Central America - Seven Nations, and the Southernmost Part of the North American Continent

[DonRocks]

On 11/3/2016 at 10:04 PM, Sundae in the Park said:

Heh, I did ask and while he has eaten Persian food in various Canadian cities, he's never tried any in South America, so feels comfortable saying best in North America rather than the admittedly clunkier "best in the US, Canada, and presumably Mexico" but not in making any broad claims about the whole Hemisphere 

For context, my friend used to live in DC and favored Shamshiry back in the day.

Don't forget, Central America is part of North America (you'd be surprised how many people don't know this).

I actually just wanted to use the word, "isthmus."

[The Hersch]

You may not be aware how fraught this subject is to Latin Americans, many of whom insist that North, Central, and South America are a single continent, and that Mexico is in the "central" part.

[DonRocks]

On 11/13/2016 at 9:38 PM, The Hersch said:

You may not be aware how fraught this subject is to Latin Americans, many of whom insist that North, Central, and South America are a single continent, and that Mexico is in the "central" part.

I'd say those Latin Americans are correct. What's the more logical dividing point, a tiny little isthmus (see, I just used it), or a poorly differentiated (Hey! I even threw in an oncological term!) border the width of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas?

That said, North America does not equal "The United States of America" any more than it does "Canada," "Mexico," or "Central America," so it's all nomenclature, and Central America really *is* sort of a "connection point" between the two land masses - I look at it as a "tail" (or "panhandle" if you prefer) of Mexico. Nobody complains about being in the Texas panhandle or the West Virginia panhandle (unless they live there ), so I'm not sure I see a legitimate complaint. 

Perhaps they're tired of "America" defaulting to "North America," e.g., "Thirty Americans (*), twenty Canadians, eighteen Mexicans, and twelve Panamanians were killed in today's accident," in which case I think they have a *very* legitimate gripe, and this is something I'm going to be careful to avoid in the future - thanks for bringing it up. (That said, I *think* a lot of Latino countries call us "Americanos" (when they're not calling us Gringos ), so they may be participating in it as well.) 

(*) If this is the case, I think it's a matter of convenience: "United Statesians" is clumsy, and most of these broadcasts are U.S. broadcasts intended for U.S. audiences, so it's not entirely malicious. Also, doesn't "Latin" imply "Latium" which is essentially Rome? 

Amerigo Vespucci: 

Jul 2, 2012 - "When a Co-Worker Takes Credit for Your Work" by Lisa Quast on forbes.com