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2/16/2016 9:48:48 PM
3
Similar to saying Britain instead of UK, or how people used to say Russia instead of USSR. Acronyms don't roll off the tongue naturally in some cases. America is not as accurate, but people know what it means, so it is "accurate enough." Nobody else refers to themselves as Americans in general conversation. Maybe as North Americans, but not simply as Americans.
English
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I would think that the land/ country is called America. And since it was divided into states that unified, you get the United States of America. So 'Americans' come from these United States.
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Edited by OurWildebeest: 2/16/2016 11:06:11 PMThat is pretty accurate in terms of how they were thinking when they named it. In 1776, America was a continent, but in the English-speaking world, the British colonies were the only part of America that mattered. What is now Canada was very sparsely populated (first big English-speaking population wave was colonial loyalists fleeing the new country). In terms of literal geography, "states of America" would include, for example, Bolivia and Mexico. So I agree America/Americans is technically inaccurate, but language is just one piece of duct tape on top of another. It makes less sense the more you examine it, and this is far from the worst example.
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I could have added the USA decided to keep America in its name whilst others chose Canada, Mexico etc. so.. Americans
