Stunning conversations you have with people

[JayOctavarium]

[Scorpion]

Holy shit.

[jsem]

You should've showed him a map dude.

[wolfking]

Watched one of my staff talking to a potential new customer today;

Client: "Just new to the area and having a look at coming to your facility"
Staff: "That's no problem....*continues to give customer info on the centre*
Client: "So do you have some sort of membership or multi visit entry"
Staff: "Yes, we have a 25 visit pass which is great value and the cost is ....."
Client: "So how many visits do I get with that?"
Staff: "Err.....25"
Client: "Oh wow, that is pretty good value"

 

[jsem]

It never hurts to repeat oneself eh.

[Orbert]

To be fair, I think it is a bit confusing that the full name of this country is The United States of America, often just America for short, because of the whole thing with North America, South America, Central America, and Latin America.  Basically all the countries in the west are part of <something> America, and the word "America" in that context has nothing to do with the name of our country (aside from being the same word and having the same origin).

I was fortunate to have a decent grade-school education wherein they carefully laid all of this out, with maps and stuff.  And looking back, maybe it was pretty amazing that this was like Third Grade.  Also, I'm one of those weirdos that likes learning stuff, and I thought it was pretty cool.  I was never really surprised that some people get confused by it.  I remember in junior high, I had to explain to someone that Texas and Florida are not in South America, but are in the Southern part of America.  When you think about it, it is confusing.

[Elite]

Just think of America as the entire landmass. It's divided in North and South America and one of the countries in North America is called The United States of America. Not that difficult really.

[Implode]

I can see how it'd be confusing similar to the England/Great Britain/United Kingdom thing, but come on. If you live here you should understand how it works.

[Orbert]

Just think of America as the entire landmass.

But that's the problem.  America is a specific country within that landmass, not the whole thing.

It's divided in North and South America and one of the countries in North America is called The United States of America. Not that difficult really.

The Commonwealth of Virginia is called Virginia for short.  The United States of America is called America for short.  It's the exact same thing.  The word "of" doesn't mean "The United States, which is part of America".  It means that America is a country formed of united states, just as Virginia is a commonwealth.

Look, I know what you guys are saying, and I've never been confused by it.  I'm just saying that I can understand how others could find it confusing.  I'm from Michigan, and my dad lives over on the Lake Michigan shore.  We call that part of the state West Michigan.  People in Virginia can't do the same thing, because West Virginia doesn't mean the western part of the state; it's actually a different state.  If I were from South North Dakota or North South Dakota, I'd probably kill myself.

The problem is that Geography has no rules to apply.  Everything is rote.  You either know it or you don't, and if you don't, you can't just figure it out based on a set of general rules, as with Mathematics or Science.  You have to ask someone, and that person will think you're an idiot for not knowing.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I had to explain to someone that Texas and Florida are not in South America

Doesn't mean we wouldn't prefer that they were.

HEY-OH!

[Orbert]

[rumborak]

I can see how it'd be confusing similar to the England/Great Britain/United Kingdom thing, but come on. If you live here you should understand how it works.

The UK thing is way more confusing. You got the UK, Great Britain, England, Scotland and Ireland. Plus Northern Ireland.
The America thing is rather simple. America is a continent, but the word gets also used as a shorthand for the US. That's all there is to it.

rumborak

[Orbert]

America is a continent

No.

[jsem]

America
 
Pronunciation: /əˈmerɪkə/
(also the Americas)
a land mass of the western hemisphere consisting of the continents of North and South America joined by the Isthmus of Panama.
used as a name for the United States.

America was originally inhabited by American Indians and Inuit peoples. The NE coastline of North America was visited by Norse seamen in the early 11th century, but for the modern world America was first reached by Christopher Columbus, who arrived in the Caribbean in 1492 and the South American mainland in 1498


Origin:
the name America dates from the early 16th century and is believed to derive from the Latin form (Americus) of the name of Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed along the west coast of South America in 1501

Proper noun
America (plural Americas)
1. The landmass now divided into the continents of North and South America.  [quotations ▼]
2. The United States of America.

Conclusion: It could be both. Originally, it meant the entire continent - but during later years it has been used as a term for the United States of America.

[Implode]

I was having a conversation with some friends the other day. Back in highschool I felt kind of dumb because all my friends did better than me on the ACT. I got a 31. We were laughing at how ridiculous that was.

[bosk1]

America is a continent

No.

That...is amazing.

[Orbert]

a land mass of the western hemisphere consisting of the continents of North and South America

It's not a continent.

[slycordinator]

Look, I know what you guys are saying, and I've never been confused by it.  I'm just saying that I can understand how others could find it confusing.  I'm from Michigan, and my dad lives over on the Lake Michigan shore.  We call that part of the state West Michigan.  People in Virginia can't do the same thing, because West Virginia doesn't mean the western part of the state; it's actually a different state.  If I were from South North Dakota or North South Dakota, I'd probably kill myself.

The solution is for you guys to use the language properly. The western portion of Washington is called "western Washington" and not "West Washington."

On the other hand, Michigan is different in that the western part is separate from the rest of the state.

[Orbert]

Actually, it's the northern part of the state, but... yeah.

[slycordinator]

I meant in the sense that the northern part of Michigan is a bit more separate in the sense that the other states in the 48 are more or less contiguous.

But still, the northern part of Minnesota isn't called "North Minnesota" and I didn't do my undergrad at "West Washington University."

[slycordinator]

And in filling out paperwork for my new practice that I'll be working at I was reminded of the following (which was only stunning to me in that it showed how little a lot people knew about my field).

Coworker: You moved here for school? What are you studying?
Me: I came here for an acupuncture school.
Her: So you're gonna be a Physical Therapist?
Me: No. I'll be an acupuncturist.
Her: They have those?!

To be fair, this girl was actually pretty smart.

[jasc15]

A friend of my sister:

"Do you cross an ocean to get to California [from New York]?"

[snapple]

A friend of my sister:

"Do you cross an ocean to get to California [from New York]?"

If you want to pay a lot, you could.

[Super Dude]

America is a continent

No.

That...is amazing.

I don't mean to complicate things any more than they already have been, but apparently schools in South American countries don't divide the continent(s) between North and South America; it's just one America. So yes, if you live in Brazil, America is a continent.

[rumborak]

What exactly its the point of discussion here? Whether America is one or two continents? Or whether anything but the USA rightfully has the title America?

rumborak

[zepp-head]

I meant in the sense that the northern part of Michigan is a bit more separate in the sense that the other states in the 48 are more or less contiguous.

But still, the northern part of Minnesota isn't called "North Minnesota" and I didn't do my undergrad at "West Washington University."

To complicate things further, I also live in Michigan, and Northern Michigan typically refers to the northern part of the lower peninsula, "the mitten".  The upper peninsula or "U.P." is kind of its own thing almost, but it's a wonderful place.

[Neon]

What exactly its the point of discussion here? Whether America is one or two continents? Or whether anything but the USA rightfully has the title America?

rumborak

The point here is that they apparently don't teach geography in schools anymore.

[Implode]

In somewhere between 3rd and 5th grade, you have to memorize all the states, their locations, and their capitals. But yeah, other than that, I've never formally learned any geography aside from the passing mention in history.

[Scorpion]

Really? We have geography as a course that you must take until 10th grade, and can take until graduation. I never knew that some countries didn't teach it at all.

[Implode]

Well I've also gone to private schools my whole life. I don't know if it's something that's common in the public schools.

[theseoafs]

For what it's worth, I graduated high school a year ago, and aside from learning the states and capitals in elementary school, I never learned any geography in class. Kinda wish that I had.

[bosk1]

What exactly its the point of discussion here? Whether America is one or two continents? Or whether anything but the USA rightfully has the title America?

rumborak

No, I think the point of the discussion is that, with a few exceptions like your original post that actually are good examples, people get to post conversations with others that make them feel superior because the person they were talking with didn't happen to know something they know.

[Nekov]

What exactly its the point of discussion here? Whether America is one or two continents? Or whether anything but the USA rightfully has the title America?

rumborak

I'm with you Rumby.

America is a continent

No.

That...is amazing.

I don't mean to complicate things any more than they already have been, but apparently schools in South American countries don't divide the continent(s) between North and South America; it's just one America. So yes, if you live in Brazil, America is a continent.

True. I'm from South America and here we are taught that America is a single continent that has subdivisions, in the high school yards, in the shopping malls... sorry, I digressed. So, subdivisions the same way you can subdivide Europe into Eastern and Western Europe, or the way the middle east gets called that way even though it's a part of Asia.
If I'm not mistaken America is considered to be a whole continent is because there is a tectonic plaque that starts in SA, and runs all through CA and ends up in NA.

[Elite]

I was taught North and South America are two distinct continents on the same landmass, like Europe, Asia and Africa are all different continents on the same landmass as well.

[Implode]

Same. I learned 7 continents.

However, this was at the top of the wikipedia page for continent. This shows how ambiguouis it's become I guess with a group of 7, two of 6, and a group of 5.