this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2024
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Asklemmy

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[–] kambusha@sh.itjust.works 48 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We're all living in Amerika. Coca cola. Wonder-bra.

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I read the question and my brain also immediately went to - "Oh, they just listened to Rammstein".

[–] doofy77@aussie.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Thought it was a Kafka thing.

[–] Captain_Baka@feddit.org 36 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Most people use "Amerika" for "the USA". If one talks about "the Americas" we use "Südamerika" (south) and "Nordamerika" (north).

[–] grandel@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

I believe everybody uses it wrong though. Technically "Amerika" is the continent. But most people mean "Die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika" (The United States of America aka USA)

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 22 points 1 month ago

It's most commonly used to refer to the USA.

[–] Microw@lemm.ee 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Depends on the context. If it is written/talked about in a geographic context, it will usually mean "the Americas". If it's in a political context, it will mean "the USA".

Keep on mind that reputable news outlets won't use "Amerika" when referring to the US however, they will use "Vereinigte Staaten" (United States). "Amerika" as a term for the US is very much a colloquial thing.

[–] FrogPrincess@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago

Depends on the context. If it is written/talked about in a geographic context, it will usually mean “the Americas”. If it’s in a political context, it will mean “the USA”.

That's a good point.

[–] thoralf@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I would not use „Amerika“ if I would refer to the US. I usually mean the geographical combination of North and South America if I would use the term.

If I want to reference the US, I would use „die USA“, „die Vereinigten Staaten“ or in short just „die Staaten“.

[–] very_well_lost@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

die USA

NSA has entered the chat

[–] viking@infosec.pub 11 points 1 month ago

The US. We'd usually use North/South/Central/Latin America for specifics, or if we wanted to imply something happens all over the Americas, then we'd refer to "the entire American continent" or continental America.

[–] nichtburningturtle@feddit.org 8 points 1 month ago

I use both to refer to the USA, since the meaning can be inferred from the context, but use US more often.

[–] mathemachristian@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago
[–] FrogPrincess@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago
[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Stupid question is that how they would spell America in Germany "Amerika"?

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 13 points 1 month ago

Yep, that's how we spell it.

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Just wait until you see how Americans spell Deutschland...

[–] superkret@feddit.org 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Just wait till you hear how we pronounce "Chicago".

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

Eh, as a Bostonian I'm always much more impressed by how people's tongues try to leave orbit when they first encounter Worcester.

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's obviously pronounced Kicago, just like Chamäleon, Chemie and China :)

[–] mbirth@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Kemie and Kina

I threw up a little...

But Chemie comes from Chemnitz (obviously) so it must be pronounced with K

Don't know where China comes from, maybe from Chinese which is obviously pronounced with K.

[–] unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The hard "c" sound as you see in America is always a 'k' auf deutsch.

[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

That makes sense

[–] Captain_Baka@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Something a person that definitely doesn't speak german would say. We spell it exactly like this.

...Yes, that’s why they’re asking.