First: I actually asked a Q about using the term American and America over ten years ago. That the terms can also mean the continent or people from other countries on the American continent. In fact the family of my Italian BIL used to call his wife La Americana, and she is Mexican, so this idea is nothing new to me.

My question is what do you think is the intention of these memes across Facebook? Just to teach people about geography? I think it is more political. It is my most liberal friends passing it around. Why?

The memes show America as a single continent, which is not even how people in the USA learn it. The US uses the seven content model, unless that has changed.

The fact is both are correct: America the content and America as a short name for the USA. Using America is understood by most of the world to mean the USA. Should we change it? I’m fine using US instead of America, I often do. Should we stop using Mexican then? Use UMS?

Topics: politics, geography, America, United States, social media, memes