Why Are Americans Known As Yanks/Yankees?
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- Опубліковано 10 гру 2020
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SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
Demonym: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonym
Yankee Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee
Yankee Poem & Pie: theyankeechef.com/index.php/f...
Yankee Ingenuity: www.definitions.net/definitio...
Is Yankee Derogatory: english.stackexchange.com/que...
What Is A Yankee?: wickedyankee.blogspot.com/2011...
American Civil War: www.britannica.com/event/Amer...
Word Myths: www.amazon.co.uk/Word-Myths-D...
Yankee On Etymonline: www.etymonline.com/word/yankee
Yankee On National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.org/en...
Yankee On Britannica: www.britannica.com/topic/Yank...
New Netherlands: www.newnetherlandinstitute.or...
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How geographically close are you to being a yank? Any pie eating Vermonters watching!?
I'm canadian, but still pretty close
Iowa fought on the Union side in the civil war so I think we qualify
Do you see a lot of people calling Yankees to the early American's especially when talking in the context of the revolutionary war at least that's how it used in New England/Massachusetts where I'm from. I have never heard of it used in a pie eating form now! I have been calling it by southerners a lot however! Especially in the deep south they refer to people that are more liberal as Yankees
I'm a native breakfast pie eating Vermonter.
I lived in Australia for a year when I was eleven. I everybody called me a 'Yankee'. For the first few months, I didn't understand how they knew I was from Vermont. Then I realized they thought everybody from the USA was a Yankee.
Welp Pakistan is close enough fam
For me (growing up in Texas), I grew up associating "Yankee" is anyone from up north, mainly around the New England area.
Same
@@nigelmarvin1387 Same here, more or less
Also from Texas, the Southern Part. My dad even calls people from Dallas Yankee heh.
same
Same, but that's because I watched Gone With the Wind when I was learning english hahah
All I know is that yankee-doodle went to town riding on a pony; stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni.
Did you know that "macaroni" was slang for Italian about 1770? So when the YD called it, he was saying "Cool! Italian style!"
@@pawsindmeinlieblingsfach3518 typo. "Be handy." but you have it right. also there are 4 more verses. each more nasty than the next. {It was a British anti American song after all}
The origins of the song of allegedly that when the militia levies arrived from New England they were poorly dressed, and only had a small white feather stuck in their hats as a "uniform". "Macaroni" was, and to some extent, used to cover all pasta. Being uncommon, and Italian, it was seen as "fancy". Thus the song is a jab at the New England troops rough hewn appearance but them thinking they looked fancy.
Macaroni as a slang word predates 1776 [but probably not by much] I believe YDD is most likely a artifact from 1765 to 1776. The fact that it makes fun of Americans is a clue. {i love all these history bits} {if you get some solid evidence give me a shout. Thanks!}@@jacquesvoris456
@@jacquesvoris456 Whoops! I just thought of something. Militia levies would include post French and Indian War up to revolution. so, we may be saying the same thing. {Thanks again, you gave an old man something to consider!}
As a Southerner, I'd just be confused if someone called me a "Yankee"
@gearoid quirke Lots of Irish settled the south along with British and Scots. Im from Tennessee and my wife is mostly British and Irish in her DNA results. She's wants to visit Ireland one day I would love to go with her.
@Noah Pritchett Yeah we understand that. We are Americans that's our nationality but our ancestors came from Europe. People here in America when they talk about their heritage they will say they are German mixed with Irish etc. It's a way to connect back to the old country.
@Noah Pritchett god I love etymology my name Avery is an old French pronunciation of Alfred, which means elf king/counsel.
Silence yank
@gearoid quirke Technically True however Saxon,Norman Dna is no actually that common outside of Anglia, Southerners will probably be descended from Scots and Native British descendents, there is actually very little Dna and archeological evidence to support the Saxon invasion. I watched a Tv program years ago called the face of britain, it's seems to a case of adopting saxon customs through trade for most of britain. The idea that the English and Germans are genetically identical isn't scientific, certain portions of britain like east Anglia and the home counties show signs of a Saxon majority, however the Midland's and West coast trend norman and celtic respectively. England was basically a melting pot of Norman, Saxon and mostly celtic during the American colonisation.
Nobody in the USA says “yank”
It’s always yankee.
There's an American song called "Over There" where a line repeated in the Chorus is: "The Yanks are coming"
I'm pretty sure that's clear evidence of Americans using Yank, not just Yankee.
Nobody in the US says “yank” unless they are referencing tugging on something. “Over There” was a WW1 song directed toward Europe.
@@Dave-lh6ws Hmmm
I don't think you could rewrite the song to be "The Tugging on somethings are coming" and keep the same meaning in the same way you could easily say "The Yankees are coming" and keep the meaning.
It's quite clear Yank doesn't refer to tugging on anything in that context.
@@oswald7597 I don't think one song that uses the word is clear evidence that "yank" is commonly used by Americans. As an American I can honestly say I've never heard anyone say "yank", I've only heard it used by British.
@@oswald7597 Maybe in that one song. But normally, we don’t say yank. Specifically southerners call us northerners Yankees.
As a person from Mississippi, in the American South, I had never EVER been called a "Yankee" until I went to Europe. I wasn't offended as an American, but I was very much offended as a Southerner.
Loooool
The most Southern Southerner from Mississippi would probably be Davis.
But you never say northerners
As a Louisianian, we call the North of the state Yankees as a jab for not being in the south. It's also easier than bringing the religions into it. South louisiana being catholic and north being protestants. It's a different way of life.
@@HarrisonBirdBrown maybe that's because much of the French who settled into Louisiana were mainly Catholics. Like the Acadians who were forced there after the French and Indian War of the 1750s. I bet the Huguenots of France settled down in the Louisiana area to or by the other parts of the United States of America that had a large French pioneering in the rest of the country or in the British colonies. Since the French didn't allow the Huguenots to settle in any of the other French colonies since those settlers had to be Catholic. Since the French nation was a majority Catholic nation and the King of France was Catholic to. Since the French king persecuted the French Huguenots who were Protestant Christians in France during the wars of religion in the 16th century.
As a swede. The only time I really hear Yankee or Yanks is by Brits being deregatory toward Americans.
I'm also a swede, and the term yankees (or "jänkare") is not very common any more but my grandfather used it a lot back in the day
In the UK it may be further distorted into ‘septics’ a contraction of ‘septic tanks’ which rhymes with ‘yanks’. Septic tanks are were the toilet waste collects when the property is not connected to the municipal mains drainage waste system.
Only heard it from brits as well and not a single other nationality. Aside from baseball Lol
@@BernardLS Australians shorten it even further to Seppo.
Generally speaking, Yankee is used more in a derogatory sense while Yank is just a generic term for American. It's shorter. Aussies and Kiwis tend to use them in the same way. It's just like Pom is shorter than Englishman, but Pommy (or more often PommyBastard) is used derogatively.
As an american this is kinda confusing to me, cause to *us* “Yankee” specifically means northerners while the ex confederate states aka the south are “Dixies”
Eh... Yankees are specifically people from Connecticut and New England.
To me Yankee is just anyone from the north but the term Dixie is really only used by the confederate-flag-waving racists to describe the south/southerners
@@gavinowens459 Welp dang, I guess I've been living around racists half my life and have never even known it. Way to generalize a whole group of people...
@@tjpprojects7192 Well he did specify he thought it was only used by “lost causers” to describe themselves and other southerners
@@gavinowens459 that’s not true
In Mexico, people refer to Americans more as "americanos", "estadounidenses", or "gringos". Whenever you hear the word "yankee" they're usually referring to the baseball team.
@R. Schowiada71 yeah, but that name is just a product of a very recent reform that just changed the official name of the country in order to be more congruent with the federal nature of our system. On the other hand, for the past two centuries we have been living next to a culturally, economically, and politically omniscient neighbor whose name is Estados Unidos - the name has stuck, and habits die hard haha
@Alex Winterborn Chill friend, I know that the official nsme includes the word America, but in my country people don't usually refer to our neighbor in the north by its full name, we only say Estados Unidos - just as you may know that the full name of your neighbor is Thomas Joseph Miller Jr, but you will usually just call Him Tom
@@josue.ortega americanos XD
yankee is more common in south america.
saludos desde argentina
I love gringo/a. I know it can come from a bad light but its unique. Rolls of the tongue nicely.
Anyone: (calls a southerner a Yankee)
Southerner: *So you have chosen death*
But they are Yanks! I should know, I’m Australian.
Calling a non-New England American a "Yank/Yankee" = calling a Scot "English". In other words, you'd better be ready for a fight!
I'm from Texas and honestly if someone called me a Yankee I wouldn't really be offended, just kinda weirded out. Especially if it was an American
@@DamonNomad82 not “non New England” no one cares unless your from the former confederate states basically
I'm a Houstonian, and I fucking approve this message. Don't mess with Texas, and you don't dare call me "yank".
Arizona native here. When I studied in Italy in high school, I fully embraced being called a Yank. It was like a term of endearment, and I was proud to be identified by my American-ness.
Southerner (of the US) here: The aphorism is that there are three kinds of Yankees: Yankees (who just happen to be from the North), Damn Yankees (who move to the South), and Goddamn Yankees (who move to the South, and constantly talk about how much better the North is). It's not a complimentary term, at all.
I've heard that aphorism except the Goddamn Yankee was one from the North who moved South and married a Southern woman.
What about a northerner who moves to the south and talks about how much better the south is
@@Pouzdraken Still a damn yankee.
@@Pouzdraken That would be a Yankee on parole ;o)
Your missing the 4th Floridian version we have:
" *GODFORSAKEN YANKEE BASTARDS* "
Aka tourists who come and make colonial yankee enclaves Like Amelia Island or fort Lauderdale
"I don't like im. His eyes are too close together! And he's a Yank!"
-Chicken run
I see you are man of culture.
I thought the "space between the eyes" thing was a Northern Ireland thing.
Yankee actually means “delinquent” in Japan. Like school delinquents. I’m not sure about its origins but it’s pretty interesting how this word meant something totally different in japan.
Sort of like "Ohio" means a state in the US, but is Japanese for "Good morning!"
You mean ヤンキー?
DamonNomad82 - definitely don't know that from the dr. stone op
@@DamonNomad82 no...just no. Not only do Americans say Ohio differently than ohayo is said in Japan, even the romanji is spelled differently (aka Ohio vs ohayo)
The term comes from the fact that, at least for a while, a certain type of Japanese delinquent (basically motorcycle gangs) were heavily influenced by the american pop culture of the day. They tended to certain types of ionically American hair and clothing styles and such as a sort of almost uniform, and were named accordingly. Such gangs still show up in manga and anime sometimes, and their styles are used as visual shorthand for "delinquent thug" even if no such gang appears.
Or at least, such is my understanding.
I have to disagree: cookie is the best word we the dutch brought to america. It's a great word when you don't want to decide what's a biscuit and what's a cake
How would you confuse a cake with a biscuit
@@blakedavis2447 well is a cookie a biscuit or a cake then?
@@Ben_Hard it’s a cookie
@@blakedavis2447 so what do you call a cookie if the word cookie didn't exist in english...
@@Ben_Hard sweet flatbread
As a Bostonian and New Englander in general I perceive the being called the term and by who:
Foreigner: Thank you!
Southerner: Really? -_-
Westerner: Ok then...thanks?
New Yorker: Screw off!
I'm from NH. That's accurate.
As someone from Western Mass I hear Yankee as a matter of pride around here. It's associated to Yankee Candle and our Yankee ingenuity, but not the team, the people of the North.
Yes I eat Pie for Breakfast. Yes I’m a New Englander, born in Maine and raised in the Pioneer and.Connecticut Valley. To me a Yankee is a New Englander that is of English decent,
As a Californian, I don’t think I’d ever call someone a Yankee.. lol
I grew up in the south. I had a British science teacher in 6th grade who liked to call us "yanks" to annoy a certain group of students.
I'd be confused but not offended I'm from Texas
I think i only hear yankee by southerners about northerners. Im from the mid Atlantic so we're kinda neither
Lol jankee
I'm a New Yorker and I've only heard Yankee by the Southerners for anyone north of Virginia, and by my British friends for Americans and an ex gf whos family was German and I'd be referred to as "Der Yankee"
Laugh out loud hanker also
Jankee
If your family would have supported the union, then you count as the North. lol
@@crystalwolcott4744 which family? My current? Or take my ancestors that were alive during the war, add the up as pro or anti union or not even American and take the average?
In japan we used to have a gang called the yankees so it became a denonym for delinquents. So much so that we never use it as a term for Americans.
I thought it was a word used to describe a sort of youth gang culture in general, not a specific gang?
It's funny that in Japan the name comes from us Americans but has come to mean something different in so now it no longer applies to us.
@@PerplexedPlayers it used to be a specific gang, but now is used as a generic term for a young delinquent.
@@mcfarofinha134 interesting, the name is probably derived from interactions with american troops leftover from WW2. The chopper culture and elements of greaser gang aesthetics probably came from them too.
Me, an intellectual: Yankee is a Baseball Team
The Yankees have appropriated New England culture. Yankee is for New Englanders not cringe New Yorkers.
@@redpanda7967 Yankee has always been for New Yorkers, we carried the Revolutionary War and Civil War
@@redpanda7967 yankee is from Dutch word names. Jan Kees. New York was New Amsterdam
Me, an intellectual: Fuck the Yankees
@@suhana8516 _we carried the Revolutionary War and Civil War_ By being a geographically misplaced Southern shipping port, you must mean.
My family moved from the north to the south when I was 5. And our first year in the south, my mom was a teacher and was often criticized by other teachers for being a "dumb Yankee." One day my mom and one of her co-workers, who was also a Yankee, were with another teacher, who was a southerner. The southerner said, "let me write down what all Yankees are," and she wrote "dum." My mom and the other teacher looked at each other, trying not to laugh, and the southerner got confused. My mom looked at her and just said something like, "if you're going to call us dumb, make sure you can correctly spell it."
@ProConfederate I mean it did. It’s not calling southerners dumb, it’s just a funny story.
Bullying is an effective way to integrate people.
Southerners should do it more.
🤔
I disagree, bullying is very emotionally destructive
@@jbach2002, nah.
@@MatthewChenault ok well... merry Christmas
As a Floridian, being called a Yankee is typically an insult; and depending on context it's a means to pick a fight. A southerner calling another southerner Yankee is like saying "you don't belong".
Otherwise Yankee to me means northerner. Further, among southerners it usually means someone that not only doesn't belong, but is likely trying to impose norms or rules you don't identify with. That definitely harkens back to the Civil war/post civil war era.
Not in South Florida, there's about a million former New Yorkers like myself down here. We love the name as we're very huge New York Yankees fans. We can't root for the New York Mets. Yankees have 27 world championships. They had an IQ test when I was a kid. If you chose the Mets as you're favorite team you failed the IQ test. BTW we have a team just like the Mets down here in Miami, they're called the Miami Marlins.
Here in Texas, yankee is a offensive term for being from the north or acting like a northerner
Telling a Yankee they don't belong in the US South is a compliment
That E.B. White "poem" is a joke, to illustrate there's no one that calls themselves Yankees.
I'll refer to myself as a Yankee when talking to a Brit.
You don't eat pie for breakfast do you?
I am a second generation Filipino. My maternal and paternal grandparents were from the Philippines. (ca. 1912) My parents were born in the U.S. We have a very dear friend from London who always calls me a "Yank". It was never used as an insult but is actually quite endearing. We always associated it with being an American and we are very proud to be Americans. During the Vietnam war the Ocean offshore was divided into two sectors: Yankee and Dixie Station. If you were in a Carrier group in Yankee Station that meant air operations would also include Hanoi as opposed to Saigon in the south. What an amazing word: Yankee.
I can add that here in Latinmerica people who antagonize the US call them the yankees (yanquis).
Wrong, not all of us. In Mexico (at least) we call them ‘gringos’ (“greengoes”).
@@davidcervantes9336 same here in Brazil
@@Fpwc2 In Brazil we also call Yankees, but gringos is more common
It's more common in central america.
In Argentina we also use gringos but it tends to include brits rather than yankees (for quite obvious historical reasons)
“Yankee GO HOME!!!” was my first encounter of this word, in Panamá back in the late 80’s. This was not a term of endearment towards Americans by some Panamanians.
Was it before During or After the Invasion
@@daman1999 It was before the Invasion
@@PLefevre95 like what year
@@daman1999 between 1987-1989
@@PLefevre95 Where they supporters of Manuel Noriega or Opponents of his
I really doubt the "Yankovic theory", because most Jewish immigrants arrived to the US between WW1 and WW2
Actually, John Adams was sent to New Amsterdam to enlist the Jewish settlers to support the Revolutoinary War. Jews have been apart of America since the founding.
@@karenuminski9057 Of course you can find Jews since the beginning of European-American history, specially since the Dutch and Brits were taking in a lot of refugees from the Iberian inquisitions, nevertheless Jews weren't as common as they are now until the beginning of the XXth century. I know this because I'm a Jew living in another country that received a lot of Jewish immigrants during that time. Anyway, hope you have a nice day :)
@@karenuminski9057 yeah but so have a lot of ethnicities, you cant place too much importance on one race or relegion, thats what makes america great.
@@morejoacomapo7080 no doubt the population of Jewish people increased after the wars. But there is a terrible strain of anti-Semitism in America that claims Jewish people aren't real Americans because came here to take away American freedom. The history says that they fought for American freedom. To me, that is just important to always state. No negative feels, just added to knowlege.
@@Jklopoppcorn agreed, and let's recognize them ALL!!!
Over there, over there, send the word send the word over there, that the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming, rum tum tumming everywhere.
And we won't come back 'til it's over, over there!
@@peteg475 Johnny get you gun, get your gun, get your gun.
"The yanks are coming" is my dentist's theme song.
@@heronimousbrapson863 Ouch!
@@heronimousbrapson863 So prepare, say a prayer, send the word send the word to beware.
I have only ever heard "yank" from foreigners. It's always just Yankee in New England. Yank sounds like something you do in private.
I’m a non-American and never heard the term before. Only really from yankee sac. Didn’t know it had a meaning
I’m from NY and grew up with a healthy amount of southern influence and your right it does depend on who calls someone a yankee. It’s almost never used in the northeast but in the south it is often a derogatory slang term similar to how folks up north call southerners “dixies” or “Johnny rebs”
As someone from the Midwest US, I've never heard Yankee used in to describe anyone. Though I'm aware of the Southern connotation. And we all learned Yankee Doodle in school
Likewise. From California, and I'm only aware that citizens of other countries sometimes call us that, so I would know someone was referring to me if it was said overseas, and that there is a tradition of certain parts of the country calling people from certain other parts of the country that. Other than that, I have basically no experience with it other than through scant references in popular media.
Same I live in the Midwest and the only time I heard the term was in the Carolinas visiting my family and in Florida for spring break.
As a Dutchman I can say that the last explenation Jan / Kees is the one I learned at school. Jan and Kees were so common at that time that if you met a Dutchman, it was quitee probable he’d have either name. ‘Who’s that?’ ‘That’s a Jankees’ (Dutchman). The J in Dutch is pronounced as the Y in you indeed. My brother who studied Dutch language at the University of Amsterdam confirms this as well. Nice vid, thx!
When I was a teen our family moved to Australia for a short time and at school my nick name quickly became Yank or I would be referred to as The Yank, and oddly it was used both positively and negatively depending on the context and tone. It never really bothered me and my good friends used it and it was rare for it to be used negatively. I was from the North and had never really heard it used in a derogatory manner before we moved, at least not that I can remember. That said one of the best fights I saw at school was when a new kid from Alabama showed up, when someone called him a Yank all hell broke loose.
sweeeet hooome alabama
As a someone not from the US, I can say that the way we most use is "The Americans". Im Braziliam, by the way
I thought in Brazil, America was a continent.
@@thematthew761 Only when we are talking to an american ; )
Ohioan here, and I literally have never heard anyone in the states use the word yankee outside of social studies classes and hearing about its historical use. Up until this video, I've only heard it used in modern times by foreigners to refer to Americans as a whole, primarily from the British and Irish, so most of this was new info for me
Well, yeah, you’re from Ohio. Ohio is Yankee lite and “Ohioan” is its own insult.
Come down south and the term is used a lot to describe people up north, both as a neutral term as well as an insult.
this is interesting to mention that foreigners tend to identify countries when locals tend to have much stronger identities with more local boundaries
"To a New Englander a Yankee is someone who lives in Vermont."
New Englander here. That is false. I've never heard that until this video.
I lived in Boston. People will think you are talking about baseball rivalry with "Yankee".
He was referencing a poem, I think.
I live in nh and you only have to think of yankee candle to get that perspective. Also that was the words of the man who wrote Charlotte’s web. What he said was true for the time.
@@WTFisDrifting Why would Yankee Candle give you that perspective? They're all over the place.
@@TheEarthCreature it’s from Vermont. I live in nh we got a love hate relationship with them and massholes
I'm from the Pacific Northwest, and I've always associated Yankees with the North Atlantic states specifically New England and people from the state of New York who live outside of the city. I have also always thought that if a fellow American called me a yankee I would be offended, not because I saw it as derogatory but because I wasn't from the North Atlantic states but then at the same time if a foreigner called me a yankee (unless they were Canadian, I don't really know why) I would not really bat an eye.
I would be more offended if a foreigner called me it tbh.
Never heard an American say “yank”. Brits love to say it as a derogatory term to an American seeing as not all of them identify as a yankee. I don’t mind it since people are ignorant but it’s like calling an Englishman, Scottish or a Scotsman, English or something just as absurd. No one from the Midwest, South or West would introduce themself as a yankee unless it’s said in jest or a joke. But as the old saying goes, “you can’t change stupid”
@Blackà Đønz I'd be pretty surprised if a southerner got offended by being called a Yankee by a foreigner, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm from the Midwest, and in my experience its seen more as a patriotic term.
@@leatherneck69 here in the South Yanks are seen as snobbish, rich, stuck up, and overly offended and yank is a deep term used it's also used just to refer to someone from the North and southerners tend to view themselves differently than those in the North so yes it is offensive
It’s not ignorance or stupidity lol, we know what it means. People outside America just don’t tend to like Americans. We’re being dismissive on purpose
I don't care if I was called a "yank" and I live in the south so it's kinda funny seeing foreigners trying to use it as an insult when they don't know the meaning of the word at all.
@@emmalynn877 The og commenter is right especially since most Americans do not care if foreigners mean it as a derogatory word since it means something completely different in the US. 😂
In the northwest we just don't use the word. Although considering it was a confederate idea of an insult, I'll gladly take the name positively.
Like reverse psychology?
Not relly it came form the Indians who could not pronounce the world " English" So it became Yankiee.
what if I call you a Dixie?
Bro Yankee was used well before the war,
So do I. But no one has called me that yet.
A story I heard, Being from the Netherlands, is Yankee being an insult to dutch setters by English ones. They would call dutch setters Jan Cheese. Many dutch setters had the name Jan, so to the English all of them might as well be called Jan. And they were already then known for their obsession with cheese. Jan Cheese then later shortened to Yankee.
Side note, I think to a dutch speaking person at the time, trying to pronounce the English word cheese, they very well might have pronounced it as 'kees, or keys' (trying to spell it so you know how to say it in English).
In Dutch the letter C is often pronounced as K.
Yes,.. Jan Kees .
I am Dutch (Netherlands)
Kees or Cees is a first name that occurs mainly in the Netherlands. Although the name is mostly used for men, there are also female name carriers. Examples include Kees from the film and series Flodder and the main character from Kees & Co.
Kees is a shortening of Cornelis (or Cornelia), which probably means the horned one, derived from the Latin cornu (horn). The variant Cees can also be a shortening of Cornelis and is usually pronounced Kees. However, Cees can also be an abbreviation of Caesar, and then the pronunciation is Sees.
This typically Dutch first name may also be one half of the origin of the American word Yankee. After the loss of the city of New York, which was once a Dutch settlement called New Amsterdam, a lot of Dutch people stayed there. Because the first names Jan and Kees were so typical, the new owners, the British, called the original residents "Jan-Kees". After a century or two that became Yankee. After the American Civil War, the name was more widely used, as a name for all people coming from the northern states. During and after World War II, Yankee, thanks to the English, also meant an American in general.
@@aheroyaheroyalproductions7631, I am Dutch too and I had found this exact etymology a while ago
Good story, but not in coems form the Indian nations form around the great lakes, who had problems with English pronountion and thus called then Yankees
@@Delgen1951, what do you mean exactly?
New Englander here. No one ever uses this term to describe ourselves outside of some magazines about woodworking or candles. But when I moved down to Tennessee I heard it much more regularly from Southerners. Usually with a mix of charm and derision. Since I left Tennessee I’ve been using it more often to self identify when I’m not in New England. I like it. Thanks for this video.
As a Texan, Yankee really just means someone from the north, although I very rarely hear it outside of a historical context. I hear this the most from foreigners describing America/Americans, and when I'm called it I'm not offended, it just sounds weird.
You’re all yanks
In California Yankee means a US citizen
It’s absolutely derogatory. My northern family owned a bar in the South and they would throw that around with the n word.
@@MeMe-pj8ve alright, calm down
@@rykloog9578 wtf? Are you offended I’m telling you something is derogatory? When did it become offensive to give/receive information? Get a grip.
I wear the name yankee with pride as a granite stater, thanks to my great grandfather who is 93 and has a very pronounced “yankee” accent. He’s from the upper valley nh (near Dartmouth college) and has what sounds like a maine accent characterized by it’s unique “yauh” pronunciation of yeah. If anyone else happens to know any old yankees reply below!
I recall hearing a story about a American soldier station in Britain during WW 2 who was from the deep south and he hated being called a yank. Got in a few fights
as someone who has grown up and lives in new england, i can say that i've only heard "yankee" in new england or referring to the new york baseball team
In Sweden we call Americans “Jänkare” (Yankee) and it’s often in a degrading sentence
why you guys so mean? Not my fault dumb and fat nuh uh!
@UCXc6i4NyBSkFxRp8Jtu4vLQ aww want a handkerchief?
It's weird so many languages have a word for us. 😂
A friend from Dixieland doesn't like living in Yankeeland.
For people in the South, Yankee means a Northerner
For Northerners, Yank means someone from New England
For New Englanders, Yank means someone from Vermont
For people from Vermont, Yank means someone who eats waffles for breakfast.
For the rest of the world, Yank means the guy standing in your backyard with a semi automatic.
The irony is that the "guy standing in his backyard with a semi-automatic" is much more likely to be from the South.
Back when I was serving in Afghanistan, if we took pay advances we got our cash in American dollars and we frequently called them "yankee bucks." I relayed this to an American shortly afterwards and they were DEEPLY offended... I guess they were from the south
I mean, the dollar was used by the union. Did dude think the Confederacy used the same currency or what!? Dumbass
As a Southerner, I am offended if called a Yankee. That is a term for someone from the Northeast.
Same. Idk if I’d be offended because I’m not like a typical southern type person but I definitely wouldn’t like to be called a Yankee
@@ianperry9598 Yeah, I hear ya..live and let live, I would not fail to be polite. But if a Southerner called me a Yankee he better have a competent orthodontist on speed dial...
Not a term for somebody from Mass.
@@jeffkardosjr.3825 This Gen-X person from Mass. would disagree. If I heard it from a stranger nowadays, I'd assume they were neither Millennial nor Zoomer (as knowing the word would require an extraordinary amount of intelligence from those kiddies) and, as I'm proud of my New England heritage, it would be proof to me that the person calling me a Yankee knew their audience.
@@stephenwright8824 Maybe you're from western Mass. Around Boston, the term's association with baseball, most anyone is a Red Sox fan.
I'm from new hampshire and I've been known to eat pie for breakfast and honestly I feel called out and hurt.
As a New Jersian who spends a lot of time in Georgia, l am constantly called "Yankee." It offends me because I'm a Mets fan (cross-town rivals).
Yankees and their love for baseball.
Down south, we prefer the sport of hunting.
I remember hearing the Dutch origin of the term also, but I heard this: It was a derogatory term the English used for the Dutch who remained in the New Amsterdam/New York area after the English took it over. A Dutchman would generically be called "John Cheese" by the English, and it was corrupted to Yankees.
But Yankees means John Cheese in dutch
@@k.umquat8604 no, that would be Jan kaas
@@k.umquat8604 Yeah, I know. Close enough to make me think it's legit
But it’s a term that since first recorded use referred to Anglos of New England, not Dutch of New York. (edited)
@@q-tuber7034 Yes, it would be a term that has changed in its use since the influence of the Dutch in New York waned, obviously.,
I live in California, being called a Californian is just as much as a slur from a Southerner as calling someone a Yankee by them. It's not in the use of the word, just the way it would be said by a Southern in a "I'm better than you" way.
Well you are not form the south are ye?
It's not really anything personal, here in Texas we just have a disagreement with California's political policy, including the ridiculous property taxes that seem to encourage a lot of Californians to move out of the state.
We're just scared that they'll vote for the same policies that made them leave in the first place, hence the term "Don't California my Texas!"
thats why i call em dixiecrats southern klansmen hate that
The word Southerner can also be a slur from a Californian in a "I'm better than you" way. Not that you used it that way or I thought that, but hypothetically it could be used that way.
@@Blowingmind just not even the same degree as calling them dixiecrats or asking where the general sherman statues are
What I've always found to be interesting is that in Japanese ヤンキー (yankii) means a delinquent youth.
Probably explains American foreign policy.
@@Venezolano410 I’ve seen your past comments. You can’t call over 320 million people scum.
@@thematthew761
Well, I just did.
@@Venezolano410 no it comes from an unrelated gang’s name within Japan. Not because of the opening of Japan
@@eragonlindemann7236
?
I’m from eastern Tennessee and I know if you call someone from out deep southern culture a yankee well those are are fighting words
Also gave rise to the cockney rhyming slang term 'septic,' as in septic tank- yank, I think from the second world war.
Oh, was that cockney in origin? It was a popular term in Australia for a long time.
@@gregsierra414 It's probably both but I would lean to Australians saying it in the first & second world war would be more the fact.
I hear it further shortened to seppo
Being a Native American from Oklahoma ( for those outside of the US: AKA North Texas, Texas' hat, the place where the huge tornadoes are), if a British person called me a yank to my face, I'd be legitimately mad.
As a Brit I would never use the term Yank.I am well aware Native Indians are not even americans but the original owners of what we call the US.I would love to know place names of native indians in the US but can,t find any other than Cheyenne.peace
@@Jack-fs2im Been used to call the USA folks as Yank/(Ianki) and the native "indians" you mentioned as americans. Just funny as often when reading material, we get the american languages, referring not to the european languages or their creole mixes and when we see the term of american civilisations, those mean, for most widely known examples, Chimor, Guarani, Inca, Haudenosaunee (wr. ka. Iroquois), Maya, Mississipian, Mixtec, Nahuatl. There's plenty of history, even though human inhabitation of the continents started just a bit over 10k years ago and is an interesting fact that original populations from as north as Alaska to as south as the Tierra del Fuego have a very similar genetic makeup, which might suggest that the migrant group was small (thus having a small gene pool to disperse) and maybe there was more mobility throughout the continent than otherwise expected.
Also, some of the original languages are still spoken by communities, though not as much in the 3 largest countries as they are in the spanish America. Although not in the same families as the northern American languages, Guaraní is official in Paraguay and Bolivia technically has some dozens of official languages, all but spanish being american languages.
@@naervern2107 thanx.I have watched the native indian story told by themselves.I am interested to find indian names of american places.I mean what wss idaho etc called by native peoples or New York etc
@@Jack-fs2im That certainly would depend on each particular people and language, but there's probably material to search if you broaden the search to what was documented by French and Spanish scholars of the time, who were quite interested in these cultures and thus had relatively peaceful and conservative policies with the native peoples. Pretty sure you can find it, so good luck!
Let's be real, it isn't supposed to be directed at Native Americans. It's mainly directed towards European/White Americans and maybe African/Black Americans.
That last explanation makes a lot of sense. In Sherman’s Memoirs, he mentioned that the rebels called the National troops “Dutch” in addition to “Yankees.”
Btw, the Dutch name "Kees" is pronounced like the English word "case".
Waarschijnlijk Jan Kees.
Interesting video! As someone that has spent most of my life in the Midwest, I have always thought of Yankee as a half derogatory/half affectionate term for people in the Northeast.
Here in Mexico “yankee” means anyone from the US
Yo lo llamo gringos
@@Niko-xt5bs jajaja yo también. Es más la gente mayor la que dice “yankee”
“Though the name “Yankee” could quite possibly be [the Dutch’s] biggest contribution to the Americas” made me giggle. I mean, doughnuts, for one. But maybe my perception of Dutch influence comes from growing up in upstate NY, where every other town ends in “kill” (river/stream) and Albany was once Fort Orange, named for the Dutch William of Orange.
And the dutch gave you Santa Clause (Sinterklaas) 😉
I prefer to identify as a Canuck - but when I lived in Louisiana - I had a friend that was adamant I was a 'Yankee' because I was from 'north of Interstate 10'...
But like - I am from REALLY north of Interstate 10 - and he would be offended if I called him a 'Yankee' for being - you know - an American 😂
It looks like one of the most southern highways in the country
Lol
@@cypoopie Yup! He used the term liberally - and believed that anything north of Lafayette and Baton Rouge in Louisiana was actually just South Arkansas haha
We joke we're Southerners--Southern Canadians that moved to southern US (AR).
As someone form Mississippi, I would be kind of annoyed to be called a yankee, and I’ve never heard the term yank before. It’s not really a bad thing to call someone, but if you say it to the wrong person down here, you might loose a friend haha.
And possibly a tooth or two
1:30 as a Californian (🤨) I assumed “Yankee” referred to us all US people... as a baseball fan (LA Dodgers) HOW DARE YOU!?
In a similar way, "Canuck", a term referring to Canadians generally today, originally only referred to French speaking Canadians, particularly from Quebec.
And at times as an insult by newly arrived British-American settlers, until they adopted the name for themselves.
And has given birth to the nickname for Canada, "Canuckistan".
My cousin's in the Carribean call us Canadians Yankees too. It's weird
@@Lrxxx321 Yeah there is uncanny resemblance between Americans and Anglo-Canadian. I have no surprise those outside Canada and America will say they are all the same.
@@benn454 As a Canadian, I have never heard this term before. When we travel, most foreigners think we Canadians are American, and we have to make a point of telling them we most definitely are not. If they know anything about Canada, they often treat us better then.
American living abroad for a a while: Have worked with many Brits over the years who use yank with me. Always find it a bit odd to hear as I grew up in the North and only heard it growing up in a begrudging way from people in the south.
if you're in the UK and are being called "yank" I'd suggest finding other people to hang out with
@@Riolu1209 Haha, they are not my friends
I'm from the South and I don't mind the word tbh. 😂
@@Riolu1209 It's not something most people would get mad about lmao
It has nothing to do with the subject but, as far as I know, "Yankovic" is the English translation of the Serbian surname "Janković" (Cyrillic "Јанковић"), which was derived from the name "Janko" (c. "Јанко") since "J" read as "Y" around these parts. So nothing to do with the subject at all... :P
Here in California & most the western states, I would find it slightly offensive as an Englishman would find it slightly offensive to be called a Scott or Welch.
Where in Cali are you from? Here in LA it just means a US citizen
@@rykloog9578 I've NEVER Heard it used as a U.S citizen in California up here in the North or SoCal. And I spend lot's of time down south. My naturalized Filipino American friends & family would never be called "Yankee". Roughly 30% of Californians are foreign born & most are naturalized citizens, I don't think anyone would call a Latino American or Asian, or African American "Yankee" naturalized or natural born. And me being a white guy I've never been called "Yankee". Gringo maybe but never Yankee nor have I heard anyone in California refer to someone as a "Yankee" except maybe at the Oakland Collasium when the Yankees are playing the A"s.
@@sonnystaton Must be southern California thing then
@@rykloog9578 I spend a lot of time in SoCal. Never heard the term "Yankee" unless the Yankees are in town to play the Angels.
@@sonnystaton Well you don't live here, so maybe that's why
A Michigan Demonym is:
Yooper- Someone from the upper peninsula of Michigan
Yoopers will sometimes call people who live in Michigan’s lower peninsula trolls, as a joke, because they’re “below” (South, in this case) the Mackinac Bridge
I grew up in California and was vaguely aware that people from other countries called Americans Yankees, but I always thought of it as a term southerners called northerners. I never heard it used there though, and I've never actually been called a Yankee while traveling internationally. I live in Texas now and I've been called a Yankee a few times. Obviously California isn't really north geographically but its definitely more part of the northern state cultural block, so it was a little weird to hear but it made sense. When I was called it it was usual with a wink, as in "this is kind of a derogatory term but I don't mean anything by it." It was just kind of used as a joke. Thats the impression I get of the word now in Texas. It can be used jokingly or actually deotgatorily, just depending on context.
0:27 You definitely wouldn't want to analyze demonym in East and Southeast Asian languages, then
@Вхламинго I mean that if he finds most of the English ones boring, then those of Asian languages are even more boring because in most if those it's "name of country + person".
@Вхламинго I wasn't talking about Russian or Central Asian languages. I was talking about Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc. Those all have straightforward demonyms, which Patrick would find boring.
It might be interesting to see the meanings of the ideographs that they use and why.
Like America being 米国人Rice Country Person in Japanese although definitely not as common as アメリカ人. So I could imagine with such the idea could be intertaining.
@@minnesotanfreedomist3147 It would be cool if Patrick did something like that, but I feel that he would need an entire multilingual staff before he would even consider that topic over the nearly endless ocean of Name Explain ideas...or at least a Patron Saint willing to put in the money for it.
@@minnesotanfreedomist3147 Also, イギリス for England is pretty interesting, since it sounds quite different from the endonym.
In the UK, Yank Tank is a term given to huge American cars popular in the 1950s and 60s.
Also, the heroic pigeon in the cartoon "Catch the pigeon" is called Yankee Doodle Pigeon.
One time my grand aunt was asked what the family background was, when she asked her dad he said “were d*** Yankees”
She then repeated that... in class.
Wait, you mentioned the Dutch and didn't play the Wilhelmus?
Oh right, this isn't that channel.
You know the one I'm talking about.
for me, growing up, a Yankee was "someone that looks with their hands, not their eyes", hence they'd 'yank' anything that peeked their interest
Native Californian here. Being called a Yankee by a foreigner would not be offensive; in fact, I would find it charming. Being called a Yankee by an American would be...surprising. Not really offensive, just odd.
As a New Englander, I have been called a yankee a few times in my life. I dont think many people up here consider it derogatory. I kind of like the nickname as it reminds me of one of my favorite books, "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain.
I didn’t even realize the nickname Yankee was still used in the modern era lol. I’m from the north but I’ve never been called a Yankee and I’ve never heard the term even used lol. I thought it was just an old nickname used during the civil war as an insult to northerners.
I’m from Minnesota and live in the South. My ex-boyfriends family use to call me Yankee and I’d remind them that I’m a Midwestern.
@@jo-vf8jx I’m midwestern as well. Are we not Yankees?
“Yank” is always offensive. “Yankee” is offensive when used by foreigners. Yankee should only be used by Americans in an affectionate manner for New Englanders
I've never seen any American offended by the term Yankee.
@@leatherneck69 Then you may have never called a southerner a yankee
@@leatherneck69, someone has clearly never been south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
In Denmark we have a chocolate bar from around 1946 called a yankie bar. The spelling was changed a bit, because actually being able to speak english was rare in Denmark at that time.
Not all non-Americans mean it affectionately. If you hear someone from Central America calling someone a "yanki," it's usually incredibly offensive and is meant to be derogatory. Versus Argentina, for example, where yanki is more neutral. This is based off of personal experience living in various places in the Americas
I'm a Tico passing by, hi.
When you leave north america it's used for Canadians too it's weird
In England they are more likely to use Yank instead of Yankee. That came from the WWI tune, "Over There", where they sing "the Yanks are coming". I remember a 50s rock and roll bar in England offered free admission to anyone parking their "Yank" outside. That is a US auto which adds to the 50s ambience.
I’m from the Midwest and I’d just be confused if a foreigner called me a yankee but southerners just do it so much at this point they get a pass
I am a New Yorker and I consider anyone from the North a “Yankee” and anyone from the South a “Dixie”. When the Brits I know use yankee, I see it as a nickname for my country. If a Southern called me a Yankee, I’d probably call them a traitor-loving Dixie
Something something yankee followed by a reply of inbred something something.
Well, I can’t call you a “carpetbagging Yankee,” since you don’t actually live in the south.
@@Gala-yp8nx, yankees are usually mad because their food is rubbish and they live in stifling cities.
"The word yankee is the nickname for the American denonym"
And what about Gringo?
in Argentina we call Europeans "gringos" mainly those from Spain and Italy.
@@RocaSeba Uhm what i never heard anyone say "gringo" to people from europe i only heard it refering to americans
@@RocaSeba Here in Mexico we use it exclusively for Americans.
@@RocaSeba I never heard anyone call europeans "gringos"
Its a Spanish word, what do you want
Fun fact in Finland there is a popular brand of gum known as Jenkki, which is the Finnish variation/way to pronounce the word Yankee
So in India - well, from my parents’ time - yankee/yanky was perceived as a compliment you gave someone when they looked good/cool/dressed up. Now it makes sense that it probably originated from the Americans - as they were a growing superpower back then.
I'm from Tennessee, and I've never really heard anyone getting offended by being called Yankee. It's just not really applied to Southerners, at least not in my experience.
For a Brazilian, yankee (often spelled as "ianque") can refer to anyone from the US, but it's not a very common word.
I believe the "Dutch" explanation. Also, it was very frequent to call anonymous people "Johnny" back in the colonial era, as in the song "When Johnny Come Marching Home Again."
I am from Wisconsin, when I was spending a lot of time in Atlanta, Georgia I got nick named "Yankee Josh" - and that was just because I was from the North and there was no hostility involved.
That you know of. Yankee Josh.. :p
I’m up from the Boston area, we hate being call a Yank or a Yankee because we think of them as a New York baseball team. But Vermont makes sense. Also don’t ever call someone from Boston a Yankee if you ever come to visit, you’ll have a group agains around you that don’t say there r’s right about to kill you
Haha
Because the Dutch were called Yankees.. JanKees. And they were in New York=New Amsterdam.
As a northeasterner, I never hear the term around here unless you're trying to imitate Brits or sound deliberately archaic. Southern usage of the term is stereotyped as good old boys who are sad the confederates lost the war.
I’m from Vermont and I’ve never heard anyone say us and us alone are the only Yankees and I’ve never had pie for breakfast, love your stuff
As a Vermonter you're a Yankee cause the story of your famous outhouses. Not to mention the pie. Then again, I prefer your famous ice cream. Lots of love from Massachusetts. We have to have some damn Yankee pride when we enjoy a Yankee quilt while sniffing a Yankee Candle.
5:57 - Hey Name Explain!
Could you do a video on why we call pasta a hat-decoration?