Job Discussion Forums

[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

The correct name of my country is The United States of America. The United States or plain America is fine.

Why do people say "The States". As in, "Where are you from?" "The states". I absolutely cringe when I hear this. Which state? Should we call Canada "The Provinces"? It always seems that very annoying people say this.

Say United States and/or America, OK? Saying "the states" only shows stupidity.

Senor

[denise]

Ouch!!! I guess I must be stupid, then. To non-native speakers, I often say "America," but to natives, I often use "the States."

Why do I say "The States"? Because it's shorter/easier than "The United States (of America)." And some people object to "America" because it sounds like we think we control both continents.

I've never had anyone misunderstand me or get offended before when I've told them that I'm from the States.

Yours in eternal stupidity,
d

[skeptic]

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong.

It's only properly termed, "The GOOD OLE US of A!" Anything less is a misnomer.

[ls650]

[Glenski]

senor,

I cringe when I hear "America". That name should be reserved to North America, Central America, or South America, don't you think?

I still use it when speaking to Japanese people. It's a cultural thing. They get confused whenever I say United States or The States. Go with the flow.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

As a Canadian from Ontario where pretty much everybody calls your country "the States" or "the US", I find your posting to be more than a little insulting. I don't post that I have a problem with the way people from the States have a tendancy to say something like "Kyaen-uh-duh" instead of "Canada" even though it's actually a pretty common thing to laugh at while you're sitting around on the patio drinking beers.

ETA

The reason you can't call Canada "the Provinces" is that 1. There are actually provinces AND territories, so it wouldn't be accurate and 2. My country has a proper name, as opposed to a description. If we were called "The Unified Provinces and Territories of Northern North America", or UPTNNA probably it would get shortened. Maybe it would be shortened to "North America". Then people could say "In Ottawa, the capital city of North America, people eat poutine". That wouldn't be confusing at all.

[zaneth]

There are better things to cringe at. I will continue to use "the states" whenever I feel like it. It seems clear, unambiguous, and accurate enough to me.

[desultude]

The States it is for me too. That's where I'm from. I'm also from American, but so are Canadians and Mexicans.

I usually say "Miami", actually, and most people understand what I mean, and many have some idea about me from that.