Amerika

I also found it quite dumb... seems to be that is good to attack US but the rest of the world is a sacred cow...

Amerika is the spelling of America in German, Dutch, Romanized Japanese, by the way

I'm thinking it would depend on where you are.

That said, my response has always been something to the effect of:

"Bear in mind, the reason no one is knocking down your door with a set of handcuffs and a club when you spell it 'Amerika' is because it IS 'America'."

Meanwhile, some friends of mine from Costa Rica and Honduras would point out that it isn't "the America", it's just one of the "Americas".

Williebee said:

Meanwhile, some friends of mine from Costa Rica and Honduras would point out that it isn't "the America", it's just one of the "Americas".

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I was just going to point out that, but chose not to...

The problem is generalization and fanatism... the whole "we" and "them" mentality, in the case of most of the world is the poor "we" against the powerful "them" I haven't seen any white guilt of the Dutch when they invented the slavery of Africans nor a single tear of regret of the religious persecution against Christians in Japan nor Argentinians giving a damn on the killings of their natives.

It's easy to blame to "da ebul umpyre" but that's not true. As there are people here trying to live their life, raise their children and get the bread to the table as in Iran or Luxemburg or Micronesia. We are all humans.

That's what seems so inhuman of the whole idea of "blue-state/red-state" it just add another "flag", another division. There are the black flag, and the latino flag and the gay flag and the vegan flag and the christian flag. All those voices shouting, wanting to be them the important ones, the ones that diserve right to be heard while forgetting we are all humans...

tiny terror said:

I notice this misspelling of America quite frequently and usually it's in conjunction of how lousy things are in the USA. Wondering if one were to use a slur spelling for any another country if it would be considered acceptable?

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I imagine it would be acceptable if the person using a slur spelling for another country were from that other country. Do the people you know of who are using this alternate spelling for America living outside of the USA?

I don't know about the origin, but I seem to remember it was a "hippie" spelling used to symbolize the "oppression by the man." I think it was also used by some of the right wingers as well to symbolize the extreme left lean of the hippies (real or perceived).

God, I HATE taking this tack, but ...

If someone has the knowledge to use a computer he owns through a broadband connection he pays for sitting in a home office that's cooled by central air he pays for with a job he earned without boundaries in a society with a constitution that says, to a great degree, say what you want without repercussion; who can go freely from place to place; state to state; and not worry constantly about the safety of his family, friends, his money or assets, then I and other soldiers, sailors, Airmen and Marines who've served in the military for one day or three decades only have this to say about "Amerika":

You're welcome.

Maryn said:

I'd be interested in knowing when the use of this spelling came to symbolize "bad America." Was it before or after the TV miniseries in which the Soviet Union invaded, enslaving US citizens in labor camps?

Maryn, who never saw this spelling with this meaning before the movie

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Yeah I think it was because of the miniseries..

BTW, is it out on DVD? I remember watching parts of it in 1987 and being creeped out sp.with the 4th of July parade with a Lincoln flag joining Marx and Lenin. I also remember the upside down US flag (distress signal) carried by veterans...

Jason said:

You're welcome.

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Wow. That was a long way to get to this.

But personally, people who say "Amerika" probably don't appreciate the sacrifices we made for them. They think we're part of the military/industrial machine that made it "AmeriKa" in the first place.

Instead of seeing that we gave them the freedom to spell it with a K they view us as one of the oppressors.