| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
| |
| American (adj.), America (n.) |
| |
| |
| We of the United States of America, citizens of only one of many nations in the Americas, North, Central, and South, have preempted the informal name of our country, America, and our title, Americans. It may be arrogant and inaccurate that we do so, but the fact is that no other citizens of the Americas seem to want to be confused with the Americans of the USA. Nor have others coined any other universally recognized names for us. Yankees and Yanks sometimes applies to all of us but often only to Northeasterners (particularly New Englanders) and twentieth-century soldiers. Our flag is almost always “the American flag.” Only the precision of The United States of America and of a citizen thereof can be official and usefully substituted, and the rest is language history: we speak American English, we live in the United States, the U.S. (or USA), or America (the beautiful), and we’re Americans, even if we only adapted and adopted the language and the lands. It is not likely that these usages will change soon, so overwhelming is their use both by others and by us. |
1 |
| |
| |
| The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
|
|
