Differences in U.S. and Mexico?

[Caballero]

Originally Posted by Sancho Panther

When I look at the atlas it appears to me that Mejico is firmly in the contintent of North America, yet many norteamericanos hotly dispute this, saying it's in Central America.

What's your opinion?

I live in the United States of America, and never have I heard a single person say that Mexico is not part of North America. The first, and only time I heard that some people consider Mexico to be part of Central America was on Wikipedia talking about some UN classification system that only the UN uses. However, sometimes people use the term North America when they need to talk about the US and Canada collectively. E.g. North American English, which obviously does not include the English spoken in Mexico, or Greenland. That doesn't mean that they think that Mexico is in Central America, though (or Greenland either, lol.)

I like to ask people "There are two countries called 'The United States' in North America, can you name them?"

They're baffled when I answer "Los Estados Unidos de Mejico"! They usually offer Canada.

It doesn't prove that they think Mexico is a part of Central America at all. It's just because nobody in the United States of America refers to Mexico as the United States of Mexico. It's always just called Mexico. Heck, I had no idea about its official name until I started studing Spanish. But I would never refer to it as the United States of Mexico when speaking English. Asking people from here that question is about as silly as asking them "True or False: there's an Oriental Republic in South America", or "Did you know, that Wales is in Australia?"

[aleCcowaN]

And Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata is one of the two official names of República Argentina, copying predating names: the Dutch Republic (Provincias Unidas) and United States (of America, you know, stars and stripes).

Mexico is both in North and Central America (they are divided by the Isthmus of Tehuantepec), unless you divide America à la Gondwana/Laurasia in which case all Mexico is in North America as there's no a central one.

[Caballero]

Mexico is both in North and Central America (they are divided by the Isthmus of Tehuantepec)

Sí tenés razón. But it could never be considered to be only in Central America, like Sancho Panther implied.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Caballero

Sí tenés razón. But it could never be considered to be only in Central America, like Sancho Panther implied.

Maybe after NAFTA treated was signed people has abandoned misconceptions in the States, but I can assure you that Mexico being part of Central America was massively held by people all around USA by 40's, 50's and 60's. Not only that, all the rest of America was either like Mexico or like Cuba or Puerto Rico. My parents sweated blood trying to explain to every kind of people there how it is actually during the time they lived in Boston, by the end of the fifties, before my birth. I keep a "long play" -Nat King Cole en Español- as a memento of those mythical times. All the songs are country Mexican sung with a hideous accent. But I suppose everything changes. My parents also took the plane to Miami and visited a lot of places before arriving to Boston. In some regions they had to travel by bus lumped together other white skins, all of them segregated from black people.

[Caballero]

Well, the notion of Mexico not being part of North America was definitely abandoned. Although I'm very embarrased to admit that a lot of people here still are completely ignorant about what Central and South America are like. It's because there is so little about it taught in schools. Many people here know little about Canada and Mexico, let alone Central and South America. I know few people that could name a prime minister of Canada, let alone the current prime minister of Canada. It's very embarrasing. Everything I learned from Central and South America is from travel books that I read recently, after getting interested in the Spanish language. I knew nothing before. (So embarrasing to admit...)

[poli]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

Maybe after NAFTA treaty was signed, people have abandoned misconceptions in the States, but I can assure you that Mexico being part of Central America was a belief massively held by people all around USA in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Not only that, all the rest of America was either like Mexico or like Cuba or Puerto Rico. My parents sweated blood(sweated blood may be understood, but you may want to opt for worked hard) trying to explain Latin American diversity to all kinds of people during the time they lived in Boston, in the late fifties before my birth. I keep a "long play" -Nat King Cole en Español- as a memento of those mythical times. All the songs are country Mexican( boleros like Quizas/Perfidia may have been popular in Mexico but they are Cuban. These ballads don't sound like county music to me ) sung with a hideous accent (I differ with you. Although clearly anglo, he annunciated well but phonetically not truly understanding all the words. The album was a big hit throughout Latin and Anglo America. The accent wasn't hideous though clearly American English. Hideous is how George Bush speaks Spanish. Nat has enduring style that you don't happen to like). But I suppose everything changes. My parents also took a plane to Miami and visited a lot of places before arriving to Boston. In some regions they had to travel by bus lumped together with other white people or white folks, all of them segregated from black people.

Los estadoundenses que no saben los limites de centro-américa o que centro-américa es una región de norte américa son personas que nunca aprendieron lo que les enseñaron en la escuela. Aunque conozco un montón de américanos bobos y palurdos, estaría un gran error caracterizarnos todos así.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by poli

Los estadoundenses que no saben los limites de centro-américa o que centro-américa es una región de norte américa son personas que nunca aprendieron lo que les enseñaron en la escuela. Aunque conozco un montón de américanos bobos y palurdos, estaría un gran error caracterizarnos todos así.

Yo me refería a los '50 ¿Tú viviste los '50?

Con respecto a Cole, yo hablo de lo que aprendí por experiencia y con el castellano como lengua materna. Claro que si presentan un disco lleno de mariachis éste tendrá mucho éxito ... donde abundan los mariachis. No te dejes llevar por las noticias de "ser un gran éxito" que preceden al lanzamiento del "éxito" -que es el "¡llame ya!" de todas las épocas- y que ponderan de rebote al circunstancial editor patasucia de Wikipedia, que sólo escribe de cosas importantes, como ser "grandes éxitos".

Lo del hideous accent mejor ni hablemos ¡Alguien de la misma lengua materna del cantante aludido asegura que no! ¡Guau, qué evidencia!

En última instancia, todo se reduce a que Cole ya era una figura de algún modo popular y mucha gente pagó por oirlo cantar de una manera que pudiera -a duras penas- entender.

Me iba a entretener explicando el ritmo tónico anglo del acento de Cole entre muchas otras cosas, pero todo se reduce siempre a lo mismo: De un lado de la balanza Latinoamerica, del otro, un minúsculo átomo del mundo anglosajón: Cole. La propia estructura de tu respuesta y mi contra-réplica representa exactamente lo que estábamos hablando. Quod erat demostrandum.

[Caballero]

Yo me refería a los '50 ¿Tú viviste los '50?

Wow, you lived in the 1950s? I knew you were older, but I assumed you were like 30. Didn't you say you weren't around in the 50s? Is that your current picture? Oh, and why did you use tú? I thought in Argentina only vos was used. Or were you writing in neutral Spanish? Is that common to do in Argentina?

Oh yes, you are also Estado Unidenses.

Seriously, or was that a joke? If so, then there is no way of unambiguously referring to this country or its inhabitants in Spanish. If I say I'm norteaméricano, then I could be from this country or Canada or Mexico, and if I say I'm estadounidense, then I could be from this country or Mexico. I guess I'll just have to say I'm from north of Mexico, but South of Canada. And what was that other phrase, that was like "from the other place"? Is it Soy del otro lado or something like that?

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Caballero

Wow, you lived in the 1950s? I knew you were older, but I assumed you were like 30. Didn't you say you weren't around in the 50s? Is that your current picture? Oh, and why did you use tú? I thought in Argentina only vos was used. Or were you writing in neutral Spanish? Is that common to do in Argentina?

¿Cuál pregunta querés que te conteste primero?
You also left out the emoticon with the polygraph.

Read again all the thread, both English and Spanish.

[Caballero]

in the late fifties before my birth.

Ok so you were born sometime between the late 1950s and the present day.
As for the other question, I couldn't find the answers. Maybe I didn't understand everything.
-¿Es tu actual foto?
-¿Porqué has usado "tú"?

You also left out the emoticon with the polygraph.

Eh?

Oh and I looked up Nat Cole: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Cole