Cactus Codex

Pony blogger, actual cactus, artist, writer, computer scientist, and linguist. New Jersey / Pennsylvania | 21 | male, he/him/his | asexual hispanic | Cereus repandus, or Peruvian apple cactus

discordsparkle:

some-gamer-girl:

discordsparkle:

thelakeiswatchingyou:

elionking:

thisisnotlatino:

thisisnotlatino:

tsuki-nekota:

THANK YOU

For the pinche güeros who keep saying, “this is America, speak English!”

ADD THE CARIBBEAN YOU POTATO!!!

But America isn’t a continent…
North America and South America are two separate continents…
I understand what you’re saying but….

dude why was this never explained to me in school i feel like such a moron

The continents were never explained to you in school? What the hell kind of school did you go to?

probably my school because my school said the country was the contenent, either that or the school never understood

So there are people who think Obama is the leader of the entire Western Hemisphere then?

Yay, fun post!

Okay, the North/South vs. One America deal is mostly a cultural and regional thing that can’t really be solved.

Historically, “American” referred to the natives of the New World back in the 1500s. In English, the word narrowed its scope down to the British American people (Britain’s colonial territory). Then the U.S. was brewing, and it was really the British who called us Americans to start with. The name stuck because they all spoke English, lived in an English-ruled zone, and it just did.

Another English quirk? It’s commonly taught that there’s 7 continents, including the North and South Americas, inhabited by North Americans and South Americans.

So using the sole “Americans” as the U.S. demonym had and has no conflict in that respect. If you speak English and live in the States, you can rightfully call yourself an American.

Besides, it’s not like there’s any alternatives. United-Statian? That’s a mouthful and it just sounds terrible. Uniters? That sounds overly patriotic and would makes the rest of the world angry(ier). Yankee? Well that could work, but with in the States themselves, yankees are New-Englanders.

The Spanish-speaking world has you covered, though. Their 6-continent model says what OP just showed: one America. Anyone living on that continent are “americanos.”

A person from the U.S. (or E.E.U.U.) is called estadounidense. Literally “united-statesian” but in a better form.

Really, no one uses this term in informal conversation. If someone sees a white guy in the streets of Lima talking with an apparent American accent, he’s americano. Even if he’s actually Canadian.

I mean, it’s not wrong to start with. It’s like a pun. :U

Fun Fact: Mexico’s official name is The United Mexican States. Technically, they can claim the estadounidense word for themselves. But that leaves EEUU with nothing to use, so they’re just mexicanos. In English, this works out pretty nicely:

United States of America => Americans
United Mexican States => Mexicans

Case in point, stop whining about this. There’s no right way or wrong way from a universal standpoint. The differences come from two radically different cultures and regions with their history and sorts. Just use the term your environment uses. Most of the western world calls us Americans anyways. :P

Click for a source and more info.

(Source: adoniramleon)

  1. hola-sarahi reblogged this from hola-sarahi
  2. futurodesconocido reblogged this from lotsoffuckinglove
  3. favourit-e-nightmare reblogged this from lotsoffuckinglove
  4. lotsoffuckinglove reblogged this from zombitch-tar
  5. estoy-borracho-y-solo-por-ti reblogged this from zombitch-tar
  6. charm-less reblogged this from zombitch-tar
  7. zombitch-tar reblogged this from little-piba
  8. sra13mustaine reblogged this from little-piba
  9. mi-paraiso-oscuro reblogged this from little-piba
  10. little-piba reblogged this from peace-was-never-an-option
  11. peace-was-never-an-option reblogged this from bajo-elpavimento
  12. agusvasques reblogged this from adoniramleon
  13. gatinhosdechocolate reblogged this from adoniramleon
  14. oh-mygucci reblogged this from adoniramleon
  15. hellasupercorptrash reblogged this from weinzapfeltalks
  16. alydotl reblogged this from marvelsrunagays
  17. awesomepaste reblogged this from mermaiddis
  18. cant-take-the-sky-from-me18 reblogged this from puppycommander
  19. itsalwaysgonnabeher reblogged this from puppycommander
  20. spymasters-blog reblogged this from weinzapfeltalks
  21. mermaiddis reblogged this from cristy-persephonesgrace
  22. icallhergertrude reblogged this from irishiwasapengwen
  23. irishiwasapengwen reblogged this from weinzapfeltalks
  24. boredlike24-7 reblogged this from simonethegreatandterrible
  25. awfulleswaffle reblogged this from marvelsrunagays
  26. adoniramleon posted this