Canuck, Kiwi, Aussie...these are terms widely used by the people for themselves. *Themselves* is the key part of the equation.

Yank is not used by Americans for themselves. "Yank" without any connotations? Bullshit. Non-Americans may claim they don't mean anything by "Yank," nonetheless it is not an appreciated term—just because they think it's fine. Or just because Americans aren't universally "offended" by it, per se—like White people are not universally offended by "whitey" or "cracker". It still "sounds bad" to American ears.

Again— since ostensibly this thread was formed with a sincere interest in appreciating people's preferences... inspired by the thought that some people from the Americas would be irked by people from USA being called "Americans" ("We Chileans are Americans, too, dammit!") ... since that is ostensibly the logic, I am informing you that, according to that spirit, "Yank" is not a nice or appreciated term for a person from the USA.

I hope I don't have to explain the difference between appreciated, respectful terms and those terms that one does understand, in context, may be used either for disrespect or for affectionate ribbing (Limey, Frog, Beaner, Gringo, Jap, Kraut, Polack, etc). I put "Yank" in the latter category. You may not in Britain, but I don't care.

Secondly, In the USA, our continental neighbors to the South (Mexico) and North (Canada) call us "Americans." Sometimes Canadians use "North Americans" to refer to themselves and people from USA (and, oddly, excluding Mexicans and people of several other countries). "North American" is now almost like a codeword for "Canadian"! Indeed, when I converse with Canadians, I sometimes have to be careful to make sure I say "NORTH American" when making broadly applicable generalizations, because if I just said "America" they might assume I meant USA only and I was not being inclusive. See, that shows the degree to which USA is "America" in convention.

The only people that get really butthurt about "Americans," in my experience, are some people from some South American nations. They are currently on a USA-hating trip, and every once in a while feel compelled to pedantically lash out with the "We are Americans, too" spiel. Whether or not that poses any *real* issue for people of other nations when they want to refer to people of USA - i.e. because they worry about pissing off pedantic butthurt Argentines - I doubt. But if it does, the solution is neither the idiotic "USAians" nor "Yank"—the latter which makes me want to smack them upside the head.