Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found • Hacker News Board

Re: Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found

#41

Post by dghughes » Sun, Oct 12, 2014, 10:28 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #34

dghughes wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The USA calling itself America and claiming only its citizens can be called Americans, when really all people from Canada to southern Argentina are Americans. Europeans live on the continent of Europe, Africans in Africa, Asians in Asia etc. People counter with Canada, Mexico etc. are in North America and South America so why isn't the USA the USNA?

How about, because we're the only country on both continents that bothered to put "America" in their name?

You also have U and S as well so you should call yourselves USA-ers.

Imagine if one country on the continent of Europe calls themselves Europeans and tells everyone else they aren't allowed to.

Re: Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found

#42

Post by lexcorvus » Mon, Oct 13, 2014, 12:05 AM UTC

fsloth wrote: post #2

I am always amazed of the tenacity of factual information from past generations to survive. Even though Philip reigned in a historical age, the substrate which carried the stories to future generations has always been quite fragile. Writing is truly the most magical of our inventions, surpassing any others (until at least our AI descendant overlords arrive :) )

Certainly the Art of Writing is the most miraculous of all things man has devised. Odin's Runes were the first form of the work of a Hero; Books, written words, are still miraculous Runes, the latest form! In Books lies the soul of the whole Past Time; the articulate audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream. Mighty fleets and armies, harbors and arsenals, vast cities, high-domed, many-engined,—they are precious, great: but what do they become? Agamemnon, the many Agamemnons, Pericleses, and their Greece; all is gone now to some ruined fragments, dumb mournful wrecks and blocks: but the Books of Greece! There Greece, to every thinker, still very literally lives: can be called up again into life. No magic Rune is stranger than a Book. All that Mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of Books. They are the chosen possession of men.

—Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History, 1840

Re: Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found

#43

Post by mikhailfranco » Mon, Oct 13, 2014, 1:16 PM UTC

dghughes wrote: post #24

kilon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You exaggerate , Greeks dont hate you. Some angry, some frustrated , some don't care. As a Greek myself, I don't like to say to other countries what they should name themselves but there is an entire area in Greece already that is called Macedonia that is even more ancient than Alexander himself. So at best case scenario the name is at least an inconvenience for us. Its like France deciding to name itself London, how…

The USA calling itself America and claiming only its citizens can be called Americans, when really all people from Canada to southern Argentina are Americans. Europeans live on the continent of Europe, Africans in Africa, Asians in Asia etc. People counter with Canada, Mexico etc. are in North America and South America so why isn't the USA the USNA?

The USA contains the name of the continent, which is unique in being named after a person, and he was from a different continent. There are three (other) countries named after people: Bolivia, Colombia and the Philippines. The capital of the USA is named after a US president, and so is the capital of Liberia. Venezuela is named after a city in another country. California is named after a fictional island with a name inspired by a muslim ruler!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_California

Re: Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found

#44

Post by jmt7les » Mon, Oct 13, 2014, 1:17 PM UTC

pavlov wrote: post #32

vacri wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why isn't the USA the USNA Even if you include the southern continent, there's no similar collection-of-states, so the USA is just as accurate as the USNA.

There are actually two other large federal republics on the same continent. One is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, "United Mexican States", and the other is República Federativa do Brasil, "Federative Republic of Brazil".

Many people incorrectly refer to the entire country as just Mexico, which is actually just one state in the United States of Mexico.

Re: Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found

#45

Post by cafard » Wed, Oct 22, 2014, 8:05 PM UTC

dghughes wrote: post #24

kilon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You exaggerate , Greeks dont hate you. Some angry, some frustrated , some don't care. As a Greek myself, I don't like to say to other countries what they should name themselves but there is an entire area in Greece already that is called Macedonia that is even more ancient than Alexander himself. So at best case scenario the name is at least an inconvenience for us. Its like France deciding to name itself London, how…

The USA calling itself America and claiming only its citizens can be called Americans, when really all people from Canada to southern Argentina are Americans. Europeans live on the continent of Europe, Africans in Africa, Asians in Asia etc. People counter with Canada, Mexico etc. are in North America and South America so why isn't the USA the USNA?

Because the USA incorporated 'America' into its name before anyone else did? Because the US Naval Academy has already claimed USNA? Because custom tends to outweigh pedantry?

Re: Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found

#46

Post by JoeAltmaier » Wed, Oct 22, 2014, 8:10 PM UTC

cafard wrote: post #45

dghughes wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The USA calling itself America and claiming only its citizens can be called Americans, when really all people from Canada to southern Argentina are Americans. Europeans live on the continent of Europe, Africans in Africa, Asians in Asia etc. People counter with Canada, Mexico etc. are in North America and South America so why isn't the USA the USNA?

Because the USA incorporated 'America' into its name before anyone else did? Because the US Naval Academy has already claimed USNA? Because custom tends to outweigh pedantry?

In fact, did ANYBODY else use 'America' in their name?

Really, the USA is not so much a name as a description. Its maybe the only country on two continents that fits that description. So its a really good name.