> And yes, I have spent time in Mexico City, and nobody got in my face for saying “soy Americano”.
Oh but you can basically guarantee there's an inner eye roll everytime you call yourself Americano. Estadounidense works, as Estados Unidos Mexicanos is largely not in use, and Mexicano(a) is the prefered term.
It's not a different mental model, it's just a mis translation. In Spanish saying "soy Americano" translates to 'I am from the Americas'. That's why the preference is to just use Estadounidense. It effectively means that US people are wrong if they say 'soy Americano' in Spanish, and Latin Americans are wrong for saying 'I am American' is wrong in english.
Oh but you can basically guarantee there's an inner eye roll everytime you call yourself Americano. Estadounidense works, as Estados Unidos Mexicanos is largely not in use, and Mexicano(a) is the prefered term.
It's not a different mental model, it's just a mis translation. In Spanish saying "soy Americano" translates to 'I am from the Americas'. That's why the preference is to just use Estadounidense. It effectively means that US people are wrong if they say 'soy Americano' in Spanish, and Latin Americans are wrong for saying 'I am American' is wrong in english.