'merica

originally posted by: kaylaluv

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: kaylaluv

Just like transgenders are fine but how dare any kid self-identify as a penguin. That's ludicrous.

Absolutely agree. If a person truly identifies as a penguin, then the kindest thing to do would be to put them in a habitat that penguins find the most natural (which wouldn't be in a school). Science tells us that penguins (and other wild animals) are always happier in their natural habitat. Then he could find a nice female penguin to partner up with. Obviously he couldn't impregnate her, but that's okay. They can still love each other and have a committed penguin relationship. Nothing wrong with that.

I was briefly in love with an Irish Setter...But, that is a another kettle of fish.

My Canadian kids, or the media they got it from, seem to have evolved 'Murica from slur to slogan... when something works by accident, they high five and yell 'Murica.

Much could be read into that but realistically someday y'all might be raising a big "hell yeah, 'Murica".

a reply to: igloo

Oh man gonna start doing that meself lol.
Heck lets make it into a positive thing.


Helped in WW2...Hell yeah 'Murica

I thought that was an inside joke? I have never seen it anywhere but here, and used by Americans themselves.
I have never see anyone in Europe use it, and the great majority would not get the reference.

a reply to: FlyersFan

We are Americans but so are Canadians, Mexicans, El Salvadoreans, Chileans, etc.

I find it repugnant that US citizens think they are the only Americans.

Granted it takes more time, if you want to show respect to all Americans, when speaking about Citizens of the US you should call them that - Citizens of the United States. Maybe CUSs for short.

I always just thought it was a Suthern accent.

Go figure.

originally posted by: FyreByrd
a reply to: FlyersFan

We are Americans but so are Canadians, Mexicans, El Salvadoreans, Chileans, etc.

I find it repugnant that US citizens think they are the only Americans.

Granted it takes more time, if you want to show respect to all Americans, when speaking about Citizens of the US you should call them that - Citizens of the United States. Maybe CUSs for short.

Americans know the names of the continents, thank you so much. When Canadians suggest they want to be called "North Americans", we will call them that. They seem to prefer to be called "Canadians".

People from South American (which is what I just said, because it's what everybody calls them). Call themselves "South Americans". So do we call them that, unless we know precisely where they are from (she's Peruvian, etc.)

We also refer to people who live in Mexico, "Mexicans", because that's what they call themselves, and folks from Guatemala and Central America, say they are from "Central America", which is also what we say.

When out of the country and asked where I'm from I say "I'm American", because that's what everyone else says, or I say "the States".

It's the language everyone I know uses, but think what you like. It's not like we think we have some big ownership of the term "American".

a reply to: ladyinwaiting
Exactly. United Statesians? USians? Just awkward.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

originally posted by: 8675309jenny
a reply to: FlyersFan
What you've failed to realize is that the vast majority of people who write: " 'merica!!" Are Americans themselves and they are doing it in jest. .

I 'fail to realize' nothing with this.
Some are Americans kidding around.
Most are not. It's a slur.

ETA - when some Americans use it, it reminds me of black people using the 'n' word about themselves. It's a senseless thing to do.

It isn't a fecking slur, how ridiculous.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Ya. We share the name "America" with two other continents, and everybody seems to be satisfied with what they've chosen to call themselves. Never had a problem with it.

a reply to: FlyersFan

The term "Murica" may indeed be derogatory but it is no where the same as labelling citizens of the world; Seal F*******; Frogs; etc.

I would be more concerned about the more important matters taking place in America such as the extreme violence, crimes, and corruption eating away at that particular society instead of trivial matters such as name calling. Sticks and stones may break your bones....ya know?

I remain optimistic that if one were to use the term "Murica" while visiting the states they would not take a bullet for doing so...

But then again:

a reply to: FlyersFan


Ummm...

See what I did there...? I start every post with my own rendition of...D'oh...and I end almost everyone with ...

Why...you might ask...because i might respond...I never take myself too seriously...I think it's part and parcel of a healthy psyche to laugh at oneself...and frequently...

TBH...I've never used any of those terms and although I think it's quaint...in a boring sort of way...I can't quite summon the desire to place myself on some imagined elevation whilst gazing down and snickering at the troglodytic unwashed...

As some here have...

I think that some people take themselves entirely too seriously...yet the really fun part is in what such behavior loudly proclaims about the multiple innate insecurities...bared for all the world to see...


YouSir

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: kaylaluv

But you would not be happy to hear that term used by someone from else where? I just want to know so that if this comes up later, I know where the boundaries are!

TrueBit makes a valid point here. (hypothetically) kaylaluv, what if TrueBrit called YOU a 'Murican in a post (I'm sure he really wouldn't)? Would that, to you, be the equivalent to calling you a dumbass according to your own thought process and self-admitted usage? Would his use of that term be welcomed openly by you, embraced, celebrated, or would it trigger resentment in you toward him?

I think that is the crux of FF's rant. It's a needless derogatory term regardless of who uses it. And, being a whoafully broad generalization, is not indicative of the entire population of a country. If you want to call someone a dumbass, then call them a dumbass to their face....anything less is hiding behind a thinly veiled facade, and IMO speaks more about you than them.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
a reply to: ladyinwaiting
Exactly. United Statesians? USians? Just awkward.

How about "USers"?
Or, "USapiens"?
Or, "USAnish"?

a reply to: Krakatoa

Haha, I actually thought of that but decided against adding it. I knew someone would

a reply to: ~Lucidity

I put "Murican" below the more derogatory term, "cracker". That slur is used widely, to describe a white person. However if you understand the history of the term, it has less to do with a white cracker (that you eat) and more to do with the label used by slaves to refer to the white slave masters (or whatever that job is named) that were responsible for punishing a slave by "cracking the whip" on their backs. They were called the "crackers"...as in , "don''t let the cracker hear you say that or you will be tied to the pole".

So, when I get called a "cracker", I am offended because I cannot imagine myself cracking a whip on someones back, let alone condoning slavery in the process. To me, that is at the same level as calling a black person a ni**er (funny you can type and say 'cracker' but not 'the n-word'). To be frank, my entire family came here at the turn of the 20th century from a place that had nothing to do with slavery at all....we were fisherman and vintners.

The point is, there are more relevant and insulting slurs, that are worth being upset about....IMO.

a reply to: Krakatoa

Truly though, it's only derrogatory if someone chooses, for whatever reason, to take it that way. I think it's kind of funny. It doesn't offend me even if it's intended that way. And it will also eventually die a natural and whimpering death too. So why stress?

Making a big deal of it is only going to entice more people into using it. It's that looking for shock value or attention thing, if in fact that is how it even is intended, so why give it to them?

a reply to: Krakatoa

USapiens

Usanish sounds a bit too much like USamish though. Rumspringa, anyone?

a reply to: FlyersFan

If memory serves, it began as a derogatory/satirical term directed at Bush Jr to indicate his lack of grey matter, overzealous patriotism, and his poor usage of linguistics.

That terminology then took a foothold and spread out to any American who also displayed these same flawed characteristics.

So the way I understand it, the derogatory term began in the United States by Americans, aimed at certain types of Americans.

Personally, I've never heard the term used by anyone outside of the US or US media until I joined ATS.

As for the word "Amerika", correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that was aimed specifically at the US government and has nothing to do with US citizens themselves ? Replacing the "c" with a "k" indicates a communist/dictatorship/tyrannical innuendo - which obviously has no relevancy with the citizens themselves, since citizens are not the ones who set non-sensical laws and policies.


Je suis beer-drinking-poutine-eating-libtard Canook.

Flyers, Flyers. Flyers. Hold up. Just back up the bus here.

You're flipping your lid over an expression we Americans came up with as a verbal middle finger to the brain-dead idiots in the country? Really?

I'll make absolutely certain to continue using it, then. We can't have people thinking it's a national epithet when it's just a way of saying "you morons" with jest.