There's a reason the LJ is called "Giving Xenophobia a Bad Name"

[vaznetti]

Due to my childcare arrangements I end up pushing an empty stroller (pushchair) through central Oxford on a regular basis; this means that I get the "I think you've lost someone..." joke equally regularly. (This joke NEVER GETS OLD for some people.) My usual response is an exaggerated "OMG I left the baby on the bus!" routine, which makes everyone happy. But I am sometimes tempted to do a more understated, "what do you mean, he's right there?" thing, expect that I worry that it would make the person who made the joke uncomfortable. What if they thought I really was delusional? They might feel bad!

This is so American of me! I'm sure if I were English I would not be so worried about upsetting people who make stupid jokes.

While we're on the "so American" subject, have I mentioned my hatred for the term "USian"? I hate it with a burning passion; for a while I thought that I would eventually get used to it, but in fact I still twitch a little whenever I see it. On principle, I really prefer not to have a significant portion of my identity renamed. (And I realize that this identity thing is more of an issue because I am an expatriate, and thus I probably see this differently than most Americans, but wow, is this an issue for me!). There are other reasons -- for one, how should that be pronounced? Also, if people really don't want to use the term "American" they should probably use USAian, since the United States of America is hardly the only country to have "United States" in its name. It's not even the only country IN NORTH AMERICA! Does no one else know that the official name of Mexico is "Estados Unidos Mexicanos"? I know this because I have been going there as an imperialist a tourist my whole life and have thus filled out a lot of paperwork; people who actually care what non-Americans think about American nomenclature should know this too.

And while we're redistributing names, go ahead and tell the next Canadian you meet that really, he or she is just an American.

(Disclaimer: I have been reading through the anonmeme, but if this is the kind of opinion I can't express under my own name, then I need a new hobby.)

Comments

[thistleingrey]

I've pronounced it "U S -ian" the few times I've said it, but yes, it is terribly artificial. I think that one problem with "USAian" is that "U.S.A." comes out (versus "U.S.") mostly when people want to cheer on an Olympic sports team, and that's too much ...gusto. I'm not overfond of "USian"; it seems a hair better than the alternatives at the moment for read/write comprehensibility. When speaking, I'm more likely to say "U.S. residents" or something.

Also, yes, Estados Unidos, but (a) "EU," really? :), (b) it gets us back to "América" as the shortened version, given the full name in Spanish, and (c) in terms of longtime residents I suspect the argument would make sense only to a subset of the U.S. Southwest and West Coast. (Meanwhile, I would like to frown at wikipedia/es for saying that EUA == Norteamérica.)

(ETA that is, people who live elsewhere in the U.S. would generally be baffled why Spanish-language names might pertain.)

[vaznetti]

I think USAian would be pronounced "you-ess-ayan" which I can at least sound out, even if I still think it's stupid and unnecessary. But I don't seem to have the reaction to the words "America" or to "USA" that other people have.

[thistleingrey]

Your comments here and upthread make sense to me. I think this stuff would be easier for me personally were I "proud to be an American." I'm not ashamed of it, either, but I don't have much fellow-feeling for my compatriots merely because they're my compatriots. I guess I missed the part where child-of-immigrants is supposed to assimilate and match or outdo the enthusiasm of those pressuring one in various ways to fit in; it made me a bit contrary instead....

[vaznetti]

Yeah, I used to be "Oh, America is so horrible!" and then I grew up and ended up living in England and Canada and now I just think it's a country. I don't see the point of having big fear of the word "American."

[thistleingrey]

I haven't any answers about "fear" of the word "American," but I will say that being told recurringly that one is not American and should "go home" has some effect over time. (I was born in Los Angeles.)