer to "The Americas", which is the
> > combination of the North American and South American continents.
>
> And it does so. Also in English, sometimes. (Not sure you consider that an
> "other language" :)
>
> > But no matter how you interpret the geographic distinction, if you're
> > from Canada, you'd refer to yourself as "Kanadier" and not "Amerikaner"
>
> Depends on the context, I'd say. If answering a question related to
> geography ("Ich bin Europ=E4er, und du?"), IMO a Canadian could very well=
, in
> correct usage of German, answer "Ich bin Amerikaner." If he wants to both
> answer the geographic question and make a distinction, he could say "Ich
> bin ein Amerikaner aus Kanada."
>
> A citizen of the USA, used to "occupy" the term "America" (and "Amerika" =
:)
> for his country, may find that strange, but a German wouldn't. Maybe maki=
ng
> that point was part of that particular lesson -- so that the students wou=
ld
> think a bit before judging what "Amerika" means based on their experiences
> with "America".
>
> Gerhard
>
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