"Gibb Sahib is not known to be particularly touchy, so I would take his opinion seriously."

His opinion is valued but no more or less than anyone else on this forum. I can understand his touchiness, but his ire is misdirected in a sense; whether he understands or not, the word 'yank' is not deemed insulting or pejorative in the UK. Does anyone use the word 'limey'? That wouldn't bother me, as that was what the Americans called us in the war (when we called them, er, 'yanks'). What is a 'Beaner'?

That said, I don't use the word myself out of respect for my American friends (although I did once say I was a 'yankophile', and much hilarity ensued, but USAophile is cumbersome and Americanophile is sort of wrong), but then I don't like the word 'brit' much either, which is often used in a pejorative manner although many US friends call it me and I don't take offence, so I stand to be corrected. But just as Gibb Sahib doesn't care what us brits think, whether I care or not is equally irrelevant. That was my point.