I still find it incredibly amusing to see people launch into obscenity filled rants over this, especially when they start throwing around the words like "fact" and "period", as though they are some kind of absolute authority.
The truth is that both sides are somewhat correct, which makes this a really silly thing to get upset over. Technically, anime are cartoons and cartoons are anime. However, it's also true that each word has developed context. When the word 'cartoon' is used, most people have certain parameters that spring to mind. Likewise, if you say you like anime, most people aren't going to start talking about Family Guy or Finding Nemo. Language is malleable, it changes and develops new or more refined meanings. Since we've borrowed the word 'anime' in the west, it's used almost exclusively to mean "Japanese produced animation". I really don't understand why someone would get angry over that. Even with some animation produced in the west, many avoid using the word 'cartoon' because of the associations the public has developed relative to its use.
Seriously, this is a meaningless argument. There is no purpose. I don't care if someone uses the word 'cartoon' to refer to Japanese animation, though I'll continue to use 'anime' as it's much more specific and people generally understand the exact context as soon as I say or type it.
