the word "American" in the title of a movie/tv show when it has clearly been put there only because the producers could not think of a title, so they just made it
"American + <word(s) that describes the genre>"
american horror story
american crime
american gangster
american psycho
american sniper
american assassin
the american part does not mean anything at all. they just want to put the other word(s) in your head so you know what genre the movie is, but you can't just call a move "gangster" so they add "american" in front of it and boom done. drives me nuts.
note: this does NOT apply to titles where "american" is necessary:
american pie
american history x
american beauty