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BS: What is a Yankee?
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Andy Jackson Date: 09 Feb 11 - 07:03 PM As Jon mentioned earlier A Yankee is of course a specific sort of screwdriver. By pumping the handle up and down a rotating motion is applied to the blade and the screw driven in or out as required. I hesitate to suggest any connection with this action and any word that might rhyme with Yank. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: JohnInKansas Date: 09 Feb 11 - 05:06 PM It would be too awkward to call us United Statesians! I know Americans who call themselves "You-Essers," I vaguely recall a politician "down south" (Venezuela?) some years back calling us "Yoozers" (US-ers), but I don't think the term caught on. His intended implication (users) was quite clear, and might be more accurate than we'd like it to be, but ... John |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Max Johnson Date: 09 Feb 11 - 10:15 AM When I was a lad in Harrogate, we had occasion to use the term 'Yank' fairly often because of the Top Secret listening base at Menwith Hill (which doesn't exist). I never heard the term used as an intentional insult. The Yanks mostly came into town to buy Cuban cigars, which they were surprised and delighted to find freely available to buy in shops. It wasn't really allowed, but they occasionally stayed to enjoy a quiet evening apperitif. A more common use of the term was to describe a bet on four horses. You get all the cross-doubles, cross trebles, and the accumulator. Nothing for a single win. 11 bets in total. A 5 horse bet is a Super Yankee, also, interestingly called a Canadian, and one is called a Heinz because it's 57 bets in total (7 horses? Can't remember and can't be bothered to work it out). When I first discovered this little avenue of pleasure, off-course betting was illegal but available in a back-room near The Castle pub. A wager on four selections and consisting of 11 separate bets: 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a fourfold accumulator. A minimum two selections must win to gain a return |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Feb 11 - 06:00 AM We sometimes, on this forum, find a contrast made {I have used it myself} between the usages of "Yoosers" [= US-ers] & "Yookers" [= UK-ers]. ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Spot Date: 09 Feb 11 - 05:49 AM Hallooo everybody... Yankee..... 500cc two stroke twin from Ossa.. :-) Regards to all ...Spot |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Lighter Date: 08 Feb 11 - 04:34 PM 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. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 08 Feb 11 - 10:51 AM "The States" on its own is generally taken as meaning the USA. Is it really the case that some people actually get offended at "Yank"? I can understand Yankee might irritate some people, for reaon of pedantry or regional patriotism, but Yank seems pretty unexceptionable. It's got no more inbuilt hostility than "American" has. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: ChanteyLass Date: 07 Feb 11 - 09:44 PM McGrath, I'm not sure what others should call citizens of the US, but when I travel to other countries and people ask where I am from, I say I'm from the United States instead of saying I am from America. It would be too awkward to call us United Statesians! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,mg Date: 07 Feb 11 - 03:09 PM Either call us Americans, as we do ourselves, and no one else does to my knowledge call themselves Americans if they are from Canada, Peru, Guatamala, Greenland etc...but if you want to avoid a stupid insulting argument call us Americans from the U.S...or U.S. Americans. If you wish to be inclusive, as is probably a good idea, call everyone Americans who wants to be called that..North, South, Central, islands, Greenland..protectorates |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 07 Feb 11 - 05:30 AM In the UK during World War II when the GI's were stationed here they were all regarded as Yanks at first but that was probably down to jealousy because the men that were left could not compete with what the GI's had to offer English women with gifts of nylons, gum, chocolate, good music and jitterbug dancing. My mum had a GI boyfriend years before she met my dad but her father disapproved because in his opinion she was too young and parents word was law back then. He returned to Kansas. When the war was over my mum met up with my dad who was in the process of adjusting from being overseas in the war and eventually they married. In later years they all met when I was in my teens, mum's old GI boyfriend, his wife and my dad and have remained friends ever since. My dad uses the word Yank with affection rather than malice. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Ed T Date: 06 Feb 11 - 02:05 PM yankee |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Fergie Date: 06 Feb 11 - 12:09 PM I recall reading about a billboard ad campaign launched for Uniroyal Tyres. The ad showed a young Hispanic boy by the side of the road, the text on the billboard said something like 'he knows only three English words; BOY GEORGE, and UNIROYAL'. Billboard bandits got to work and modified the billboard to read; 'he knows only three English words; YANKEE GO HOME' Fergus |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 06 Feb 11 - 06:31 AM So what other short term is there for citizens of the United States of America, that distinguishes them from all the other people living in the Americas? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: JohnInKansas Date: 06 Feb 11 - 01:25 AM Redneck" as I learned it was meant for a laborer in the sun ... That explanation is not consistent with the way the term is used now in the US, and the "red bandana" origin has been cited by several "historians." Often the explanation follows the usage and that may be the explanation that some people in some places believe is the absolute truth. Part of the difficulty is that usage warps the meaning, so sticking with an explanation of what a term used to mean in all the different places where it's used now, or insisting on the current meaning when looking for origins, is an invitation to pedantic insanity (as opposed to the usual kinds we all enjoy so much). John |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: ChanteyLass Date: 06 Feb 11 - 12:33 AM I'm a Swamp Yankee. That's an insult for Rhode Islanders by people from neighboring states. Like so many other derogatory words, it is not an insult when we use it to describe ourselves. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Ed T Date: 05 Feb 11 - 07:19 PM ""The Yankee Gale was a major storm in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Prince Edward Island, Canada, that began on the night of October 3, 1851 and continued for two days. In addition to local ships, the storm wrecked much of the New England fishing fleet that was working in the waters, giving the gale its name. At least 74 ships were destroyed, and 150 crew were killed."" |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: maple_leaf_boy Date: 05 Feb 11 - 05:46 PM "Redneck" as I learned it was meant for a laborer in the sun, with an exposed neck. The sun would turn their necks red, and that's how they got that nickname. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: JohnInKansas Date: 05 Feb 11 - 04:06 PM If that's the case, I'm not sure what the nickname for a Southerner is." Bubba. Is it still a nickname if it's his given name? It might be noted that "Yankee" is fairly frequently used as a derogatory term for "anybody up north" by those who persist in the belief that the south really won the war and were cheated out of the win by the politicians. Unfortunately, most of those who would be the object of their "insult" don't consider the term derogatory in that usage, so there's little effect from its occasional appearance in meetings between the two. An "opposite" term in the same context might once have been "Reb" (Rebel) as a description for a southerner, but the yankees who might use it seem to hold less grudge over "the war" and that usage has pretty much disappeared. The term "red neck" is probably the most commonly appearing term originally applied to "southerners" in the US, possibly originating with the use of a "red bandana" as an insignia of several groups of "marauders" (free-lance military, mostly lacking uniforms?) late in the war and for a time after. That term has degenerated (or maybe progressed) to being more a term for "illiterate slobs" or a political descriptor (for conservatives, skin-heads, etc.) and since that state of social development is not really exclusive to the "south" it is no longer very useful in referring to a part of the country or even to a particular "social class." (Boss Hawg is as much a Red Neck as Bubba, and Boss Hawg is now in DC.) [Note: often seen as "redneck" similar to "damyankee."] John |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST Date: 05 Feb 11 - 12:41 PM I don't know where, but it is likely somewhere in some of the links in this site: Good New England material source
-Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 05 Feb 11 - 11:47 AM "A Southerner is called a Southron" Which is synonymous with English, in all senses. So people from the Northern States speak Southron. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Rapparee Date: 05 Feb 11 - 11:25 AM A yankee is the other half of a yanker. One yanks and the other is yanked upon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: DMcG Date: 05 Feb 11 - 10:02 AM But what is the connection between the name of the betting system and US citizens (of some ilk)? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 05 Feb 11 - 09:56 AM True, Bobert. I never hear Americans use it. Last time I heard the word, an Irish musician was talking about a tune he had learned off the radio in Ireland. He called the station to ask about the tune and was told it was by "Some Yank band." Of course we are forced to use the word if discussing that team that has the devil as a fan, but we don't like doing it. Mrr, I'm with you with respect to cheddar cheese on apple pie. It's delicious. (The tradition came down from my grandfather, born and raised in rural Wisconsin.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Bobert Date: 05 Feb 11 - 08:48 AM I'm with you, Beezer... I don't use the term Yankee myself... Might of fact, you really don't hear Southerns is the term in general... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: scouse Date: 05 Feb 11 - 05:59 AM Sorry your all wrong (Joking.) a Yankee is a Six Horse Bet accumulator... A two and Six (Two Shillings and Six Pence.) Yank if all Horses won would net you thousands of Pound.. God forbid if the all came in at 25 to 1. As Aye, Phil. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: LadyJean Date: 05 Feb 11 - 12:29 AM I was in a wedding in Atlanta, many years ago. One of the guests, noting that I was from Pennsylvania, called me a yankee, I responded by pulling myself up to my full five feet six and three quarter inches and saying indignantly, "My great grandfather was with Hood's Texans!" (Which he was, he served as a messenger boy, though I doubt he saw any actual combat.) "Who are you calling a yankee!" Which turned out to be the right thing to say, since Hood's Texans defended Atlanta, though, if you've seen "Gone With The Wind", you know they didn't do it very well. After the war, my great grandfather came north, became a printer, and married a young woman who had spent her childhood helping her father hide runaway slaves. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: J-boy Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:54 PM I don't know but I hear they have a lot of ingenuity. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 04 Feb 11 - 09:13 PM I'm a life-long southerner, and I never refer to people from above the Mason-Dixon Line as Yankees. It's a loaded and divisive term that carries too much old baggage. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: EllenV Date: 04 Feb 11 - 08:26 PM A Yankee - or "Yank" - is a Union man to us here Southerners. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Amos Date: 04 Feb 11 - 07:55 PM Yankee (On-line etymol. dict.) 1683, a name applied disparagingly by Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Du. Janke, lit. "Little John," dim. of common personal name Jan; or it may be from Jan Kes familiar form of "John Cornelius," or perhaps an alteration of Jan Kees, dialectal variant of Jan Kaas, lit. "John Cheese," the generic nickname the Flemings used for Dutchmen. It originally seems to have been applied insultingly to the Dutch, especially freebooters, before they turned around and slapped it on the English. A less-likely theory is that it represents some southern New England Algonquian language mangling of English. In English a term of contempt (1750s) before its use as a general term for "native of New England" (1765); during the American Revolution it became a disparaging British word for all American native or inhabitants. Shortened form Yank in reference to "an American" first recorded 1778. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Bobert Date: 04 Feb 11 - 07:43 PM No matter, the Capt'n is definitely a Yank by any definition... I mean, he's an American, north of the Mason-Dixon Line and north of Vermont... Ain't too many other bases to cover... Yup, Yankee... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: gnu Date: 04 Feb 11 - 07:36 PM Lest we forget, there was a time when "Thank God for the Yanks." was a well known and well used phrase. Over the past 40 years that has waned but it may come back in spades. Sorry for the thread drift Kendall. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,Mrr at work Date: 04 Feb 11 - 07:14 PM Sorry, but in Vermont it's someone who doesn't like cheddar cheese on their apple pie. Apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 04 Feb 11 - 07:12 PM BTW, the term Yank was mainly used at the time of WWII for WHITE Americans, they being the only ones allowed common public access to Aussie society - 'the others' were often confined to very small areas on US orders, refused free mobility, generating much hostility between the various US sections. Look up "War of Brisbane", a substantial riot. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 04 Feb 11 - 07:08 PM "from people outside the U.S. who use the term "yankee" to anyone who is American. They often shorten it to "yank", and use it as an insult." "Story I heard took place in London during the bombings. English soldier said, `You Yanks are over-fed, over-paid, over-sexed and over-here.`" In Australia, the term was used during WWII (my mum's sister married a USAF flyboy and became a war bride) and my dad was a RAAF multiengine flyboy. Both were good friends, Jim went back to Ohio. The "over-fed, over-paid, over-sexed and over-here" phrase was common here, and a lot of aussie women married them - they were more polite and thought more considerate of women than the 'rough and tough aussie male'. 'Yank' is used here in the same way as Aussies use the word 'bastard' meaning varies on context, tone of voice, and relationship of the parties involved - it can be an insult, but more often is a term of affection. We do notice the difference between the actions of the US Govt and the individuals whom we know personally. As far as Aussies are concerned there was no connection with the word 'Yankee'. In derogatory terms it could be used in the same way Aussies us the term, W****nker ... of which it might be considered in Aussie terms a spinoff :-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Stringsinger Date: 04 Feb 11 - 05:37 PM Originally a "Doodle", a derisive name given by the British to the American colonists who eventually owned it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Slag Date: 04 Feb 11 - 05:09 PM Southerner? For a long time it was "Johnny Reb" and that was NOT a term of endearment. "Butternuts" come to mind. There were other names more to the point and much less ambigous. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 04 Feb 11 - 04:43 PM I've always understood it was a jocular way of saying "Anglais", from the time of the tussles between the French and English colonisers of North America. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,999 Date: 04 Feb 11 - 04:17 PM Yankee Doodle has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 4501 |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: MGM·Lion Date: 04 Feb 11 - 04:14 PM The origin of the term is surely the New Amsterdam Dutch pronunciation of the name translating as Little Jan (Anglice John). ~Mikee (=Little Mike)~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,Alan Whittle Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:13 PM I'm not sure (cos I've never been a gambler) but in England its a sort of accumulator bet. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:13 PM It is my belief that there are no yankees. The closer you get to where the yankees are said to be, the less you can find them. A Brit will tell you they live in America. A southern American will tell you they live in the north. A northerner will tell you they live in New England. A New Englander will tell you they live in Vermont (according to kendall, who ought to know). And finally, when you get to Vermont, nobody admits to being a yank. (One exception: there is an actual team called the New York Yankees.) It's the same with 'western Kansas,' which is something of a derogatory term. You can cross Kansas from east to west, and the further west you go, the less you can find anybody from western Kansas. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,999 Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:12 PM Story I heard took place in London during the bombings. English soldier said, `You Yanks are over-fed, over-paid, over-sexed and over-here.` Yank soldier replied, `Yes, and you are under-fed, under-paid, under-sexed and under Eisenhower.` |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Amos Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:08 PM I think there are mixed feelings about "the Yanks" in the UK--a legacy of WW2. The term grew through a series of different definitions depending on events--post-colonial, civil war, WW2 being the salient epochs. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: DonMeixner Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:07 PM I had read it comes from the Indians of the North East US trying to pronounce "The English" or "The Yeng Gees" I don't know if it's fact but I like the story. Kendall's definition works well enough for me too. I may even quote him now and then. Don |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: Liane Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:01 PM A member of the greatest baseball team on earth!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: michaelr Date: 04 Feb 11 - 12:44 PM The victim of a yanker. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,jeff Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:18 AM Having spent the bulk of my childhood shuttling back and forth between Nashville, TN and Cleveland, OH I was teased mercilessly on both sides of the MD line. My GPs on my father's side were working class southerners, so I grew up largely w/cornbread and grits which nobody in my neighborhood knew anything about. Out west nobody really makes a regional deliniation as to where one is from. They just want you to go back. Having spent alot of time in the UK the one thing I noticed was that in general pub/stting room conversations over a pint I was referred to as a 'yank'. But, when being introduced to strangers I was invaribly introduced as "My American friend, Jeff". It was subtle, but I thought interesting. It was consistant enough to make me think that being referred to as a 'yank' in a more socially formal circumstance was bad form perhaps or maybe rude from the UKer's perspective? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,Arthur_itus Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:13 AM Is it the female version of a hankie. It could be a candle. What's a Droll Yankee Flocker?- sounds a bit chinese to me. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is a Yankee? From: GUEST,999 Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:10 AM `What is a Yankee?` It is a proper noun often prefaced by the adjective `damned`. |
