Post by thread:[OT] Meaning of "American"

Wagner Lipnharski wrote: > I thought that America was a continent that is separated in North, > South, and Central, not a specific country identification. Ermm... Well... Words mean what they mean in the context in which they are used. In *some* context, "America" means the continents of the western hemisphere, but more usually, "America" (in context) means USAian. Words only mean what the people who use them mean them to mean, no use in arguing.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Westfall N6KUY spam_OUTxyzzyTakeThisOuTacm.org .....mwestfalKILLspam@spam@odc.net http://www.odc.net/~mwestfal Linux religious dogma: "The Gates of Hell shall not prevail." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 17:10 03/23/99 -0800, Mike Westfall wrote: >Wagner Lipnharski wrote: >> I thought that America was a continent that is separated in North, >> South, and Central, not a specific country identification. > >Ermm... Well... >Words mean what they mean in the context in which they are used. > >In *some* context, "America" means the continents of the western >hemisphere, but more usually, "America" (in context) means USAian. > >Words only mean what the people who use them mean them to mean, no >use in arguing.... no use in arguing about what it means in a certain context, but maybe there's some use (but then, maybe not) in trying to explain that this particular use can hurt the feelings of other americans, and that it, maybe, is not appropriate if you do not want deliberately hurt the feelings of them. maybe? ge

Gerhard Fiedler wrote: > >hemisphere, but more usually, "America" (in context) means USAian. > > > >Words only mean what the people who use them mean them to mean, no > >use in arguing.... > > no use in arguing about what it means in a certain context, but maybe > there's some use (but then, maybe not) in trying to explain that this > particular use can hurt the feelings of other americans, and that it, Well, I would say that most who use "American" to mean United States would have no clue that such usage is hurtful to anyone. (But now I, at least, do). This issue is better discussed in alt.usage.english, where (I'm sure) it's already been discussed at length, ad naseum. Cheers che, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Westfall N6KUY xyzzyKILLspamacm.org .....mwestfalKILLspam.....odc.net http://www.odc.net/~mwestfal Linux religious dogma: "The Gates of Hell shall not prevail." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------