America and Americans

[Michael Vezie]

Another anecdotal thought about "Americans".  When I was an exchange
student in Denmark back in 1990, a fellow student (Canadian) got upset
with me for introducing myself to the group as "an American".  He told
me I should say I'm from "the states", not "America".

Frankly, it seems silly to me.  For a Canadian to claim to be from America
is just plain wrong.  There is no continent called "America".  It's "North
America" (or "South America", or collectively, "the Americas").  So the
only geographical region that can be called "America" is the United States
of America.

Michael