Originally Posted by
relangford
Most of my life, I have called the U.S. "the States"; even now, living overseas with the military, I still say "the States" except when I say "CONUS" to those understanding that acronym.
From my impression, the use of the term 'the States' was much more a US expat expression, especially those working for the government in some capacity, than ones foreign nationals used. Foreign nationals tended to use what they read in the newspapers, US, United States, USA, or America.