Adjectives for U.S. citizens

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The most widely used and recognised term for a citizen of the United States is 'American in English. Other terms were also used historically, and some modern attempts have been made to develop other terms for political or humorous reasons.

The use of American as a national demonym for United States citizens has been challenged primarily by Latin Americans (and Canadians in the past) since 1816 or earlier [1].

Some perceive use of the term 'America' for 'of the United States of America' as culturally aggressive as the term has historically referred to and presently can refer to the entirety of New World and not only the United States.

Contents

[edit] Historical Alternatives

There are a number of alternative adjectives to "American" as an adjective (in this case, a demonym) for a citizen of the United States that do not simultaneously mean any inhabitant of the Americas.

The Colonial adjective was Virginian, since Virginia was the mother of colonies and states. Virginia as a toponym, originally extended all along the Eastern Seaboard. Other regions like New England and the Mid-Atlantic emerged as splinter collectives from joint stock administration in the Virginia Company. New England was originally called "northern Virginia", especially in transport manifests for colonists. Economic divergence stimulated separated identities, especially since the London (based at Fort James) and Plymouth (based at Fort Saint George) companies were divided by the Dutch and Swedish Middle Colonies.

Adjectives historically proposed for U.S. citizens are:

From 'America':

From Columbus:

  • Columbard
  • Columbian (hence the District of Columbia)

From 'the United States':

  • Statesider
  • Uesican (pronounced [juˈɛsɪkən]) or Uessian (pronounced [juˈɛsiən])
  • Unisan or Unisian
  • United States American, United Stater, United Stateser, United Statesian, United Statesman, or United Statian
  • USAian, U.S. American, Usan, USAn, Usanian, Usian (pronounced [ˈjuʒən]), U-S-ian, or Usonian (pronounced [juˈsoʊniən])

Others

References to these words have been around since the early days of the republic,[citation needed] but American has become by far the most common term. Usonian is used in architectural circles, and Washingtonian remains as the adjective for the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D.C..

[edit] Other Languages

In other languages, such as Spanish, the term 'American' is more ambiguous. In the Ibero-American countries, the use of 'American' to refer only to U.S. citizens could be considered factually incorrect and culturally aggressive. Several of these terms have direct parallels in languages other than English. Many languages have already created their own distinct word for a citizen of the United States:

  • United Statesian directly parallels the Spanish term estadounidense.
  • Norteamericano (North American) is common in Latin America, but suffers from the same kind of ambiguity as American, since Canadians and Mexicans, amongst others, are also North Americans.
  • In Portuguese, norte-americano is the most commonly used term. Estadunidense is gaining some popularity, specifically in Brazil, where its usage traditionally rises during times of tension with the USA.
  • Amerikan is a derogatory spelling, after the Franz Kafka novel.
  • Usonian, from Usonia, a term Frank Lloyd Wright used to describe his vision for American architecture, homes, and cities, and used by John Dos Passos in his U.S.A. trilogy.
  • The Esperanto term for the United States of America is Usono. This is generally thought to come from "Usonia". In Esperanto, one forms the word for a citizen of a given country using the suffix "-an" which means "member of". Therefore a citizen of the United States is usonano. (Such derived words are not capitalized.) Esperanto terms for the American geographic regions and their people are Ameriko/amerikano, Norda Ameriko/nordamerikano, Meza Ameriko/mezamerikano, and Suda Ameriko/sudamerikano.
  • Usanian is derived from the Ido word Usana.
  • Yankee, often shortened to Yank, is used all over the world. Strictly, it means New Englander, (poss. originally New Yorker); and on occasion some U.S. citizens have been known to take offense at this term, particularly Southerners (residents of the southeastern United States), who use Yankee to refer to Northerners (residents of the northeastern United States), sometimes in a derogatory way. (Some people from Scotland or Wales may use Yankee as a deliberate riposte to people from the US who refer to them as English, from the enduring misconception that England is coterminous with the United Kingdom.)
  • The colloquial term Yank for a U.S citizen, used in Britain, New Zealand, and Australia, is a derivative of Yankee. In both Australia and New Zealand, the Cockney rhyming slang term Sepo survives, derived from septic tank.
  • In French, États-Unien(ne), Étatsunien(ne) or Étasunien(ne) are gaining some popularity.
  • In Italian the term Statunitense (from Stati Uniti = United States) is quite widespread, especially referring to sporting events.
  • In German, US-Amerikaner may be used to avoid ambiguity or to be politically correct, but it may come across as pedantic if used conversationally. Amerikaner is in general usage in Germany, and is widely accepted to refer to the United States. Ami is a colloquialism which unambiguously refers to US citizens. The German usage of Ami is akin to the Mexican usage of Gringo, in that it can be neutral, patronizing, or perhaps even affectionate.
  • Pindos (or Pindosian) was born during UN operation in Kosovo. The initiators of this were Russian troops at Kosovo airport in Pristina. In some Southern Russian dialects pindos is a derogatory term for Greeks. Some reports indicate that its use has spread beyond Russian troops and that its meaning has likewise spread, to refer not only to soldiers.

[edit] Frivolous Suggestions

Less serious terms have been proposed on the internet at various times, sometimes gaining wide acceptance within a particular group. Term used have included:

  • Left pondian - deriving from use of 'The Pond' to refer to the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Merkin - probably deriving from the way some Americans pronounce 'American', also possibly to cause embarrassment by association with the medieval word 'merkin' meaning a pubic wig. (OED, 2002) Additional influence may come from the Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove, which features a character named Merkin Muffley (whose name is intended to reflect the mediaeval origin) as the U.S. president.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

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