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OneDeuxTriSeiGo parent
This is the most infuriatingly incorrect statement.

America is a democracy AND it's a republic AND a bunch of other stuff.

The full description is that America is a Federal Constitutional Representative Democratic Republic.


rbanffy
Technically “America” is a continent. The country is called “United States of America”. ;-)

And yes, saying it’s not a democracy infuriates me as well, because it’s being used to justify a whole lot of undemocratic shenanigans.

OneDeuxTriSeiGo OP
Lol I almost went for that pedantry. However technically America is not a continent (under most definitions of continent) but North and South America are. :P
rbanffy
America would then be the whole land mass. Or something like that.
Unless you grew up in a place that taught a six-continent model instead of a seven-continent model and it was NA/SA consolidated instead of Europe and Asia into Eurasia.

Also: continents are bullshit.

Also also: America is the United States of America in the English-speaking world.

skissane
> Also also: America is the United States of America in the English-speaking world.

As an Australian English speaker, I will normally call it “the US”-the only time I ever call it “America” is when speaking to our 7 year old, because I know she knows what “America” means but I worry “the US” might confuse her; but with older children (such as our 12 year old) and with adults I say “the US”, because calling it “America” feels incorrect to me. In everyday speech, “the US” is (in my experience) more common than “America”, although both are understood as referring to the country; for the continent I use the plural (“the Americas”) to avoid the risk of confusion.

Using "United States" or "the US" is fine, but where "America" is used in the English-speaking world it still predominantly refers to the United States of America; but Australia is a big country. Given a large enough population of individualistic people—and there are a lot of individualistic English-speakers on Earth whether people such as yourself who share your particular hang-up or just contrarians—exceptions are not notable.
JumpCrisscross
> with adults I say “the US”, because calling it “America” feels incorrect to me

Sure. But if someone says America, you aren’t confused unless for performative purposes.

skissane
Yes, which is exactly what I already said in the comment you were responding to: “although both are understood as referring to the country”
rbanffy
I don't hear it being called "America" here in Ireland. The only place I hear it is in the US, which is how I call it.
If somebody says "America" to you in Ireland, are you confused about what they are talking about? That's the difference.

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