Do you get annoyed when people say 'Eire'?

sesswhat wrote: »

In polite conversation at any rate, although the Brazilians use it freely, and without malice, for anyone who is not a local.

It has different meanings in different contexts and cultures of course (apparently used to refer specifically to the Irish in early 18th Century Madrid) so does not fit the bill to uniquely define someone from the US.

It is strange how the word American became a US monopoly, and how Canadians want to distance themselves from it while other Americans are rightly unhappy about it.

I imagine not everyone in the US would be happy with Yanks, the word I would tend to use myself.

USains maybe? (They'd probably try to claim the 100m record then though).

Getting back to Éire, it's beyond me why anyone would get annoyed, but then annoyance is a very personal thing.

American is used for people from the US because the name of the country is the United States of AMERICA. 'United Statesians' sounds ridiculous. I don't see what's so controversial about it, to be honest. No other country has 'America' in its name, does it?

Jimoslimos wrote: »

I think you're bullshítting here. There is nowhere on the Korean (RoK) passport that records place of birth.

Unless your flatmate is a naturalised citizen of another country whose passport she has. In that case place of birth will record country of birth, otherwise just the city of birth.

Perhaps you should have read my post more carefully. Korean passports don't record place of birth, but EU (and probably other) passports for people born in Korea do.

Jimoslimos wrote: »

And perhaps you should have read mine too. In any case you didn't specify it was an EU passport, which doesn't bear any relevance to what people in Korea call themselves - rather what option is available in the drop-down menu to the clerk in the passport office.

Yes, I did. I said it was a French passport. If South Korea isn't an internationally accepted name for the country, why is it on any drop-down menu? Why are the officially translated documents provided by South Korean universities and other institutions full of references to South Korea?

I'm not sure why I'm even bothering to argue about this. If you can't see the massive difference between 'South Korea' (very common name for the country, used by its own citizens and on official documents) and 'Southern Ireland' (not used by any citizens, not on any documentation, only used by confused people who don't really understand Ireland), I don't know what more to say.

Another one of the obvious issues with the term 'Southern Ireland' is that the northernmost point of the island of Ireland is in the Republic. It makes no sense. Ireland isn't divided pretty much in half the way Korea is. I've had loads of English people who have looked at a map of Ireland say things like 'hah! Typical silly paddies! Why do they call it Southern Ireland when some of it's in the north? Haha, that's so Irish!' To which I respond, 'we don't call it Southern Ireland. You do.' Their face is always priceless.

sesswhat wrote: »

A collection of states aligning themselves into a political union and calling themselves the United States of America does not exclude other states in North or South America from being called American.

You say Brazilians are angry because "they think they are American too". Are you saying they are not?

Are those in Switzerland no longer European now that a group of other European states call themselves the European Union?

I have no problem with a Brazilian considering themselves American, I do have a bit of an issue with me not being 'allowed' to use 'American' to refer to a citizen of the United States when there's no other adjective which serves that purpose. American as an adjective to describe someone born on that continent is one thing. American as a nationality is another thing. They just happen to be the same word in English. I'm not being politically incorrect or wrong by using 'American' for US citizens because no other recognised term exists.

Your example about Switzerland is silly and not at all comparable. The EU is not an official country with 'European' used as an official adjective for nationality.