For the Americans, is there a difference between “America” and “United States” when referring to their country? I and my friend went to USA from Canada. When making small talk to the security guard, my friend said “America”; then the guard said “United States” immediately after that as if to correct him; so I wonder if there’s a difference. If there isn’t, why did the security guard say “United States” right after my friend’s saying “America”? Thank you.
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2Security people may need to be more formal than most other people.– PeterCommented Nov 25 at 2:19
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4Canada and Mexico and Tierra Del Fuego are all in America.– Yosef BaskinCommented Nov 25 at 2:50
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1By "the security," do you the security at the airport? Was that in the US or in Canada?– alphabetCommented Nov 25 at 3:31
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2The border guard might not have been correcting your friend. He might have wanted to get clarification.– Ellie KCommented Nov 25 at 9:03
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1my friend said “America”; then the guard said “United States”... I wonder if there’s a difference Yes America is a continent, the USA is a state.. If there isn’t, why did the security guard say “United States? This is an English forum, not a human psychology forum. You need to ask that question elsewhere.– GreybeardCommented Nov 25 at 16:52
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2 Answers
North America is the continent. There are three countries: Canada, the United States of America (USA), and Mexico.
Colloquial usage in the USA is America or US; however, a United States passport has United States of America on the cover.
It makes sense that a Canadian or Mexican border guard would seek clarification, even if it seemed like small talk, of America as referring to the USA, as both Canada and Mexico are part of North America. Unnecessary ambiguity is created by not distinguishing while at a national border crossing.
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21. But "North America" and "America" are different. Nobody calls Canada "America". 2. The guard already knew we were going to the US. He said "United States" when my friend's making small talk, not answering an official question.– abcdCommented Nov 25 at 8:56
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6@abcd Given that he is a border guard, it makes sense that he might seek clarification about which nation was being referred to. It might be part of his own job, when he communicates with people, to distinguish between Canada and the United States, so it isn't surprising that he might want to be absolutely clear, even in small talk, about which country you were referring to. Border guards don't typically make small talk. That is the more surprising part to me!– Ellie KCommented Nov 25 at 9:01
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1. My friend was trying to chat with him a little, but he was indifferent. 2. The thing is that it's a one-way street. Only people who go to the US get checked there and he's already checked our documents and tickets. There's no confusion at all.– abcdCommented Nov 25 at 9:08
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3@abcd How do you know he was indifferent? Also, people get confused and board the wrong airplanes all the time. I don't know what else to tell you.– Ellie KCommented Nov 25 at 9:35
From one of your comments:
But "North America" and "America" are different. Nobody calls Canada "America".
I can't speak for everyone, but to some people who are born or live outside of the United States, America is a continent, not a country.
I was born in the USA, but have lived most of my life in Chile, and some time in Bolivia. Here, children learn that America is one continent, containing both North and South America.
If you ask any of my neighbors what continent they live in, they will reply with "America", and it is a bit of a joke how folks from the US say that they are "American", because we all are Americans here.
From this point of view, you cannot go to America from Canada; you are already in America. It's a technicality, but one that makes sense to a lot of folks.
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2Conrado, you are totally correct in your assessment, but that is for a different context than the OP. For the majority of English speakers in the US and Canada, America refers to the US. The song, spoken by Puerto Ricans in English, is "I want to live in A mer i ca" not "I want to live in the USA".– MitchCommented Nov 25 at 14:41
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@Mitch Yes, I think I understand that this is true about the majority of monoglot American (geographical) English speakers. Possibly the Guyanese would say it like me. I don't know any Puerto Ricans to verify, but I think that 1. they have more American anglicisms than most Hispanic speakers and 2. songs like the one you mention are sometimes exaggerated to be even more American (in the "country" sense) than usual speech. However, if you'd be at all inclined to, feel free to edit this answer. Perhaps, if you don't, I will later; but I doubt I'll remove it: it still seems to have some value.– ConradoCommented Nov 25 at 17:14
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1. I said in my post that we're using "America" to refer to the country, and I'm asking about its difference with "United States" as a country's name. I also said my question is for the Americans. You're talking about "some people who are born or live outside of the United States," and people for whom English's a second language. They're irrelevant. 2. As for the continent, Canada is part of the continent, not the continent. We went to the US from Canada, so we were already in that continent. We can't say we travel from the same continent to the same continent. It doesn't make sense.– abcdCommented Nov 25 at 19:09
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1@abcd I am an American. I was born in North America, in Big Valley in Central Appalachia. I am also a British Citizen. English is my native language. "America" is not officially the name of a country, and while it is often used in vernacular to refer to the USA, it is officially the name of a continent (or two, depending who you ask). Not all USA citizens call it just "America", (indeed, not all USA citizens are native English speakers) and some citizens (including some natives) would be inclined to disambiguate, as did, if I am not mistaken, the guard.– ConradoCommented Nov 25 at 19:50
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@Conrado, but in your answer you talked about "some people who are born or live outside of the United States," and people for whom English's a second language. They’re irrelevant. You weren’t talking about yourself.– abcdCommented Nov 25 at 20:46