America and American

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:19 AM -0800 2/19/02, James Smith wrote:
>Just my limited experience, but I knew several
>Canadians in the 60's who, when they heard USians
>refer to themselves as Americans, made it clear that
>Canadians were Americans also.
>
>
Confirming anecdote:

I remember being asked my nationality once at the Canadian border
(probably late 60's) and being firmly corrected when I said
"American".  The customs agent firmly explained that I was from the
United States, and that Canadians are Americans too.  When Canadians
say they're not Americans they mean "I'm not [what you mean by]
American", which is different.

larry