why are american's still called yankies , or yanks ?

Question

man afdter 200 + years pass you think things would change guess not

Answer 1

lol .. Americans will always be called yanks (not yankies), and has nothing to do with living in the southern part or the northern part .. ALL Americans are yanks ... that's the way it is, and thats more than likely the way it'll stay ... .:) Personally I like it ... short and sweet, and no bad connotations whatsoever ....

Answer 2

There isn't anything wrong with it, the name is based on tradition. We've also been Americans for 200 years now so should they stop calling us that as well? Why do you care? It doesn't bother me at all and my ancestors help found this country. They fought in the revolutionary war and I'm sure they wouldn't mind either.

By the way there are many places in the south that refer to northerners as Yankies. And there are many northerners that use this phrase as well.

Answer 3

The origins of the term are uncertain. It was used in a different sense in England by 1683. In 1758 British General James Wolfe referred to the New England soldiers under his command as Yankees: "I can afford you two companies of Yankees." The term as used by Brits was thick with contempt, as shown by the cartoon from 1775 ridiculing Yankee soldiers.[4] The "Yankee and Pennamite" war was a series of clashes over land titles in Pennsylvania, 1769ff, in which "Yankee" meant the Connecticut claimants.

Linguists have rejected numerous theories that the word derived from an Indian word. [5] Many people from the Netherlands moved to the US and New Amsterdam which now is New York. Very popular Dutch names are Jan and Kees. You pronounce these names as "yen" and "keese". Put these popular names together and you get yankeese which pronounces the same as yankee.; or it was a term used by Dutch settlers in upstate New York referring to the New Englanders who were migrating to their region. [6]

Loyalist newspaper cartoon from Boston 1776 ridicules "Yankie Doodles" militia who have encircled the cityOne 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 Revolutionary War (1775–1783). 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 and today is the state song of Connecticut.

An early use of the term outside the United States was in the creation of Sam Slick, the "Yankee Clockmaker", in a column in a newspaper in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1835. The character was a plain-talking American who served to poke fun at American and Nova Scotian customs of that era, while trying to urge the old-fashioned Canadians to be as clever and hard-working as the Yankees.

During the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) Confederates used it as a derogatory term for their Northern enemies - "Damn Yankees". The "damned Yankee" usage dates from 1812


The British call the Americans Yankees while the Americans call the British Limeys

Answer 4

Because Southerner's called the Northerners Yankee's (the South being called Rebel's by the North), during our civil war. Yank relates to the freeing of slaves, and that the war was won by the Yankee's, so after the whole of America joined back together as one Nation, we all became Yanks to other folks. (One nation under God, etc.)

Answer 5

May have something to do with amount of Dutch people who arrived in America as settlers. The notion is speculative (nobody is absolutely certain about this), but the amount of males called Jan (or variations of) led to the generic term Yank/Yankee.

Answer 6

Just an old term that stuck. I think it is kind of ignorant that a derogatory term invented by southerners in reference to northerners they hated made its way to England & became what they all seem to use to refer to Americnas in general.

I am 1st genereation American(Californian no less.) My whole family is British & I have never referred to anyone as a Limey. I know that that term was given to English blokes who had scurvy & used citrus fruits to help it go away; nothing to do with my fam, so why use the term at all? All family members, which are all over in the UK, have called me a "Yank" my entire life, which has always bothered me! I am not as big as a tank & neither is anyone I know over here, so "eff-you" to the joker who says "they are all as big as tanks." Over generalizations like that are just ignorant.

Answer 7

For the same reason they call us Limey's and the ausie's call us pommes.... its just a name and after a while it just sticks and most people who use the names havnt got a clue where it started.

To karl.. you wanted to know why limey... The term "limey" originally applied to British sailors. In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailors suffered terribly from scurvy, a condition caused by a lack of vitamin C. Vitamin C comes mainly from fresh fruits and vegetables, but these foods aren't exactly easy to come by when you're at sea for months at a time. So the Royal Navy prescribed lime juice for all sailors to help ward off scurvy -- hence the name "limeys." As often happens, the term eventually lost its original context and was applied to all British, whether sailors or landlubbers

Answer 8

Its the same as any good nickname once its stuck its stuck. Just think back to school days and how once someone called you something everyone called you it. (I still get called Banana once in a while). Or what about guys named Richard who are called Dick some names just stick. The fact this one has historical significance just makes it a better stick.

Answer 9

We call them F*****g Yanks now, or Merrycans since Bush renamed the place Merryca

Answer 10

To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont,
a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.