sometimes when you ask a person what nationality they are,you get the reply "heinz 57"is that really possible?

Question

ok,i can see from the answers so far my question was misunderstood:i know what they mean when they say heinz 57,but genetically speaking,is it really possible to be a mixture of that many different races,or would mother nature prevent this somehow,or is there no limit to how many bloodlines humans can be?

Answer 1

Well, my ancestors come from Virginia, Bermuda, England Scotland, Germany (or actually several small historical countries that are part of Germany now), France, Austria, the Ukraine...but we've all been Southerners for nearly 200 years.

Nationality is a relatively new concept that doesn't really tell you that much about who a person is. The truth is, everybody's family history gets greatly simplified--especially when you're filling out forms--and quite a lot of our families' past becomes lost to history until someone takes the time to dig it up.

Answer 2

The reason people say that is because they are different nationalities. Now I am dutch, german, irish, and also have some indian in me. So people joke and say they are heinz 57. Meaning any number of what ever they are. Hope this helps you out some.

Answer 3

have you ever asked a person what kind of dog they own and they sat mongrel? It means that they are of several ,ya know, the Irish and Scots the germans and itailans,the english and american indian? Get the flow?

Answer 4

I think they mean that they are a complicated mixture of many different ethnic groups, which is quite common here in the USA.

Answer 5

yes if you go back 2-4 generations Americans are 8 or more
nationality's..

Answer 6

It's an expression, I don't think we can possibly be a steak sauce.