we are fricken americans
You are apparently unfamiliar with common English usage and consequently must consult sources which mislead you. Kindly let me educate you. The term "American", as applied to people, is understood to designate citizens of the United States of America.
Now it is true there are many other peoples on those land masses known as the American continents, but they are known by other names - Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Argentineans, Chileans, Peruvians, ....
So, in the the future, when you hear someone referred to as "American", you can assume they are citizens of the USA and be almost certainly correct.
Just though you'd like to know.
Dingbat.
' I accept now with equanimity the question so constantly addressed to me, "Are you an american?" and merely return the accurate answer,
"Yes, i am a canadian." '
This is often a matter of confusion. Canadians speak the same language (English, originally from the European nation nation England, now part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.) They look like Americans. They dress like Americans. They largely act like Americans. They do have a slightly different accent which can be picked up once you've heard enough of it.
But they are Canadian.
Not that that is at all bad. They are different from their southern cousins in some ways and alike in many. And alike in the most important way: They are a democracy.
50cm
With the accuracy of modern positioning techniques, national borders are no longer 50 cm wide. Legally, they never were. Some line must demarcate where the sovereignty of one nation ends and another begins or endless trouble will be afoot once something occurs to make that difference worth fighting for.
The boy was not in Canada; he was in the US. US laws applied. End of case.
pseudo-folks like you
I would not be so dismissive of "pseudo-folks like me". "Pseudo-folks like me" were handling M-16s in Afghanistan and doing a good job of it. And will do so again in Iraq if necessary. |
