You probably don't know, but most Latin Americans repudiate the use of the term “American” to mean, exclusively, the citizens of the United States of America. The key word being exclusively; the concept that US citizens are the only true Americans. This view is egotistic, and strongly rejected by all others living in the Americas. I must clarify that using Americans to refer to the citizens of the US isn't wrong; using it only to mean citizen of the US, is. The confusion arises because the US demonym (or gentilic) is that of its continent.

Calling US citizens Americans is not a problem on itself. The problem is ignoring or denying Americans also means, and is correctly used to encompass, all the people residing in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. You just have to look inside any dictionary,

A·mer·i·can [uh-mer-i-kuhn] adjective: 1. of or pertaining to the United States of America or its inhabitants: an American citizen; 2. of or pertaining to North or South America; of the Western Hemisphere: the American continents; 3. of or pertaining to the aboriginal Indians of North and South America, usually excluding the Eskimos,regarded as being of Asian ancestry and marked generally by reddish to brownish skin, black hair, dark eyes, and prominent cheekbones. noun: 4. a citizen of the United States of America; 5. a native or inhabitant of the Western Hemisphere; 6. an Indian of North or South America; 7. American English; 8. a steam locomotive having a four-wheeled front truck, four driving wheels, and no rear truck.

Now you know. American might be an US citizen, or might be a citizen of one of the 35 sovereign countries, or the 23 non-self-governing territories, of the Americas. Once more, the difficulty lies in the fact the US don't have an unique demonym — it is shared. In Spanish, we sometimes use the expression estadounidenses to refer to US citizens which, as for any other country, derives from its name: Estados Unidos. The translation would be United Statians. That’s something to think about.

If you still don't understand or agree it might be a little presumptuous for the citizens of a country to take over the gentilic of a continent, consider for a moment, if an hypothetical European country named the United States of Europe would call its citizens Europeans in detriment of all other countries in the continent; or if an United States of Asia seized the term Asians to only mean their people. Wouldn't it be misconstrued?

I ain't suggesting you take any specific action. You just need to become aware of the multiple definitions of word American, and remember there are many Americans all over this continent. Share this story with others. Add your comments on the topic and let me know what you think.

About the Author

Reinaldo Martínez is a Project Manager in the Pharmaceutical Industry, and blogger for Repensando La Nación. He has written over 70 entries on 3 blogs, and have been published by in Periódico Digital Puertorriqueño La Nación, MUSPR.org and Chispero. When his is not constructing projects, he like to comment on current Puerto Rico issues, or spend time with family and friends at the beach. You can contact Reinaldo on Twitter, @lifenbits, or his FB public page, https://www.facebook.com/ReinaldoMtnezVlqz.