Also offensive: pointing out that English speakers do not use the word “American” to refer to people from Latin America. The term in our language is universally used to refer to people from the country America.
Also offensive: pointing out that English speakers do not use the word “American” to refer to people from Latin America. The term in our language is universally used to refer to people from the country America.
If they want to use it, I’m not going to correct them. If they try to “correct” me for using my language in its most widely accepted manner, that’s when I start getting mad. The only one policing others’ language arethose insisting you cannot call Americans Americans.
The issue for me is that you were the one insisting that it was “arrogant” of certain Spanish speakers to have the temerity to consider themselves American by virtue of living in The Americas, just because the USA enjoy cultural hegemony in the English speaking world. I guess if all you want to do is reify US cultural hegemony, then go for it I suppose. But English isn’t a static language and cultural hegemony isn’t unchanging either, it is constantly being contested. In the context of the US renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, I do feel your position comes off as a bit racist even if it wasn’t your intention. If all you were saying is “this is the commonly understood meaning of ‘American’ in the English speaking world if you exclude any additional content”, then I agree that’s true. But you can get there without claims of arrogance and without excluding the possibility of differing interpretations.
The issue is that this is a mischaracterisation of my position. The arrogance is only when Spanish and Portuguese speakers come in and try to suggest this in a way as to correct someone who uses the word American only for people from the country America.
Personally, I think that change is disgusting racist dog whistling that flagrantly flouts international standards.
But the funny thing is…I’d have thought if you’re someone who uses “America” to refer to the whole of the two continents, you’d be supportive of this change. It’s not the Gulf of the United States of America, it’s the Gulf of America, according to Trump, which according to you means it includes the US, Mexico, Cuba, and any other countries it borders.
Although while it's at front of mind, I just did this for the second time. Not that it's likely to have any effect, the effing bootlickers.
I will not stop calling it arrogant, because it is arrogant when they try and insist their way is the only correct way. Coming into my replies to tell me I did something wrong when I did nothing of the sort is arrogant, and I won’t apologise for calling it out.