Glad your back, McGrath.

Few Southerners are truly offended by the word "Yankee." By correcting you, they just want to remind you that they know a thing or two also. During the Civil War, "Yank" was used just as much as Yankee, so it's just as "objectionable" down South.

We've had similar discussions before. Some people love to take offense, no matter what the speaker obviously intends. Others can't be bothered.

I know Americans who call themselves "You-Essers," because they think "American" must be offensive to all other inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere.

Very few inhabitants of hemisphere seem to take it that way. If Spanish distinguishes between "americanos" and "norteamericanos," that's fine. It's Spanish, though, not English.