Why do Brits still use stone as a measurement?

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  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    your gun laws are the exact opposite to here. They're pretty much banned in Aus. But alas the bad guys still get hold of them. But they're not as easy to get as in the US. I've never seen a gun store in my life or a real life gun!

    In WA we carry them.

    That would freak me out :( There's way too many shooting deaths in America! It gets plastered all over our news screens every time it happens :s
    Of course it gets plastered, if it bleeds it leads. $$$ in gore.

    What's not plastered all over is that those instances are on a major downward trend since the 80s, and fairly uncommon.

    Again though, that's not as sexy as showing pictures of blood and the dead.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    OdesAngel wrote: »
    Why do Brits say "ello Guv'nah" all the time?

    because pip pip, cheerio.
  • Malteaster
    Malteaster Posts: 75 Member
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    In a lot of UK cookery books with metric and imperial measures for ingredients, the accepted equivalent for 4oz is either 100g or 125g depending on the recipe. I have never seen 113.2g used.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    28.35 grams in an ounce.
    4 * 28.35 = 113.4 (diff in 0.2 attrib to rounding)

    Now, 125g for 4 ounces = 31.25 grams per ounce, a deviation of 10%
    100g for 4 ounces = 25g per ounce, a deviation of 12%

    For a single conversion done once, ok. Do it at a a multiple rate, and things get dodgy particularly with baking. Also, imagine what introducing a 10% error rate into kcalorie tracking would do to someone trying to maintain or lose at a low rate.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Malteaster wrote: »
    In a lot of UK cookery books with metric and imperial measures for ingredients, the accepted equivalent for 4oz is either 100g or 125g depending on the recipe. I have never seen 113.2g used.

    Just made banana muffins and the 4oz equivalent was 110g which is what I generally use
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited December 2014
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    karyabc wrote: »
    now let me clarify something, in every spanish speaking country, they call you *Estadounidense* as your nationality not American/Americano, meaning that you're from the United States, umm does that could lead to confusion because other countries have the whole United States in their title, yes, but not more confusion that cause the America the country/nationality continent thing.

    I seriously doubt that anyone is confused either way. But the normal rule is that a country gets to decide what it's called, so who really cares what Spanish speaking countries call us? The fact is there's no good English short-form for people from the country but Americans, and I'm sorry but it would be ridiculous for us to start using some Spanish term that's less specific or appropriate just because it seems to hurt some people's feelings that back in 1776 various people claimed the name USA for us. Your country probably could have chosen an America-based name too, but decided not to, so go complain to whoever the dead people are who named your country.
    you could possibly not understand how awkward it becomes when for example you're in a foreign country and people ask you where are you from or where you live and you say America and then the next question it's what state and you say something like Buenos Aires or Caracas or whatever and they're faces is like *kitten* Please -__- ! and then you go clarify that is a whole continent and they're like; ohhhh (and yes it happens a lot to me and many people) so that's why all the city that you've mention don't call them self Americans even when they could

    I suspect they are confused because when you ask where someone is from you usually aren't asking the continent (or the group of continents, really). I mean, if I asked where some tourist was from and he said "Euro-asia" I'd think that was pretty weird, and not because I doubt there are continents called Europe and Asia. Indeed, if someone asked me where I was from and I said North America, they'd probably assume I was for some reason embarrassed about admitting I was American (like those Americans who claim that they pretend to be Canadians when abroad).

    Anyway, it seems a dumb thing to fret about. And in fact although I say I'm American (based on the country, not the continent), if someone asked me where I was from I'd say "the US" or perhaps "Illinois" or "Chicago." Not "America." So I guess I really don't understand why it's such a hardship that people are confused when you give that answer.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    So if I go to the UK and step on a scale will it read 11 stone or will it show 154 lbs?

    I guess it would depend on the scale. My digital scale has settings for kg, lb, and stone:lb.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    Well, what if it just said yes or no, depending on THC levels in system?
  • hamoncan
    hamoncan Posts: 148 Member
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    Lourdesong wrote: »
    6
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
    It's very expensive to switch. It's hard enough to force everyone to learn and use, but the costs involved have made it impractical.

    As America falls further behind in industry, it will happen.

    Is it? It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but the move to switch over in a serious way would be a worthwhile expense; it seems so to me, anyway.

    My husband is an engineer and he complains all the time about the customary measures and how having to mentally switch back and forth between customary and metric is extremely dangerous and always ripe for expensive screw ups on expensive machinery.



    It can be both expensive and dangerous, indeed:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

    But life goes on. Some 30 years after the switch to the metric system in Canada I still buy my solid groceries (deli, produce) in pounds, but the milk comes in litres. I fill up the car tank in litres, but everyone wants to know what is the mileage on my new car. My height and weight are always expressed in imperial, but I run in kilometres, and I buy fabric in yards. The weather report goes in Celsius, but when my kid runs a fever is Fahrenheit.

    If you think about it, it is good brain exercise. Keeps us sharp. B)

    Awesome link to the story on the Gimli Glider conversion incident
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Anyway, it seems a dumb thing to fret about. And in fact although I say I'm American (based on the country, not the continent), if someone asked me where I was from I'd say "the US" or perhaps "Illinois" or "Chicago." Not "America." So I guess I really don't understand why it's such a hardship that people are confused when you give that answer.

    Just answering for myself, here... It's not something I *fret* about but I do find it annoying for personal reasons.

    My mom is from Ecuador and my dad was French but grew up in Brazil. I've spent a large part of my life in South America, so I have more South American "sensitivities" than most "Unitedstatesians." ;) When I say I'm "American" I mean I'm from the United States, but I never use "America" as a noun to mean this country because it sounds arrogant...like I'm dismissing all the other countries on this American continent as irrelevant. When I'm in South America I refer to myself as "estadounidense," not "americana." Spanish and Portuguese speakers (all 600 million of them!) never refer to this country as America. When they say America they're referring to the whole continent. Many people from the U.S. don't get this. Just the other day we were talking about family history and I mentioned that my ancestors came to America from Spain in the early 16th century. I didn't mean to, but I completely confused my American in-laws because they know I'm first generation "Unitedstatesian" and they didn't realize I was referring to SOUTH America.

    Confusing, annoying, yes. I wouldn't consider it a hardship or something to fret about, but I will continue to point this out to people as part of my effort to enlighten Americans far and wide. :)
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    Lourdesong wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
    It's very expensive to switch. It's hard enough to force everyone to learn and use, but the costs involved have made it impractical.

    As America falls further behind in industry, it will happen.

    Is it? It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but the move to switch over in a serious way would be a worthwhile expense; it seems so to me, anyway.

    My husband is an engineer and he complains all the time about the customary measures and how having to mentally switch back and forth between customary and metric is extremely dangerous and always ripe for expensive screw ups on expensive machinery.


    An expense for someone else, though, right? You don't personally want to put up the billions of dollars. If you personally had to pay it, it might seem less "worthwhile." It might even seem impossible.

    For better or worse, the people who would actually have to do the paying have not been as in favor of it as those who won't actually be ponying up the cash.

    It cannot be done all at once. People will continue needing quarter-inch bolts until whatever uses them is obsolete. So, the point of adding a new system when the old one must be continued...people have long felt, "What is the point? Just to change systems?"

    Millions of things - from the tiniest washer to the largest mold - and all kinds of parts have to be converted. Every drill bit that drills the holes (and all those molds), everything. It's a huge and very, very expensive thing. And the old stuff has to continue to be made to replace parts on the old stuff. Can't very well say, "Sorry that your faucet can't be turned off / car doesn't run / bridge is falling down. We no longer have those parts. We switched systems."

    The entire industrial world worked on our system. Machines all over the world were designed for it.

    As we fall further behind, industrially, it will change. It's already happening. But it's a long and expensive process, so the people who pay the cash are going about it as cheaply as they can.

    I'm in favor of One System and metric is as good as any. It's easier to learn for kids. The whole world could work together, easily. Nobody would have to remember who they were talking to before they used a measurement.

    It will be great when it happens. But I'll probably be dead before that time. So, I live with it. :)

    Going metric should ideally mean we as a nation are not going to tolerate the perpetuation of the customary system. If that means that manufacturers have to pay a (ultimately inevitable) price in order to continue to hawk their wares, then so be it.

    Much of industry has switched over metric already, and it is my understanding that the switch is profitable for everyone involved.

  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Lourdesong wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Lourdesong wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
    It's very expensive to switch. It's hard enough to force everyone to learn and use, but the costs involved have made it impractical.

    As America falls further behind in industry, it will happen.

    Is it? It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but the move to switch over in a serious way would be a worthwhile expense; it seems so to me, anyway.

    My husband is an engineer and he complains all the time about the customary measures and how having to mentally switch back and forth between customary and metric is extremely dangerous and always ripe for expensive screw ups on expensive machinery.


    An expense for someone else, though, right? You don't personally want to put up the billions of dollars. If you personally had to pay it, it might seem less "worthwhile." It might even seem impossible.

    For better or worse, the people who would actually have to do the paying have not been as in favor of it as those who won't actually be ponying up the cash.

    It cannot be done all at once. People will continue needing quarter-inch bolts until whatever uses them is obsolete. So, the point of adding a new system when the old one must be continued...people have long felt, "What is the point? Just to change systems?"

    Millions of things - from the tiniest washer to the largest mold - and all kinds of parts have to be converted. Every drill bit that drills the holes (and all those molds), everything. It's a huge and very, very expensive thing. And the old stuff has to continue to be made to replace parts on the old stuff. Can't very well say, "Sorry that your faucet can't be turned off / car doesn't run / bridge is falling down. We no longer have those parts. We switched systems."

    The entire industrial world worked on our system. Machines all over the world were designed for it.

    As we fall further behind, industrially, it will change. It's already happening. But it's a long and expensive process, so the people who pay the cash are going about it as cheaply as they can.

    I'm in favor of One System and metric is as good as any. It's easier to learn for kids. The whole world could work together, easily. Nobody would have to remember who they were talking to before they used a measurement.

    It will be great when it happens. But I'll probably be dead before that time. So, I live with it. :)

    Going metric should ideally mean we as a nation are not going to tolerate the perpetuation of the customary system. If that means that manufacturers have to pay a (ultimately inevitable) price in order to continue to hawk their wares, then so be it.

    Much of industry has switched over metric already, and it is my understanding that the switch is profitable for everyone involved.

    Considering it's taken 4 or 500 years for the metric changes that are in place, I don't think the world will be 100% metric in any of our lifetimes :p

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited December 2014
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Anyway, it seems a dumb thing to fret about. And in fact although I say I'm American (based on the country, not the continent), if someone asked me where I was from I'd say "the US" or perhaps "Illinois" or "Chicago." Not "America." So I guess I really don't understand why it's such a hardship that people are confused when you give that answer.

    Just answering for myself, here... It's not something I *fret* about but I do find it annoying for personal reasons.

    Well, recall that the assertion was that it's terrible or somehow offensive or wrong that Americans say "I'm American," which you yourself have acknowledged that you do, because--as I pointed out--there's no other convenient English way to convey the same thing without it being awkward or requiring more words.
    My mom is from Ecuador and my dad was French but grew up in Brazil. I've spent a large part of my life in South America, so I have more South American "sensitivities" than most "Unitedstatesians." ;) When I say I'm "American" I mean I'm from the United States, but I never use "America" as a noun to mean this country because it sounds arrogant...like I'm dismissing all the other countries on this American continent as irrelevant. When I'm in South America I refer to myself as "estadounidense," not "americana." Spanish and Portuguese speakers (all 600 million of them!) never refer to this country as America. When they say America they're referring to the whole continent. Many people from the U.S. don't get this. Just the other day we were talking about family history and I mentioned that my ancestors came to America from Spain in the early 16th century. I didn't mean to, but I completely confused my American in-laws because they know I'm first generation "Unitedstatesian" and they didn't realize I was referring to SOUTH America.

    Confusing, annoying, yes. I wouldn't consider it a hardship or something to fret about, but I will continue to point this out to people as part of my effort to enlighten Americans far and wide. :)

    Like I said before, I usually say "I'm American" but "I'm from the US" just because that seems more normal usage to me (and is equally short), but claiming that saying "I'm from America" to mean what everyone understands it to mean is arrogant seems like you are going out of your way to try and find offense. It's a short form of the name of the country. That people are confused about others using it is because people don't ever say "I am from one of the continents of North and South America" any more than they say "I am Euro-Asian." Indeed, I'd think it was kind of weird if someone said "I'm European" instead of giving the country. Your usage relating to your ancestors is one of the ways in which I think referring to the continent makes sense, but that it was slightly confusing to the people you were talking to (it shouldn't have been, IMO, as it seems clear enough) doesn't make the usage for the country wrong or arrogant or something we need to be educated out of, IMO.

    My impression here is that the US is considered arrogant or obnoxious by many in Latin America (and probably Canada) for various reasons, some even reasonable, of course, and thus there is a tendency to read that into or get irritated by this even though it really seems like a ridiculous thing to get bothered by. I think it says more about prior attitudes than really caring that people call themselves by a word that clearly relates to the name of our country.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Lourdesong wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Lourdesong wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
    It's very expensive to switch. It's hard enough to force everyone to learn and use, but the costs involved have made it impractical.

    As America falls further behind in industry, it will happen.

    Is it? It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but the move to switch over in a serious way would be a worthwhile expense; it seems so to me, anyway.

    My husband is an engineer and he complains all the time about the customary measures and how having to mentally switch back and forth between customary and metric is extremely dangerous and always ripe for expensive screw ups on expensive machinery.


    An expense for someone else, though, right? You don't personally want to put up the billions of dollars. If you personally had to pay it, it might seem less "worthwhile." It might even seem impossible.

    For better or worse, the people who would actually have to do the paying have not been as in favor of it as those who won't actually be ponying up the cash.

    It cannot be done all at once. People will continue needing quarter-inch bolts until whatever uses them is obsolete. So, the point of adding a new system when the old one must be continued...people have long felt, "What is the point? Just to change systems?"

    Millions of things - from the tiniest washer to the largest mold - and all kinds of parts have to be converted. Every drill bit that drills the holes (and all those molds), everything. It's a huge and very, very expensive thing. And the old stuff has to continue to be made to replace parts on the old stuff. Can't very well say, "Sorry that your faucet can't be turned off / car doesn't run / bridge is falling down. We no longer have those parts. We switched systems."

    The entire industrial world worked on our system. Machines all over the world were designed for it.

    As we fall further behind, industrially, it will change. It's already happening. But it's a long and expensive process, so the people who pay the cash are going about it as cheaply as they can.

    I'm in favor of One System and metric is as good as any. It's easier to learn for kids. The whole world could work together, easily. Nobody would have to remember who they were talking to before they used a measurement.

    It will be great when it happens. But I'll probably be dead before that time. So, I live with it. :)

    Going metric should ideally mean we as a nation are not going to tolerate the perpetuation of the customary system. If that means that manufacturers have to pay a (ultimately inevitable) price in order to continue to hawk their wares, then so be it.

    Much of industry has switched over metric already, and it is my understanding that the switch is profitable for everyone involved.
    I hope you can get everyone to agree with that and make it happen very quickly. I like the metric system. :)
  • Ldbg289
    Ldbg289 Posts: 236 Member
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    While I'm not British, I actually prefer to weigh my stuff in grams if the option is available. It's just easier on my scale to do it in grams.
  • Dreamyriver
    Dreamyriver Posts: 91 Member
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    Malteaster wrote: »
    In a lot of UK cookery books with metric and imperial measures for ingredients, the accepted equivalent for 4oz is either 100g or 125g depending on the recipe. I have never seen 113.2g used.

    And it'll also say to follow either the imperial or metric measurements, not to mix them, because they don't use an exact conversion from one to the other.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    edited December 2014
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    A
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Anyway, it seems a dumb thing to fret about. And in fact although I say I'm American (based on the country, not the continent), if someone asked me where I was from I'd say "the US" or perhaps "Illinois" or "Chicago." Not "America." So I guess I really don't understand why it's such a hardship that people are confused when you give that answer.

    Just answering for myself, here... It's not something I *fret* about but I do find it annoying for personal reasons.

    Well, recall that the assertion was that it's terrible or somehow offensive or wrong that Americans say "I'm American," which you yourself have acknowledged that you do, because--as I pointed out--there's no other convenient English way to convey the same thing without it being awkward or requiring more words.
    My mom is from Ecuador and my dad was French but grew up in Brazil. I've spent a large part of my life in South America, so I have more South American "sensitivities" than most "Unitedstatesians." ;) When I say I'm "American" I mean I'm from the United States, but I never use "America" as a noun to mean this country because it sounds arrogant...like I'm dismissing all the other countries on this American continent as irrelevant. When I'm in South America I refer to myself as "estadounidense," not "americana." Spanish and Portuguese speakers (all 600 million of them!) never refer to this country as America. When they say America they're referring to the whole continent. Many people from the U.S. don't get this. Just the other day we were talking about family history and I mentioned that my ancestors came to America from Spain in the early 16th century. I didn't mean to, but I completely confused my American in-laws because they know I'm first generation "Unitedstatesian" and they didn't realize I was referring to SOUTH America.

    Confusing, annoying, yes. I wouldn't consider it a hardship or something to fret about, but I will continue to point this out to people as part of my effort to enlighten Americans far and wide. :)

    Like I said before, I usually say "I'm American" but "I'm from the US" just because that seems more normal usage to me (and is equally short), but claiming that saying "I'm from America" to mean what everyone understands it to mean is arrogant seems like you are going out of your way to try and find offense. It's a short form of the name of the country. That people are confused about others using it is because people don't ever say "I am from one of the continents of North and South America" any more than they say "I am Euro-Asian." Indeed, I'd think it was kind of weird if someone said "I'm European" instead of giving the country. Your usage relating to your ancestors is one of the ways in which I think referring to the continent makes sense, but that it was slightly confusing to the people you were talking to (it shouldn't have been, IMO, as it seems clear enough) doesn't make the usage for the country wrong or arrogant or something we need to be educated out of, IMO.

    My impression here is that the US is considered arrogant or obnoxious by many in Latin America (and probably Canada) for various reasons, some even reasonable, of course, and thus there is a tendency to read that into or get irritated by this even though it really seems like a ridiculous thing to get bothered by. I think it says more about prior attitudes than really caring that people call themselves by a word that clearly relates to the name of our country.

    Agreed...well said. Honestly what bugged me most about my in-laws' reaction was just their ignorance, but that's not really their fault. So I guess in that case I was the one being arrogant for being annoyed by it. Ha.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    A
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Anyway, it seems a dumb thing to fret about. And in fact although I say I'm American (based on the country, not the continent), if someone asked me where I was from I'd say "the US" or perhaps "Illinois" or "Chicago." Not "America." So I guess I really don't understand why it's such a hardship that people are confused when you give that answer.

    Just answering for myself, here... It's not something I *fret* about but I do find it annoying for personal reasons.

    Well, recall that the assertion was that it's terrible or somehow offensive or wrong that Americans say "I'm American," which you yourself have acknowledged that you do, because--as I pointed out--there's no other convenient English way to convey the same thing without it being awkward or requiring more words.
    My mom is from Ecuador and my dad was French but grew up in Brazil. I've spent a large part of my life in South America, so I have more South American "sensitivities" than most "Unitedstatesians." ;) When I say I'm "American" I mean I'm from the United States, but I never use "America" as a noun to mean this country because it sounds arrogant...like I'm dismissing all the other countries on this American continent as irrelevant. When I'm in South America I refer to myself as "estadounidense," not "americana." Spanish and Portuguese speakers (all 600 million of them!) never refer to this country as America. When they say America they're referring to the whole continent. Many people from the U.S. don't get this. Just the other day we were talking about family history and I mentioned that my ancestors came to America from Spain in the early 16th century. I didn't mean to, but I completely confused my American in-laws because they know I'm first generation "Unitedstatesian" and they didn't realize I was referring to SOUTH America.

    Confusing, annoying, yes. I wouldn't consider it a hardship or something to fret about, but I will continue to point this out to people as part of my effort to enlighten Americans far and wide. :)

    Like I said before, I usually say "I'm American" but "I'm from the US" just because that seems more normal usage to me (and is equally short), but claiming that saying "I'm from America" to mean what everyone understands it to mean is arrogant seems like you are going out of your way to try and find offense. It's a short form of the name of the country. That people are confused about others using it is because people don't ever say "I am from one of the continents of North and South America" any more than they say "I am Euro-Asian." Indeed, I'd think it was kind of weird if someone said "I'm European" instead of giving the country. Your usage relating to your ancestors is one of the ways in which I think referring to the continent makes sense, but that it was slightly confusing to the people you were talking to (it shouldn't have been, IMO, as it seems clear enough) doesn't make the usage for the country wrong or arrogant or something we need to be educated out of, IMO.

    My impression here is that the US is considered arrogant or obnoxious by many in Latin America (and probably Canada) for various reasons, some even reasonable, of course, and thus there is a tendency to read that into or get irritated by this even though it really seems like a ridiculous thing to get bothered by. I think it says more about prior attitudes than really caring that people call themselves by a word that clearly relates to the name of our country.

    Agreed...well said. Honestly what bugged me most about my in-laws' reaction was just their ignorance, but that's not really their fault. So I guess in that case I was the one being arrogant for being annoyed by it. Ha.

    I just wanna say that your ability to discuss something with an opposing viewpoint but still be sweet about it makes you one of my favorites on here.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    A
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Anyway, it seems a dumb thing to fret about. And in fact although I say I'm American (based on the country, not the continent), if someone asked me where I was from I'd say "the US" or perhaps "Illinois" or "Chicago." Not "America." So I guess I really don't understand why it's such a hardship that people are confused when you give that answer.

    Just answering for myself, here... It's not something I *fret* about but I do find it annoying for personal reasons.

    Well, recall that the assertion was that it's terrible or somehow offensive or wrong that Americans say "I'm American," which you yourself have acknowledged that you do, because--as I pointed out--there's no other convenient English way to convey the same thing without it being awkward or requiring more words.
    My mom is from Ecuador and my dad was French but grew up in Brazil. I've spent a large part of my life in South America, so I have more South American "sensitivities" than most "Unitedstatesians." ;) When I say I'm "American" I mean I'm from the United States, but I never use "America" as a noun to mean this country because it sounds arrogant...like I'm dismissing all the other countries on this American continent as irrelevant. When I'm in South America I refer to myself as "estadounidense," not "americana." Spanish and Portuguese speakers (all 600 million of them!) never refer to this country as America. When they say America they're referring to the whole continent. Many people from the U.S. don't get this. Just the other day we were talking about family history and I mentioned that my ancestors came to America from Spain in the early 16th century. I didn't mean to, but I completely confused my American in-laws because they know I'm first generation "Unitedstatesian" and they didn't realize I was referring to SOUTH America.

    Confusing, annoying, yes. I wouldn't consider it a hardship or something to fret about, but I will continue to point this out to people as part of my effort to enlighten Americans far and wide. :)

    Like I said before, I usually say "I'm American" but "I'm from the US" just because that seems more normal usage to me (and is equally short), but claiming that saying "I'm from America" to mean what everyone understands it to mean is arrogant seems like you are going out of your way to try and find offense. It's a short form of the name of the country. That people are confused about others using it is because people don't ever say "I am from one of the continents of North and South America" any more than they say "I am Euro-Asian." Indeed, I'd think it was kind of weird if someone said "I'm European" instead of giving the country. Your usage relating to your ancestors is one of the ways in which I think referring to the continent makes sense, but that it was slightly confusing to the people you were talking to (it shouldn't have been, IMO, as it seems clear enough) doesn't make the usage for the country wrong or arrogant or something we need to be educated out of, IMO.

    My impression here is that the US is considered arrogant or obnoxious by many in Latin America (and probably Canada) for various reasons, some even reasonable, of course, and thus there is a tendency to read that into or get irritated by this even though it really seems like a ridiculous thing to get bothered by. I think it says more about prior attitudes than really caring that people call themselves by a word that clearly relates to the name of our country.

    Agreed...well said. Honestly what bugged me most about my in-laws' reaction was just their ignorance, but that's not really their fault. So I guess in that case I was the one being arrogant for being annoyed by it. Ha.

    I just wanna say that your ability to discuss something with an opposing viewpoint but still be sweet about it makes you one of my favorites on here.

    Aw shucks, Carlos, thanks. I can be a real b***h when I feel like it, but I've found that it's generally not worth the effort in forums like these. ;)