"Just take it on board" I take it that is addressed to Stu and to be honest it is a bit unfair! Stu has already said, as have I, that he doesn't use the word 'Yank' because he realises that it may offend. It is true though that many British people would not realise they were potentially offending anyone. It goes the other way too. If I was sitting looking at Youtube clips on the internet waiting to be offended then I could be almost continually offended by US users calling Scottish people Scotch (I've even seen Scotties) or conflating England with the UK etc! An American tourist told me once that Edinburgh was the nicest city she'd visited in England. What's the point of being offended though. They aren't on the whole meaning to offend by saying things they simply don't know. Likewise we British are in ignorance over some things. Life doesn't need to be quite so serious.