Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno
Not sure what you are talking about, but, since you mentioned you are trying to get the Italian citizenship, and here I am assuming, I take it you have an Italian surname.
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No. Cowan is my surname. And Alec what my family use to call me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno
I bet some people in Argentina, friends and others would call you "tano" (Italian) even though you were born in Argentina.
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That never happened and it's unlikely for it to happen. I don't have the lookings nor the habits of a
"tano".
Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno
Well, are you Italian or are you Argentinian? You cannot be both.
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What would have to do "having a citizenship" with "being" something. I can be as Italian as you can be 'American(USian)'. Nor more, nor less.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno
When you say the rest of America, you're talking about the continent, clearly.
Estado unidense, is indeed clunky, moreover, it is wrong because Mexican could be called estado unidenses too, since there is that "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" in the name of their country.
Norteamericano isn't a choice either, since Canada and Mexico co-exist with America, in America (the continent)
OK, I'll lay it off now.  |
Quote:
Originally Posted by poli
I'm sure I've written something similar to this before but most natives of the USA do not refer to themselves as Americans because of Teddy Roosevelt's or Monroe's expansionist visions, but because of a lack of a good easy way of saying it any other way. There is no term United Statesians. As of yet we have little other choice. When US citizens call themselves Americans, it may sound jingoistic(although some are  ) to the rest of America, but it's used mainly because of a lack of a better term. Of course in Spanish you may say estado unidense, but that sounds very clunky to me too. I use it nevertheless. |
I understand but those still look as explanations after the fact, not a real causation, and very far from being justified. It just looks as "we chose a horrible name for our country; let's enslave a demonym"
Quote:
Originally Posted by caliber1
 Oops. I didn't mean to start a debate I promise. I meant nothing bad when I said I had a neighbor who is Mexican. I may have been able to word that better  |
Don't worry. It wasn't you. One both advantage and demand of learning a foreign language is that you must be aware of the prejudices hardcoded in your language and change them by the prejudices within the new one. This debate is just for that sake and it's a positive one as it fosters personal growth that is one of the more important side effects of leaning languages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by poli
Italy isn't good either Alec, but at least they got rid of Il Cavaliere. In English we often say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. From what I've seen, Argentina has a good standard of living.
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It's not the economy. Economy goes well everywhere. It's the increasingly authoritarian ambience together with the social disorder and disruption that is sold as "democracy" and "tolerance". Just to start, government confiscated my retirement funds by law, retirement funds that I was forced by law to finance. I'm not good at the Continental China model -political and economical- that is developing here, specially when they may kill you in the streets and public transportation is a nightmare -what I don't think it's happening in China-. I'm not selling my rights and freedom for money, as many seem to do here.
December 22, 2011, 12:13 AM
. LOL. Technically, she would be American (US citizen), but going along with the discussion, why does she refer to herself as Mexican if she was born and raised in the States? I completely understand what Alec is saying and it does make sense, but this seems contradictory. Does that make sense 
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