Often used by people who are American (from the Americas) but not from the US. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, and the rest of North and South America.
Doing a bit of digging online, while there is evidence that /some/ people use it, it appears to be very limited. I understand the desire some people have for an unambiguous English term to refer to things from the US separately from those of the Americas in general, and see the value in doing so. Personally, as a native English speaker, I find USAnian to be clunky - maybe someone has thought (or will think) of a term that feels more natural. It feels analogous to the push from (largely English-speaking) activists in the US to use the term "latinx", much of the intended audience doesn't run into issues with the current terminology and aren't looking for a new term, and the term doesn't feel natural to existing speakers.
In English, American means from the US, and there's no word to refer to an inhabitants of the Americas (both continents combined). You can say North American or South American if you want, though. Since those are continents.
You won't find "USAnian" in any authoritative published dictionary, not even the OED:
And anyway, official dictionaries are largely historical records, not authoritative sources for living languages. Words mean what people who use them intend them to mean.
I think he means specifically (and sardonically) a neodemonym for the the United states of North America. For most of its inhabitants, America is the name of the continent, not a single country.
Often used by people who are American (from the Americas) but not from the US. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, and the rest of North and South America.
From what I've seen, it's mostly used by Americans who are trying to be edgy.
And Americans who hate America and hope that starting a movement to change one of its names might take it down a notch.
6 replies →
That'd be from your PoV.
It's been in low level general use on forums and IRC by non US english and ESL speakers since pre-WWW Usenet in my experience.
What has changed is I've recently seen it and close variations crop up here on HN, a primarily US forum, more and more in the past few months.
That'd dovetail in with your observation, but it's not a new coinage nor is it exclusive to disgruntled US residents by any means.
This is the first time I have seen this in my life.
Doing a bit of digging online, while there is evidence that /some/ people use it, it appears to be very limited. I understand the desire some people have for an unambiguous English term to refer to things from the US separately from those of the Americas in general, and see the value in doing so. Personally, as a native English speaker, I find USAnian to be clunky - maybe someone has thought (or will think) of a term that feels more natural. It feels analogous to the push from (largely English-speaking) activists in the US to use the term "latinx", much of the intended audience doesn't run into issues with the current terminology and aren't looking for a new term, and the term doesn't feel natural to existing speakers.
Are we not allowed say Yanks anymore?
5 replies →
I grew up in the US and sometimes refer to us as USian, especially if I want to be clear I'm not referring to Mexico/Canada. I've never seen USAnian.
Yeah, I remember coming across USian fairly regularly in the 2000s, but I can't say I've particularly noticed it in the last decade.
I've never heard of USAnian before, but that doesn't mean it isn't used by some people, just not the ones I interact with.
Before USian, I'd come across Merkin, but usually British writers using it in a mildly derogative sense because of the word's other meaning.
Thanks for the clarification, I'll switch to the other term in the future.
1 reply →
No it's not.
In English, American means from the US, and there's no word to refer to an inhabitants of the Americas (both continents combined). You can say North American or South American if you want, though. Since those are continents.
You won't find "USAnian" in any authoritative published dictionary, not even the OED:
https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=USAni...
Urban dictionary has an entry from 2007
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=usanians
And anyway, official dictionaries are largely historical records, not authoritative sources for living languages. Words mean what people who use them intend them to mean.
7 replies →
Canadians don't use that.
They might start soon
I think he means specifically (and sardonically) a neodemonym for the the United states of North America. For most of its inhabitants, America is the name of the continent, not a single country.