I wasn't picking on you... I think the problem is, I do not get the same connotation of Americano vs. American. Seems the same to me. Is that because I don't speak Portugese?

The Brazilian thing was just a random pick of the South American bag, as it were, and actually a bad one because of the Portuguese-speaking. Let's say a Venezuelan instead, where Spanish is much more prominent.

"Americano" has a connotation of all the continent(s). All the peoples, all the countries, together. (As I've had it explained to me, anyway.) To a Spanish speaker, an American calling himself an American sounds like he's limiting all the people and all the countries to only the one single country of the US. As noted upthread, we don't say USian, which would sorta be the direct equivalent of estadounidense, which is how you proclaim US citizenship in Spanish. We say American, instead, which sounds arrogant and over-inclusive to someone who uses American in a very different way.

And hence I wonder if folks from New Jersey saying that they're from "Jersey" is implying that there is only one place named Jersey in the world or it's the slang they grow up with.

I submit that people in the US aren't trying to be arrogant - that's a perception from others - rather it's the slang they grew up with. People from New York don't say they're from "York". It's just a thing, but more is being read into it than is being implied by the folks from the US (or Britain, for example, which also refers to the US as America.)

I agree that it's not arrogance, but I don't think it's a matter of just slang either. It's just that English and Spanish are constructed differently. Jersey/New Jersey doesn't work as an analogy because there's not a language/culture difference affecting the perception of the two names, nor do I think there's any significant difference between "Jersey" vs. "New Jersey." The two imply the same place. ...which is why there's trouble going back and forth across English and Spanish, because many Spanish-speakers feel "Americans" are implying "America (US)" is the same place as all the Americas (North and South). It's more nuanced than just dropping the adjective.

It's okay to have multiple places called the same thing. Sometimes it's slang (none of us talk in completely "proper" English anyway) and sometimes it's just places with the same name. There are 38 towns/townships/cities named Springfield in the US alone. I don't think that calling New Jersey, Jersey is any different from calling the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the UK.

the term America has been used for America by Americans, for quite some time now. For instance, the song America the Beautiful, which was written in the late 1800's. While America may not be the 'official' name of our country it has been in use for hundreds of years, and I really don't see it as rude or arrogant to continue to use it. .

You know,the form of government that our fore-fathers created was,in their time,wonderful,but the system has outgrown itself and simply needs to be changed.
For example:
Budget cuts=people cutting education first.
My reaction:
In my opinion,the world doesn't run on money like most Americans think,but rather it runs on education.Seriously,then Obama hires employees from Monsanto to work in the USDA.(Monsanto is the devil of the agricultural industry).Do I want to even start on genetic modification of living organisms and artificial meat?They've been finding new diseases that have been linked to GMO foods.Other countries are already aware of this and placing bans on GMOs and the newly renamed "Corn Sugar"(High Fructose Corn Syrup).Then the Corn Refiners Association made a commercial saying that your body can't tell the difference between a lab-made Corn Sugar and plain sugar.Did I mention that I don't think drinking and driving laws are being enforced well enough?No I didn't.I have seen way too many idiots that have been having a hard time staying out of the bike lane!

Well good night!

I don't share the view that formal education is the holy grail or untouchable. There is a lot of fat to be cut, particularly at the college level, Yes, there are schools where there are inadequate funding. But there are also colleges where professorsand admins get treated like kings. If you feel that education deserves more funding, you should look at the top salaries of some college educators, many of who make hundreds of thousands of dollars, get free housing, special perks etc. One of the top salaries paid in the state of california is to a football coach at a major uni. To me, the salary he makes is gross.

I think salary for state funded workers and admins should be capped, and benefits as well.

For those who are curious, the top salaries for state workers in california are a matter of public record and posted here:
http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/?nam...y=&salarylevel=

Top Earner:

HEAD COACH University of California, Berkeley: $2,349,037.96

followed by:

Head Coach of Athletics, UCLA: $2,076,534.61

Ask any Latin American. There's a distinction between "americano" and "estadounidense." In several countries, students are taught that North and South America are one continent, America (and that Europe and Asia are another).

Im tired of people always blaming others, not taking reasonability for their wrongs. we all screw up but if you admit ur mistake and ask for help. most likely you will get it but blaming others and excepting them to take care of you or saying they are heartless or even trying to make them feel bad because you life isnt going well. it wrong! So, is expecting others to take care of them. we need to accept responsibility for ourselves stop waiting others to take care of you. I think like i said before if people will only ask for help & stop shaming others for it that they might find lots of are willing to give it for free.. Like myself.. i love to give! Its great to help others but no one should be forced to do it.. after all you can give someone food for a day and hell eat for a day but if you teach him to grow his food hell eat for a lifetime. once someone learns to do things for them self then they proud of themselves and it makes them want to get out and help others.. just a thought.

Another thing I dont like is when others say people are racist when they dont agree with their views!

Well, you're right, and that's one of the reasons why people judge America, because you've done such damage. Not only to other countries but to each other. America doesn't seem to look after its own even in the most basic way; education and health being the two most obvious. Most Australian's I know, including myself, don't 'stereotype' Americans - we would treat any individual from America as just that if we met them - but we do judge the country and its people based on its actions. We get judged on our actions to. It is what it is. As someone said no country is perfect, but America is ugly.
And just quickly, I think anyone with half a brain is fully aware that many Americans are great people who crave change and feel helpless and trapped in the system.
If you want to live in another country, why not? I don't think people would treat you like you think they would, just because you're American.

@MsScribble your right America Doesn't seem to look after its own in the most basic way. Having grown up a step up from the bottom I know how every food bank struggles to feed all the people that need help. A food bank should NEVER, especially around holidays, have to pleed for donations. You see a bell ringer, you may not think it, but ten cents means a world of differance.

we send out millions of dollars to other countries for food. Yes, I understand it's being a good neighbor, but over looking this own countries needs. Our health care? Well yeah that's a big joke. Want the biggest scare of your life see some of these doctors that accept government health cards. Your safer going to free clinics. And Dentistry, oh lordy, how many americans are screwed on that end. As of recently CA has decided under MediCal they will no longer cover any dental.

American government spends billions on wars and police actions yet neglects their own people. Can we even say we are making a differance or are we just making matters worse. Trust me American news covers up a lot of truth, and also twists a lot of truth. Watch British news then watch our news and find a similar story and see how differnt is.

Is it bad if sometimes I wonder why we the people keep acting like whipped puppies instead of starting some sort of uprising? (other then lame riots in NY)

Sometimes I shake my head when I hear that the economy is doing great, yet see how packed a job fair is. Shoot my home town is a freaking ghost town. Like me many people have left to find jobs. Stores close down and what was a vibrant city is just full of people wandering aimlessly.

: shrugs : the only thing I can really say is the only thing about the next election I am looking forward to is Palin dropping out. Only wack jobs seem to be running for president. That includes Obama to me he's just a grandstanding moron (and you can't call me racist saying since he "claims" he's part Irish, tsch, Grandpappy would have a feild day with that one if he was alive).

And I'd rather not live in a socialist state. You stay in your socialist world, and I'll live in the free world, okay?

Spain has universal health care. Spain is not a socialist state. Those two things are not related so I don't see the point on your comment.

Where you born in the 60's? That is totally Reagan ideology. The only people I've heard speak of America in that fashion were children and uniformed adults. America was definitely more well off than other countries when I was growing up, but I was never taught that other countries were inferior. I have heard people say that this is one of the nicest places to live and I have to agree. Universal medical care or not, there a lot of freedoms allowed here than in other countries. Doesn't make it the greatest.



So...have you actually been to America or are you just talking out your ass? Saying that you would never live in a country just because it didn't provide you with health care sounds pretty American to me. Sounds like you'll fit in fine here.

I've been there. A friend of mine had a small accident and she needed some stitches (I hope this is the correct word, my dictionary says it is). She had to pay for them. In Spain you don't have to pay anything if you need some stitches... or if you need a surgery. Health care is financed with the taxes everyone pays.
I'm maybe weird, but I think health care and basic education are universal rights and all countries should provide them to their citizens for free; and in developed countries this is perfectly possible.

*cough* america's education system is in the toilet. maybe thats why nobody's bothered about the lack of universal health care.


..just sayin'.
("stitches" is the correct word, btw.)

having lived here my entire life, i can easily say that the US is overly individualistic (and too invested in drama, in general, like a giant high school). to the point of seeing someone in serious trouble, and walking by, because they dont want to get "involved". yet at the same time, oh so willing to punish a woman for having sex, because they personally dont have to deal with the baby it produces. america's biggest lie is "freedom of choice"...you're free to choose, but not without people clothes-lining you for it.
greed and selfishness are beginning to permeate the culture, and i for one... am saddened by this. the US has potential, but it needs serious work--work that nobody wants to help each other (based on the concept that to be successful, you must be highly competitive and hoard what you do achieve, regardless of whether or not you need it) to achieve--to progress. people here are too nosy about the little things and not involved enough in the important matters. it will crumble if it continues this way. everyone has a voice, and that is as much a curse as it is a blessing (particularly when the majority has their heads buried firmly in the sand).

it may be a harsh critique, and certainly not everyone in the US is like that, but if we're ever to get anywhere, we need to stop fooling ourselves and baby-talking through the serious crap. and invest in a balance of things. balance is sustainable; a system that relies on perpetual growth, is not.

Of course the education system is in the toilet, want me to tell you about "special" education? It's where you sit in a room and get credit for not acting up. Want to know what highschool special ed classes consist of, well go back to fifth grade. Congratulations if your school has special education and they actually teach stuff. However I think with the whole no child left behind thing it might have gone the way of the dinosaurs; not certian. By the time I graduated HS I only had pre-algebra (1+a=2 what is a type stuff). My reading ability was at college level but my writing was at 4th grade level... ... YEAH I'm not even 30 yet. Here I take the bus and I see kids holding text books that are falling apart that hasn't been updated in like forever. I hear from the lady I rent from who is a teacher because of the no-child law every child has to take English class (Language) even the kids who speak and write English. Though I have to give credit HS now days are doing math I never even herd of.

Over all I have already lost faith in my country. Everyday I spend 2 plus hours about traveling on the bus; It would be a 30 minute drive. Then working a full day dragging myself back home only to find one more bill to pay. The constant worry about rent, bills, general survival. Never being able to afford going out and having a good time. Only reason I can afford fast food on Sundays is because two tacos and a coffee cost 2.65 at Jack in the Crack. Other wise it is constant TV dinners because anything fresh is unaffordable. Not having health insurance and the constant reminder you have kidney disease that is a ticking time bomb.

It's the lack of an American dream that crushes you.Even when you get to what seems to be your dream life barely changes because now you have to support the dream,

And those you think are in highpaying jobs, there not really anymore. Man how many times I have herd "Oh, your a security gaurd you must get paid good money," all I can do is laugh and point out the people working at McDonalds make more money then me after a year, and better benifits."

I think the main problem with America, like SuicidiaParasidia pointed out, is that it's a very individualistic country. Probably it's biggest help and it's biggest downfall.

Some points here:

You're falling into the generalization trap. The people who mistreat Aborigines, Asians etc. are usually the racist loudmouthed yahoos (quite a few of which, sadly, are in Parliament) the rest of us are desperately trying to distance ourselves from.

Yes, every country has its flaws, but the point the OP seems to be making is that America - the United States of America, billions of people call it America so you're stuck with it - is for the most part completely unapologetic about its flaws and many Americans jump up and down in a display of revoltingly jingoistic pride knowing full well that they live in a country where the banks were allowed to completely ruin the financial system and trigger a global financial crisis, where universal health care was only recently introduced amid jeers of "socialized medicine", racist groups are allowed to openly parade their hatred (in Australia that will get you jail time), food and drink are so poorly regulated that citizens regularly run the risk of consuming harmful chemicals and disease organisms, and both military and foreign policy from the 1960s onward has been one long campaign of paranoid boogeyman hunting interspersed with resource grabbing and religious colonialism.

Not all Australians hate the United States, but the vast majority do, and if you're an American coming to visit, you better damned well be polite if you want to avoid trouble.


The whole thing about "blah blah blah SOCIALISM!" really gets up my nose. I'm a socialist and nothing going on in America right now even remotely resembles my political beliefs. Australia has operated on a liberal form of socialism since the 1970s and we have thrived as a result. It was socialist policies in the late 2000s that allowed us to escape the GFC relatively unscathed. Socialism, you say? You could USE some socialist policy!

Are you saying that the Australian yahoos don't represent the majority of Australians, but in the US the yahoos do? Because we're not all like that either. And believe me, I hate the things this country does. And the banking crisis was caused by banks worldwide. But thanks for the heads up about not visiting there.

No, you're not all like that. I know some perfectly lovely Americans. There is a good reason why the Ugly American stereotype exists, though.

I have to agree about never moving to a country that doesn't offer 'free' health care. (We all pay from our taxes for it to be free) I do have private health cover now but for years I used Medicare. I just can't imagine what people in America do if they don't have access to free health care. To me that's the same as education; it should be a right for everyone to access no matter how poor they are.

We are known as a very multicultural place and I don't think we have racism any more than any other country. If you look at our history then yes there have been some horrible things done, but nothing worse than anywhere else. People are people whatever country they come from and you can't control how people think.

Since when did we all hate American's? I enjoy talking to people online from all over. I know people from America, Canada, England, Denmark, Portugal, South Africa, Singapore, the Bahamas and probably some other places that I've forgotten. I think it’s wonderful how international the internet is.
There has been some confusion over words a few times- mostly rather amusing, and one time an American did take something the wrong way-that's their own fault for assuming the rest of the world uses the same words the same way. There is a little thing such as asking for clarification before going off. There are some things that get up my nose about certain American companies. You try filling out a long form, searching for international posting to realize in the fine print "Excluding Australia" Or that they want to charge you $100 shipping on some books- not kidding that’s how much Amazon wanted! I’ve had a couple of parcels sent to me by American friends and even paying the postage of the company to them and their postage to me is cheaper. That does not mean I hate all American's, I've known some lovely ones online for the past 5 years.

Also yes quite a few of us were born in the 1960's.

I never said we ALL hate Americans, read my post properly, I said THE VAST MAJORITY OF US do. You should have seen the protests and violence when USS Kitty Hawk stopped in Sydney a few years back.