1 definition by PinkFlipflops
A demonym or gentilic for citizens of the USA. It comes from latin languages, such as spanish, italian, french and portuguese, which have a translation conflict when it comes to calling people from the USA and people from the american continent. For those languages, there are different words for both linguistic cases, while popular english has only one.
Due to globalization, the english language became popular and relevant. This fact makes people from other countries, which might mainly speak latin-rooted languages, discover this translation conflict. It makes people wanting to find a way to fix said conflict by using the term "united statian". Alas, some USA citizens find it dumb for many reasons. Often those who reject such term argue that the context of the sentence makes the distinction obvious. Although, it is not obvious for those who learn english as a mandatory second language, or else such problem wouldn't be discovered neither discussed.
Due to globalization, the english language became popular and relevant. This fact makes people from other countries, which might mainly speak latin-rooted languages, discover this translation conflict. It makes people wanting to find a way to fix said conflict by using the term "united statian". Alas, some USA citizens find it dumb for many reasons. Often those who reject such term argue that the context of the sentence makes the distinction obvious. Although, it is not obvious for those who learn english as a mandatory second language, or else such problem wouldn't be discovered neither discussed.
Sam: Why do you call US citizens United Statians instead of Americans?
Maria: I find it too confusing! I speak portuguese, so I often find it hard to know if the term "american" refers to me as a south american as well or if the speaker is only referring to united statians!
Sam: I see! I find it weird, but I get your point. After all, there are many people from many countries who might face the same language issue, right?
Maria: Yes, my french husband agreed with me.
Maria: I find it too confusing! I speak portuguese, so I often find it hard to know if the term "american" refers to me as a south american as well or if the speaker is only referring to united statians!
Sam: I see! I find it weird, but I get your point. After all, there are many people from many countries who might face the same language issue, right?
Maria: Yes, my french husband agreed with me.
by PinkFlipflops March 30, 2023