Well, everybody born in the american continent is technically “american” too, including Central and South America. Is there a specific term in english for these people?
Edit: Thanks for all your answers, especially the wholesome ones and those patient enough to explain it thoroughly. Since we (South Americans) and you (North Americans) use different models/conventions of continent boundaries, it makes sense for you to go by “Americans”, while it doesn’t for us.
Oh, fun - I just used Brazilians as an example in another comment. Would you ever say “I’m American” when you’re talking about your continent?
Yes! But usually we are more specific by saying “I am south american”
That’s exactly what I would have thought. But I’m learning that different cultures and languages see it differently. So while I’d say that in English, it is appropriate to specify North/South American when speaking of the continents, in other cultures, just saying American might presume that the other person understands you mean Central or South America.
But I will say, with the number of cultures that live in the US, I would still think that a Spanish speaking person with South American ancestry meant the US if they said “I’m American” I wouldn’t think any differently than if a person with Korean ancestry said “I’m American”. But it’s good to understand how other cultures think.