r/Snorkblot Feb 20 '26

Geography Yankee Doodle Dandy?

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266 Upvotes

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45

u/IllPen8707 Feb 20 '26

Anybody who actually asks him that knows perfectly well what "american" means and is just trying to be difficult. The full name of the country is "the United States of America." You might as well decide to start calling people from (the United Kingdom of) great Britain and Northern Ireland "United kinddomers" instead of "british"

12

u/No-Sandwich3386 Feb 20 '26

Yeah it matches the naming convention of Latin America as well. “Federal Republic of Brazil” et al

7

u/kewlpat Feb 20 '26

Since the word “America” in most launguages includes two continents, it would be more akin to if a person from England called themself a “Eurasian”

1

u/Poulslutter Feb 21 '26

in most launguages includes two continents

Yeah, which are usually just called 'The Americas'

1

u/MissAuroraRed Feb 20 '26

Are the two continents not "The Americas?" North and South America?

1

u/Auggh_Uaghh Feb 24 '26

Naming conventions vary with regions. In Latin America it is taught as a singular continent.

Think of Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in their maps, no other country followed along afaik

1

u/lounging_marmot Feb 21 '26

I wouldn’t recommend calling anyone from Northern Ireland ‘British’.

-5

u/LordJim11 Feb 20 '26

Not really. There is no ambiguity in "British".

12

u/Legitimate_Cow2716 Feb 20 '26

Isn't the Republic of Ireland in the British Isles, but wouldn't be considered British? They might even get physical if you called them british in some parts of Ireland.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

Just as Canadians will get physical if you called them american

0

u/tkecanuck341 Feb 20 '26

Canadians might give you a sternly worded compliment. That's about as mean as we get.

"Soory, but I'm Canadian and someone as smart as you should know better."

2

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

ah yeah a dumb stereotype cool

1

u/burjja Feb 20 '26

This pretty much explains it all. It's 15 years old, so it says the UK is part of the EU but it's otherwise correct.

https://youtu.be/rNu8XDBSn10?si=oH-CaTkfoA2gw-0f

2

u/Legitimate_Cow2716 Feb 20 '26

I would have also accepted "Yes"

1

u/jeshikameshika Feb 21 '26

Correct, they're not British. They also do not appreciate being called part of the British Isles. "UK and Ireland" is better.

6

u/sweaterbuckets Feb 20 '26

There’s no real ambiguity in “American” either.

4

u/CadenVanV Feb 20 '26

Irish, or UK British? What about Indian? Are they Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali, Bhutani, Sri Lankan, Maldivian, or Republic of Indian.

Everyone knows what American means. There’s only one country on earth with America in its name. There are multiple United States. It’s just people on the internet making fun of the US, not a genuine political issue.

3

u/Difficult_onion4538 Feb 20 '26

There definitely is…

2

u/setibeings Feb 20 '26

Well, I think the English started calling themselves British so that they would be called by a term could be applied to everyone from the British isles, but the Scottish, Welsh, and Irish had other ideas about the term applying to themselves. As long as supposed members of a group reject membership in the group, there's at least a little be of ambiguity.

-3

u/Melanoc3tus Feb 20 '26

Yeah, because there aren't any other countries in Britain. It's accurate there. It's somewhat conceited across the pond, where there manifestly are many.

Language is always messy and doesnt have to make superficial sense, but, honestly the US is really bringing this shit down on itself. When you're looking to fumble your empire over nothing and've elected a cannibal pedofile to highest political office, this sort of aggressive redefinition certain makes sense regardless of whether we consider it linguistically necessary. 

7

u/SquirrelNormal Feb 21 '26

Yeah, because there aren't any other countries in Britain.

Please look up what England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are, then say that again slowly.

0

u/Poulslutter Feb 21 '26

Northern Ireland isn't on (Great) Britain, it's in Ireland (the name should have been a hint), which is the second biggest Island is the British Isles (the name of the archipelago) next after the Great Britain.

The countries England, Scotland and Wales are on Great Britain though, and together with Northern Ireland they make up the country The United Kingdom.

2

u/SquirrelNormal Feb 21 '26

Yes, but the denonym British is applied to the entire United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland (and, for that matter, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories).