I think it’s not even a colloquialism. It’s common language around Europe. There are daily news headlines about “American tariffs”, “can’t trust the Americans” or “American soldiers”. And it’s used this way in English (American), French (américains) and German (Amerikaner). I’d say yanks or Amis are the true colloquialisms.
Anyway, about colloquialisms, no issues, no rules.
TBH, I was trolling a bit about the use of Americans. The issue is the feeling of my country is in America (the continent), so please don’t use America when talking about the actions of the US government. It makes America look bad, when the issue is the USA.
There’s no right or wrong here. The limited exchange between both sides of the Atlantic is enough to explain why people have different opinions. So, it all depends to the level of exposure to this exchange.
I think you’re all being a bit pedantic. American has always meant people from the US of A for decades. And yes, while generally there is central America and south America, people from those regions are usually referred to by their nationalities - Brazilian, Cuban, Mexican, Chilien, etc.
A Mexican friend of mine gets offended, usually it goes like “Mexico is America too!”. “I meant North America”. “Mexico is North America too”.
But back to the vacation duration. When I was younger I did never understand the concept of moving far away for two weeks, usually to do just the same as home. I used to work years in a row, even weekends, and then left the job for travelling. Sometimes a few months sometimes longer.
I did dive deep into the countries I visited, learned languages and got to know the local people and traditions. I even got to know my wife on one of those vacations.
I could fill books with the adventures I had (survived…).
The Swiss Germans often asked if I was from the UK or USA, I was with an American client one time who replied “he is from Boston, can’t you tell from his accent” whilst pissing himself laughing. The Swiss person had no idea what was amusing
This is the hierarchy in the US:
To a Southerner, a Yankee is a Northerner. To a Northerner, a Yankee is a Northeasterner. To a Northeasterner a Yankee is a New Englander. To a New Englander a Yankee is a Vermonter, and to a Vermonter a Yankee is someone who eats pie for breakfast.
Edit: I found two quotes I liked:
"Calling all Americans Yankees is like calling everyone from the UK “English.”
“If it’s used by a Southerner, it certainly is not a compliment.
If it’s used by one of y’all, it usually is used to indicate how stupid or uncultured we are.
If it’s used by someone from Boston, it’s the last thing they say before killing someone with a broken beer bottle.
The rest of us don’t use it.”
Also, the number of times I’ve had to remind coworkers in Canada that Mexico is part of North America… My fun tidbit is asking people which United States they are referring to if they don’t specify America.
It’s sad that until my current leave, I’ve never taken more than 2 weeks and returned to the same job. Even so, this leave is just 3 weeks. As a result of this pattern, I get a little antsy after 1 week if I’ll still have a job or if something has f’d up or not…
People from US are called, clearly, “estadounidenses”. And Americans include people from the whole continent. wasn’t it clear after the Bad Bunny end performance of the mid-time superbowl? (translated, as, of course, ‘supertazon’). No wonder it didn’t fall well…
Yet, sociologists know (very well) that language transforms society (and viceversa). By appropriating language, you can transform society in the long run. There you have it.
Unfortunately, it happens not only in language. The rewriting of history occurs in all and each blockbuster. Particularly on the anglosaxon ones. And, very worryingly, these blockbusters is how a proportion of young people (and adults) ‘learn’ history.
I was physically sick after 10 minutes of Netflix’ “The Great” ( we don’t have TV, nor Netflix, nor any of these subscriptions, a friend of mine invited me for a 'dinner & series" ). When I refused to keep on watching, she switched to “The Bridgetons”. I was RoFL; she stopped that one, because I was commenting on historical inaccuracies every 10 seconds. And now comes…“Amadeus”, a … remake(??) of the fabulous Milos Forman movie. My neighbor, an opera singer, was close to cut his veins when he saw the trailer…
Call me purist, old fashioned or out-of-touch, but… what is next?
and now, back to holidays. I must travel to US at the end of the month…(for work, but 8 h disconnected for me feels like holidays) … I guess I will have to delete the swissforum somehow…
