2007-01-08 17:26:31 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
no bubblegirl...im british,thats why im asking
2007-01-08 17:34:56 · update #1
As other people have said Yank is short for Yankee. It was first used in the 17th century to describe Dutch Americans.
I found a nice quote on Wikepedia;
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.
lots of different explanation of the origin of Yankee
eankke - coward (Cherokee)
Janke - Diminutive of Jan (Dutch for John)
Jan Keyes - Native American nickname for Dutch traders who's names they couldn't pronounce
Jan Kaas - Dutch for John Cheese because of all the Dutch Dairy farmers
2007-01-08 17:52:07 · answer #1 · answered by leekier 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It comes from the civil war in the 1860's when the north being yankees and the south being rebels. The yankees won the war and the term has just stuck. Its not a good ideal to call anyone from the south of Mason Dixon Line a yank.
2007-01-08 17:38:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Shortened form of Yankee like Yankee Doodle Dandy,
Usually Yankee is used for someone from the
Northern States, particularly after the Civil War,
but after the WWs the shortened form of Yank
began to be used by Europeans to refer to all Americans
2007-01-08 17:32:51 · answer #3 · answered by Caiman94941 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I've heard that the very original term, in the 1800's or whenever, was a corruption of the Spanish "yanquis" meaning foreigners, an imported term from South America used to describe the white settlers..
2007-01-08 17:36:08 · answer #4 · answered by Billybean 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
From the word Yankees, which were what... um.. I think it was the North was called during the Civil War.
(Some Americans probably wouldn't like "yanks", because they wouldn't consider themselves "yankees" either..)
2007-01-08 17:30:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is a shortened form of the word Yankee. It was used in a derogative way towards people of the Southern United States Of America.
2007-01-08 18:01:08 · answer #6 · answered by skeetejacquelinelightersnumber7 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Actually it's a british saying, short for yankee
2007-01-08 17:35:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think John Hancock was one of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence. Something like that.
2016-05-22 22:05:27 · answer #8 · answered by Ellen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it was originally used by European to name american in the 1900s
2007-01-08 17:35:01 · answer #9 · answered by di_cassano 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's cos of the american bra!
one 'yank' and its off.
2007-01-08 17:47:05 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋