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The Ugly American
In article >,
(Karen O'Mara) wrote:
> <<What we Ugly Americans should be learning here is that our
> perceptions
> about what words mean are not the same as the perceptions of people
> who
> live in other countries. In the US, we think that "US" and "american"
> are
> synonyms, whereas in other parts of the world they aren't. It's not a
> case of right or wrong, it's a case of words having different meanings
> to
> different people. We need to recognize the right of people in other
> countries to use words differently.>>
> <<I was listening to the radio yesterday morning and they were playing
> an
> interview with a US soldier who had escaped from Iraqi hands. He was
> in a
> US military hospital in Germany and said he was looking forward to
> going
> back to America. It was pretty obvious that he thought that "america"
> meant the US. That's how we use the word in this country.>>
> And, that makes him an Ugly American?
> I don't think so. It's a word that clearly conveys and was not
> inappropriately used. The word was used affectionately and I can't
> imagine it being insulting to anyone. Perhaps, that I feel that way,
> makes you think of me as being an Ugly American, and that makes you
> ugly to me.
I agree. The audience for the interview was people in the US, and the
context was clear. This was the first example that popped into my mind of
a person from the US using the word "america" to mean the US. As you have
observed, we do this all the time. I can't imagine you as an Ugly
American, just that this thread reminded me of that book.
--
Dan Abel
Sonoma State University
AIS
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