Chad Smith wrote: > Defending our right to call ourselves Americans is not a sign of > insecurity. It's perfectly logical. As was brought out, by me, the > first time we had this argument a few months ago - citizens of the USA > qualify even for Daniel's screwed up definition of the word "American". > I don't see why he refuses to recognize our claim to that title.
Face the facts: "American" is used in two different ways. In one instance, it means a citizen of the United States. In the other, it means someone from the Western Hemisphere. This second instance is especially common in Europe and South America. The fact that you may be most familiar with the first useage in no way invalidates the second. It does mean, though, that everybody has to pay attention to context to know which useage is intended. -- Bruce Byfield 604-421-7177 http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
