call americans yanks??
i hear it on classic movies?
2007-01-13 06:10:51 · 13 answers · asked by imsoCOOL_bejealous 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
I hope they keep doing it. It's cute.
2007-01-13 10:15:28 · answer #1 · answered by *shine* 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Word History: The origin of Yankee has been the subject of much debate, but the most likely source is the Dutch name Janke, meaning "little Jan" or "little John," a nickname that dates back to the 1680s. Perhaps because it was used as the name of pirates, the name Yankee came to be used as a term of contempt. It was used this way in the 1750s by General James Wolfe, the British general who secured British domination of North America by defeating the French at Quebec. The name may have been applied to New Englanders as an extension of an original use referring to Dutch settlers living along the Hudson River. Whatever the reason, Yankee is first recorded in 1765 as a name for an inhabitant of New England. The first recorded use of the term by the British to refer to Americans in general appears in the 1780s, in a letter by Lord Horatio Nelson, no less. Around the same time it began to be abbreviated to Yank. During the American Revolution, American soldiers adopted this term of derision as a term of national pride. The derisive use nonetheless remained alive and even intensified in the South during the Civil War, when it referred not to all Americans but to those loyal to the Union.
2007-01-13 06:22:20 · answer #2 · answered by CincinnatiDon 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's short for Yankee. Goes back to Revolutionary War times. You know the song "Yankee Doodle"? It was sung then, first by the Bristish to insult the colonists, then by the colonists as a "ha ha the jokes on you" kind of thing. There's a lot more to it, if you want to look at the website I've included.
2007-01-13 06:23:29 · answer #3 · answered by sleepyfrog76 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well we saw it in the movies.!!!
Does not Hollywood call them that " Yankees so Yank is an ABBREVIATION.!!!."
2007-01-13 06:20:11 · answer #4 · answered by JAM123 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
started back in The Revolutionary War time... some colonists started calling themselves yankees... dont know the whole story mayself... but the name stuck.
2007-01-13 06:17:14 · answer #5 · answered by idahomike2 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It does indeed come from the shortened form of Yankees.
2007-01-13 06:20:51 · answer #6 · answered by btmduk 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The yanks call Brits limeys, so they call Americans yanks. But remember this: the yanks can get in their tanks and flatten you.
2007-01-13 06:17:00 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
same reason most americans call the uk england !! as a welsh person this pisses me off !! I
2007-01-13 09:41:29 · answer #8 · answered by jizzumonkey 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
what about the New York Yankees tho!
2007-01-13 09:01:07 · answer #9 · answered by HLW 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
so do some deep southerners in usa....comes from the civil war times and before.......
2007-01-13 06:16:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋