Agree, it just doesn't get any better than this.  10.

Hillbilly music.

In the politically correct world of Wikipedia what you say is true.  But I have been reading The Economist and Der Spiegel for decades.  They use "American" exclusively for citizens of the USA, except when they are hypocritically contending that Americans can also refer to all inhabitants of the new world.  Which I don't argue against at all, but I doubt you will ever find a Canadian, a Mexican or a Brazilian referred to as an American in the European press.  And the original point I was making is that Canadians themselves want to have it both ways.  They loathe being referred to as Americans and not specifically Canadians, yet at the same time are offended that the term "American" in common usage (by the rest of the world, not just in the US) doesn't include them.

Hillbilly music.

On the German disambiguation page the continental sense precedes the national sense. Repeating this trial with the adjectives American, americano, américain, and Amerikaner produced similar results.

Howdy, Hannio. I thought you might be right, so I designed a simple experiment to put your claim that "the world recognizes the term 'American' as a USA citizen" to the test. I looked up America, América, Amérique, and Amerika in the English, Spanish, French, and German Wikipedia pages. I decided that Wikipedia was a good place to look, because its democratic orientation can give us a glimpse at what people in a given online language community tend to think. The first search, on the English language web page, took me to a disambiguation page where the continental sense of the word (North, Central, and South America plus nearby islands) is listed first, then the United States of America. Searches in the other three languages took me directly to the continental description. On the Spanish disambiguation page we are warned that the Real Academia Española, arbiters of linguistic propriety in this language, discourage the use of "America" in reference to the United States. On the main French page for Amérique it is stated that this word should not be confused with the United States of America. On the German disambiguation page the continental sense precedes the national sense. Repeating this trial with the adjectives American, americano, américain, and Amerikaner produced similar results. This experiment tends to confirm what I thought I knew from experience in my travels and contacts with people from around the world, that outside the USA most people understand the words America, American and their cognates in the continental sense.

- Otomi in pedant mode (sorry, folks, I'll try to lighten up)

 And your favorites list is stuck in the 70s.

On_The_Beach wrote: 

This from someone who rated a Tori Amos song a 10?! Thanks for the laugh! 

By far the worst song by the worst band in the history of rock 'n roll. I have never understood the reason we MUST like this band; after all, EVERY pop music critic in every newspaper or magazine would go on and on in love with these guys. I've never met a person who likes the group or any of their songs. . . .

Well said! I bet you like the Juliane Werding version better?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s9Z37FSV84

By far the worst song by the worst band in the history of rock 'n roll. I have never understood the reason we MUST like this band; after all, EVERY pop music critic in every newspaper or magazine would go on and on in love with these guys. I've never met a person who likes the group or any of their songs. 

I say this as someone who loves all kinds of music. I have over 3,000 records, a ton of CDs, was a music major in college (for a while) and spend a few dollars at iTunes every week. 

By far the worst song by the worst band in the history of rock 'n roll.

By far the worst song by the worst band in the history of rock 'n roll. I have never understood the reason we MUST like this band; after all, EVERY pop music critic in every newspaper or magazine would go on and on in love with these guys. I've never met a person who likes the group or any of their songs. 

I say this as someone who loves all kinds of music. I have over 3,000 records, a ton of CDs, was a music major in college (for a while) and spend a few dollars at iTunes every week. 

 fredriley wrote: 
Well, being an ignoramus living on same side of said pond, but hailing from the Land of Lincoln, it is my opinion one cannot understand the US without understanding the American Civil War, its causes and consequences.  History can be a pain that way.  

BTW, I also happen to believe one cannot understand England today without understanding the English Civil War - but, whatever . . .  

This is hilarious.  Canadians throw themselves into fits of high dudgeon whenever a Canadian artist is mistaken for an American, and at the same time they are not a little peeved that the world recognizes the term "American" as a USA citizen. 

Ah, right. Being an ignoramus the other side of the Pond I was never quite sure what this was about, but figured it was something to do with the war. A shame it's still being fought, going by messages such as the above. That's a bit like some hard-core Irish Republicans still having it in for England on account of what Oliver Cromwell did 3 centuries ago. Regrettably, the map of the world is driven by inter-State warfare and imperialism, and us grunts just have to accept what results. Pining for a forgotten and defeated State from 200 years ago is both pointless and leads to some very dangerous and reactionary revanchism. Let's just deal with what is, not what should have been, and improve our societies from their current state.

Um, Canadians are "Americans." The United States doesn't get to appropriate the name of the continent we share.

Sad and tragic story of the War of Northern Aggression.

Levon Helm, who sang "The Night ...", is not Canadian but Arkansan.

Um, Canadians are "Americans." The United States doesn't get to appropriate the name of the continent we share.

Ah, right. Being an ignoramus the other side of the Pond I was never quite sure what this was about, but figured it was something to do with the war. A shame it's still being fought, going by messages such as the above. That's a bit like some hard-core Irish Republicans still having it in for England on account of what Oliver Cromwell did 3 centuries ago. Regrettably, the map of the world is driven by inter-State warfare and imperialism, and us grunts just have to accept what results. Pining for a forgotten and defeated State from 200 years ago is both pointless and leads to some very dangerous and reactionary revanchism. Let's just deal with what is, not what should have been, and improve our societies from their current state.