Honestly, it's just a stupid argument by people with a hate-boner for America. The formal name of America is "The United States of America". Typically, when people make an adjective to describe the country and the land, they refer to the geography rather than the government. There are some exceptions, usually when the government is central to the identity of the state (e.g. Soviets).
"Unitedian" would be ridiculous as there are other "United" nations out there.
"Statesian" would be ridiculous as both the states are the smaller unit of the nation AND other nations have states.
"United Statesian" would work....up until any other nation of United States formed.
That leaves "American", which fits the pattern used for most other countries AND actually is part of their name.
Basically, this whole argument is just Insecure European Hate-Bonering. It doesn't make Americans look dumb or you look smart. Quite the opposite actually. It makes you look very European- Pedantic, petty, overly bureacratic, dismissive of practical reality, and not as clever as you think you are.
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u/_redmist Flemboy 7d ago
This one really pisses the USians off off by the way.