Americans, look here!

[johan]

I'm in a terminology discussion elsewhere.

In very relaxed and colloquial US English, is Canada included when the average American talks about North America, or do both terms North America and America refer to just the US? Does "I live in North America, not in Canada" come off naturally in your ears, as something an ordinary American in a bar might say?

Comments desired!

Comments

Depends on the bar ...

[tcr25.livejournal.com]

There might be a few people who'd rather obliviously exclude Canada as "North America", but the usual common parlance is for the typical person in the States:

"America" = the United States of America
"North America" = the U.S. & Canada (and maybe Mexico, if they think about it)

Mexico is often lumped in with Central America, which is typically spoken of as if it's not part of North America. "Latin America" is also used to cover Mexico and everything south to Antarctica. Greenland and the Caribbean nations are also in a gray zone of afterthought at best.

Re: Depends on the bar ...

[grubi.livejournal.com]

Except that Central America is and always has been part of North America.

Re: Depends on the bar ...

[(Anonymous)]

Of course, but I'm trying to think in typical usage, not what's correct ...

Re: Depends on the bar ...

[tcr25.livejournal.com]

that was me ...

Re: Depends on the bar ...

[grubi.livejournal.com]

Oh, people are crazy.