United States of What?!
Cat:Other | Cat:Grammar | Cat:Rant
Posted: 27. of February, 2026
I don’t know if this counts as grammar related, but it sure is a rant! Anyway, there’s a reason my demonym for people who live in the United States of America isn’t “American”, and that’s because ‘America’ usually refers to the two connected* pieces of land usually split into North and South America.
*As of 1914, North and South America are separated by the Panama Canal.
Satellite image of America
America is a place consisting of 35 countries and about 1.2 billion people, so I feel like the term getting lumped into only one country with about 350 million people is a little unfair. Though of course I’m a contrarian, so I’m only pressed about this issue because not many others see this as an issue in the first place. Though, a lot of Spanish and Hispanic-American people do see it as an issue… so what do I know? My demonym for US residents has changed from ‘Statian’ to ‘USian’ among other terms, however, this is also an issue…
The United States of America is not the only United States that exists. Have you heard about the United Mexican States? Of course you have! It’s the country that sits right under the United States of America, after all! A lot of former countries have used the “United States” name, as well. Trivia: Have you heard of the United States of Stellaland? Yeah, me neither.
So, why does this even matter? It doesn’t. I just get very mildly upset when people say ‘American’ to refer to any US residents. But, you could obviously tell that, right? That's what this whole thing is about.
