Is "yanks" an offensive title

Edward · Oct 13, 2010

Nathan Dodge said:
I hear "this country" used in place of any of the terms that refer to the United Kingdom/Great Britain/England. I know they all mean different combinations of those places, but it's like a blanket term for any combination of those places. Maybe they're just referring to England. Ah, forget it. I've derailed the topic enough as it is. Sorry that I'm not clear enough on this.

FWIW, in my experience, two kinds of people refer to the UK as one "country" - those Northern Ireland Unionists who employ the terminology to emphasise the Union, and the English. The rest of we uppity Celts - those of us pedantic enough to care, that is, will often take umbridge. The UK is a state, not a country. Course, so many folks don't even know the Difference between the UK and Great Britain.... lol I only really get wound up by it when you get BBC presenters interchangeably using the term "the country" in the way I once heard in a BBC newscast - "And so that's the weather, rain across the whole country, from Glasgow down to London. And now, I'm sure people all ovder the country will be tuning in tonight to cheer on our boys [the England team] in their latest World Cup match..." :rage:

Carnage said:
In my experience they will accept "Yanks" a lot easier than the military form of address of "Septics".... I believe that one has to remain an informal nickname for now..

lol ....Seppos.....

Mid-fogey · Oct 13, 2010

After...

dhermann1 said:
..."Most linguists look to Dutch sources, noting the extensive interaction between the colonial Dutch in New Netherland (now largely New York state, New Jersey, and much of Delaware) and the colonial English in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The Dutch given names "Jan" and "Kees" were and still are common, and the two sometimes are combined into a single name, "Jan-Kees". The word "Yankee" is a variation that could have referred to English settlers moving into previously Dutch areas.[4]....

…the American Revolution, aggressive, seafaring merchants from New York and New England came to be known worldwide as “Yankee Traders," and the term evolved to mean a person from the northeastern US. The reason any American came to be called a Yankee was that the Yankee Traders were virtually the only Americans seen overseas.

Like many terms that start benignly, I see the term as having become derogatory. It has been so often used by people that don’t like the US (Yankee Imperialist, Yankee go home) that its negative associations have begun to far outweigh any residual good feelings of being “Yanks” in WWII.

At this point I consider the term as a mark that someone is ignorant (or uncaring) of the fact that only US Northeasterners are Yankees and as a southerner, I find it annoying to be called a Yank or Yankee.

Miss Neecerie · Oct 13, 2010

While I don't find it personally offensive, I also do not -identify- with the term, since to most Americans it is a more specific term then the broader usage of the term in the UK.

Since I know they do not -mean- it that way in the UK (in general), unless it was a close friend, I did not bother to try and explain why a Californian doesn't see themselves as a 'Yank'.

Having lived over in the UK for close to 3 years, I just got used to it.

Atterbury Dodd · Oct 13, 2010

Mid-fogey said:
At this point I consider the term as a mark that someone is ignorant (or uncaring) of the fact that only US Northeasterners are Yankees and as a southerner, I find it annoying to be called a Yank or Yankee.

Same here where I live. A Yankee is someone that moves in from somewhere (usually from up north or California) and has absolutely no sensitivity for regional culture or customs. Or even worse, a person that moves in and is just plain annoying and stupid... Of course being from the north or California doesn't have to make someone annoying or stupid, but if a person is they will likely be branded as a Yankee down here.

dragonaxe · Oct 13, 2010

I'm getting a feeling that Yank and Yankee are two very close, but fundamentally different terms....and that yankee is much more of a derogatory term than the former.

Fortunately I don't use either

dhermann1 · Oct 13, 2010

Atterbury Dodd said:
Same here where I live. A Yankee is someone that moves in from somewhere (usually from up north or California) and has absolutely no sensitivity for regional culture or customs. Or even worse, a person that moves in and is just plain annoying and stupid... Of course being from the north or California doesn't have to make someone annoying or stupid, but if a person is they will likely be branded as a Yankee down here.

I think that the correct term for what you describe would be "Carpet bagging Yankee". Right? Another interesting nuance.
For those scratching their heads over that one, it refers to the opportunists from the north who swooped down south after the Civil War to cash in on whatever scallywagging nefarious activity they could think of. They would pack all their belongings into a carpet bag, and move down south.

Subvet642 · Oct 13, 2010

Mid-fogey said:
…the American Revolution, aggressive, seafaring merchants from New York and New England came to be known worldwide as “Yankee Traders," and the term evolved to mean a person from the northeastern US. The reason any American came to be called a Yankee was that the Yankee Traders were virtually the only Americans seen overseas.

Like many terms that start benignly, I see the term as having become derogatory. It has been so often used by people that don’t like the US (Yankee Imperialist, Yankee go home) that its negative associations have begun to far outweigh any residual good feelings of being “Yanks” in WWII.

At this point I consider the term as a mark that someone is ignorant (or uncaring) of the fact that only US Northeasterners are Yankees and as a southerner, I find it annoying to be called a Yank or Yankee.

Well, being a Yankee myself, I feel that only New Englanders should rightfully be called Yankees. It should be remembered that the British used the term as an insult during the Revolution, and "we" adopted it, I suppose, as a means of defiance. New Yorkers, however, are not Yankees, they are properly termed "Knickerbockers". When I was in the Navy, I used think it was a scream that the Southerners onboard were called Yanks by the Scots around Holy Loch. Gawd, they hated that! lol

Feraud · Oct 13, 2010

I see many of you Yanks are still fighting those American Revolution and Civil Wars. lol

Undertow · Oct 13, 2010

I actually like those "offensive" names in as much as it beats being called by the other, more common ones.

Yank = okay with me. As far as the US, I think you could call it America, USA or the US, or the States, or North America, or pretty much anything. Folks here don't usually get too bent out of shape.

Very interesting point about calling someone's accent "English"; it hadn't occured to me that a resident of the UK might take offense to that. Makes sense, after all!

You can see a similar reaction in the US between residents of different states. People from Portland make fun of people from Seattle; people from MN make fun of us hicks from IA, people in New York always joke about Jersey.

Tomasso · Oct 13, 2010

Atterbury Dodd said:
Of course being from the north or California doesn't have to make someone annoying or stupid, but if a person is they will likely be branded as a Yankee down here.

I've found that down south a person is branded a Yankee merely for not having a southern accent. [huh]

Fleur De Guerre · Oct 13, 2010

I have been known to call you lot Septics in jest, and Yanks more often

Miss Neecerie · Oct 13, 2010

On another tangent...

as a 'general term for american' it's probably no more or no less offensive then some who live in the UK would find being called 'limey' all the time...as if it were their official designation.

dhermann1 · Oct 13, 2010

Septics???

NEVER heard of that. Doesn't sound nice! Where does it come from???

Miss Neecerie · Oct 13, 2010

dhermann1 said:
NEVER heard of that. Doesn't sound nice! Where does it come from???

Septic Tank = yank...

Cockney Rhyming slang...(I leave you to google that yourself)

CopperNY · Oct 13, 2010

i've met folks that -used- it offensively, but i've never taken it as such.

when my British uncle (Southhampton) and i are picking on eachother, his jibe of choice is "colonial" or "colonist", which i find more charged. lol

Daniel · Oct 13, 2010

I grew up in a US Army family. When talking with other Americans stationed overseas, we'd almost universally refer to the USA as "the States" -- for example, "What are you going to do first when you get back to the States?" (There were other terms, too, such as "the real world" or "the land of round doorknobs.")

When non-Americans asked about my country of origin, I'd answer "American" or perhaps even "Texan."

I don't see "Yank," as used in the UK, as a pejorative term. In the Southern US, however, "Yankee" used to have strong negative connotations among most residents. That's not the case so much anymore; our mass-media and geographic mobility have decreased the sense of regional identity, particularly in non-rural areas.

Some Southern intellectuals/academics refer to the US Civil War as The War For Southern Independence, or the War of Northern Aggression. As in all wars, however, the winner gets to write the history.

theinterchange · Oct 13, 2010

I'm not at all offended by the use of Yank, but I'm not offended by a lot of what some would term "politically incorrect". [huh] My honest opinion is if you're that thin skinned about language and slang, you need to grow up and get a life. Most people aren't using it in a way that is meant to be offensive anyway.

While I myself rarely use salty language, I'm not offended by much in the way of "foul" language unless it's in ridiculous amounts [as in using them every other word]. Though, I don't particularly care for phrases like Gd. I REALLY don't find what everyone else seems to find offensive about the "other" word for having sex or "bug" off. [huh]

Randy

Haversack · Oct 13, 2010

Yank, Yankee, Septic, Spam are all acceptable to this Northern Californian. And in banter you might hear me return the favour in using Sweaty, Geordie, or Scouse, (where appropriate). Mind any word can be insulting when used with invective and derision.

I have also heard Americans referred to as the cousins by Brits.

Haversack.

bumphrey hogart · Oct 13, 2010

Mid-fogey said:
…the American Revolution, aggressive, seafaring merchants from New York and New England came to be known worldwide as “Yankee Traders," and the term evolved to mean a person from the northeastern US. The reason any American came to be called a Yankee was that the Yankee Traders were virtually the only Americans seen overseas.

Like many terms that start benignly, I see the term as having become derogatory. It has been so often used by people that don’t like the US (Yankee Imperialist, Yankee go home) that its negative associations have begun to far outweigh any residual good feelings of being “Yanks” in WWII.

At this point I consider the term as a mark that someone is ignorant (or uncaring) of the fact that only US Northeasterners are Yankees and as a southerner, I find it annoying to be called a Yank or Yankee.

Yank has got absolutely nothing to do with yankee,it maybe had at a point when only the New England area was populated by non-indiginous americans, and lumping the two together isn't getting the drift,like hoosier mentioned earlier on in the thread, he was surprised when a british exchange student pointed out that he didn't want to be called English.There are subleties that neither of us get and really don't have to,believe me us Brits calling you yanks is a world away from placard waving iraqis shouting 'yankee go home'.It's like we call australians 'ozzies',they call us 'poms',it's affectionate,I have many friends from both America and Australia and we call each other limeys,yanks,poms and ozzies without anyone feeling the slightest bit offended,and to be honest with you anyone who is offended has maybe a little too much time on their hands.I mean what else are we supposed to call you when we want to refer to you informally, 'Citizens of the United States of America' is a bit of a mouthful! Any ideas for an informal,affectionate and short alternative would be gratefully received.

Foofoogal · Oct 13, 2010

The chap from Louisiana used it with the implication that the so called yank was rude, uncivilized, and it had the subtext of xenophobia against immigrants.
--------------------------------

Boy. Where was this thread or people when I was trashed about Homecoming mums? Once upon a time a general USA thing and now evidently a Southern thing as in Texas southern. Found out in Arkansas ended about 2003 from what I can gather anyway. Very vintage also. I was stunned to be shut down on it or moving it and still do not understand it.
To me it was like asking about pink lipstick or plaid during vintage times. Very disappointed by it as I was really wanting to see vintage photos and such. anyways...

fftopic:
--------------------------
I know in Texas Yankees meant up North and during the 1980s when many moved south to work it became a pretty big issue. They pretty much stuck out like sore thumbs. Not necessarily my observation but from others comments.
I was raising babies so did not come up for air hardly.

See, with the FL this is what I find desirable about this place. We can somehow learn about other things we find odd.
I am not kidding when I just learned Hoosier meaning. I have always thought it meant they loved basketball and so was called Hoosiers.

How in the world will we become global and get along when there are so many things we do not know about each other.

I find this very interesting and when with people from other countries it is very interesting to pick their brain on these things.

People have mindsets from eons ago and just do what they do.

I personally found it very offensive to do away with what I was born to understand as Terms of Endearment in the South to be politically correct.

Darlin, Sugar, Honey, Sweetie are terms I adore from men and women. I am comfortable with it and now they are practically dead or mute things.

Is "yanks" an offensive title

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