CUBA Call In Days - May 1 & 2 - For all you Yanks

And who doesn't perceive the term "North America" to refer to all the countries north of the Rio Grande? Is it just me?

Who is it that thinks even Mexico is a part of "North America"?

Isn't there Canada and the US that make up "North America", and then Mexico, and then Central America and then South America? Where have we gone wrong, maestro?

It's not just Cubans who refer to people from the US as "Norte Americanos", so don't blame it on Cubans' "narrow perspective". I've heard it lots from Central Americans too. Many people in Central America and South America do think of themselves as living in "Las Americas" and NO, they do not mean everyone who's living both the US and Canada. I don't know what they think it gains them to think of themselves as living in "the Americas" and therefore also being "Americanos", but it definitely bugs some people. It doesn't translate well into English, but that's why some use the word "Estadounidense"? And you hear it from Spanish speakers other places in "the Americas" besides Cuba.

I think there is a point that Cubans are trying to make that you have turned your usual blind ear to, David. Their question is what makes the citizens of the USA so presumptuous as to think that they own the term "America" when everyone else needs to further define it, e.g. Central, South, etc.. Isn't Cuba also a part of the "Americas"?

#11

We are not really in disagreement. The correct term for residents of the United States of America is Estadounidensesians or some such as you point out. BTW there is a United States of Mexico and a United States of Brazil as well. Americans live in all of the Americas: North and South. Somehow or other "Vespuccian" just did not catch on.

Cubans, as I mentoned, tend to include themselves OUT of North America. This simply ignores or in more Cuban fashion defies geography.

This is simply a matter of usage, NOT geography. AMERICANS means "people of the USA," even Canadians embrace this usage. I have heard this Canadian protest, and asked people from South America is they are "Americans," and its obviously a non-starter.

I have heard '(Norte) Americano' 'Gringo' 'Yuma' 'Yanqui' and 'Estadounidense' used : the latter being most accurate AND least used. Sometimes applied to Canadians, but not intentionally.

Peculiar geographical note for Yanks, re: US Customs. If you are asked by US Customs if you've been "to the Caribbean," you may accurately & honestly reply 'No.'

Unless you have visited the southern part of Cuba, the DR, Cancun, Grand Cayman, etc., you have NOT visited the Caribbean Sea. Havana most definitely is NOT in or on the Caribbean. Technically ; ) Usage be damned, formal definitions rule where law applies.