Yankee: Difference between revisions
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The term '''''Yankee''''' has a variety of meanings. Generally, it refers to citizens of the [[United States]], particularly those Americans from the [[U.S. Northeast]]. |
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==History== |
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===Origins=== |
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The origin of the term is disputed. Widely held theories claim that it originated from the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] in old [[New Amsterdam]] (today known as New York) in the [[Mid-Atlantic States]]. It then was adopted by the British as a pejorative for (Northern) colonists. The origin was likely to be either the phrase ''Jan Kees'' ("John Cornelius") (two very common dutch names); ''Jan Kaas'', meaning "John Cheese", a generic insult of the Dutch; or perhaps ''Janneke'', the diminutive form of the name Jan. The latter is particularily plausible since "Janneke" is essentially the Dutch equivalent of "Jonny" (although today it is used as a girl's name; compare the [[French language|French]] Jeannette). Dutch traders along the waterways near [[New York]] used the name ''Janneke'' as a [[diminutive]] for the [[English people|English]] settlers, since the name "John" was very prevalent at the time. |
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Another theory (deprecated by most authorities) holds that it originated among a group of Indians on the eastern seaboard of North America. They were unable to pronounce the word "English", rendering it as "yengis" or "yengeese." This later became simplified to "Yankees". This theory is not widely held, since convincing records of the tribe and their mispronunciation of English have not been produced. There are several other [[folk etymology|folk]] and [[fake etymology|humorous]] [[etymology|etymologies]] for the word. |
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One influence on the use of the term throughout the years has been the song [[Yankee Doodle]], which was popular at the time of the [[American War for Independence]]. Though the British intended to insult the colonials with the song, following the [[Battle of Concord]], it was adopted by Americans as a proud retort. |
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An early use of the term outside the U.S. was in the creation of [[Sam Slick]], the "Yankee Clockmaker," in a column in a newspaper in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]], [[Canada]] in 1835. The character was a plain-talking American who served to mock both Canadian and American customs of that era. The stories were published in a book titled ''The Clockmaker'', in 1836. The book was popular in Canada, the U.S., and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]. |
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===The American Civil War=== |
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The use of the term was highly significant in the context of the [[American Civil War]]. It was used to refer to the soldiers and residents of the northern United States including the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England states. The term also referred to other border-states and African-American troops who fought for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. |
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==Contemporary uses== |
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===In the United States=== |
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Within the United States, the term Yankee can have a number of different contextually and geographically dependent meanings. |
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Today ''Yankee'' is most often used to refer to a New Englander (in which case it may denote New England puritan and thrifty values). It can be used in this way by Americans in any part of the country. In the [[U.S. Southern states|American South]] it is still used as a derisive term for persons from any state north of the [[Mason-Dixon Line]]. (See also [[carpetbagger]].) Thus, in either case the principal use of the term in the U.S. is as a means of distinguishing a group from those from living further south (i.e., in the [[U.S. Southern states|southeastern states]]). |
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Since the beginning of the 20th Century, the term has also been used by Americans to refer to the [[New York Yankees]] baseball team. <!--Huh: The New York Yankees baseball team refocused attention on New York, and the need to describe the rural, New Englander of puritan stock probably caused reporters and authors to bring back the slang shorthand term ''Yankee''.? --> |
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===In other parts of the world=== |
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Outside the United States, especially in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, Yankee, often shortened to 'Yank', is used as a colloquial term for American. The term was used extensively in these countries during the World War periods to refer to American soldiers. In some parts of the world, particularly in [[Latin America]] and [[East Asia]], ''yankee'' or ''yanqui'' is meant as an insult and is politically associated with [[anti-Americanism]] and used in expressions such as "Yankee go home." In Japan the term ''yankī'' is used to refer to a youth subculture of bleached blondes who are generally regarded as delinquents and thugs by older generations; general slang for American is ''amekō''. |
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==Then who, ''really'', is a Yankee?== |
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:''To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. '' |
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:''To Americans, a Yankee is an Easterner. '' |
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:''To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander. '' |
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:''To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. '' |
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:''And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.'' |
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:—(an old definition) |
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It is used by people from other countries as slang to mean Americans, both as a term of endearment and as an insult. Hence, the term has had various positive, negative, contextual and regional associations over the years, as books, media, troops, teams, and peoples have used it differently for different purposes. |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Yankee Online Etymology Dictionary] |
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*[http://www.bartleby.com/61/60/Y0006000.html American Heritage Dictionary] |
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*[http://www.wordorigins.org/wordory.htm Wordorigins.org] |
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*[http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19991201 Word of the Day] |
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[[Category:American culture]] |
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[[bg:Янки]] |
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[[de:Yankee]] |
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[[fr:Yankee]] |
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[[nl:yankee]] |
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[[ru:Янки]] |
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[[sv:Jänkare]] |
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