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Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Sorry you find the name so lame for an enemy, Yank.
yours in jest
T. Limey,
13, Acacia Av.
Tunbridge Wells

Look at that, Yank, were all American colonists bell ringers, did they tug in lines all day long? At least Limey relates to the fact that England had a vast navy and the fact that they had to consume a large amount of limes to prevent scurvy.

Limey was a term of derision as the notion of eating the citrus was scoffed at afaik.
Not sure how the term Yankie originated tbh but didn't the Confederates also use the term in the not so Civil War?



Automatically Appended Next Post:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee

H. L. Mencken[8] explained the derogatory term John Cheese was often applied to the early Dutch colonists, who were famous for their cheeses. An example would be a British soldier commenting on a Dutch man "Here comes a John Cheese". The Dutch translation of John Cheese is Jan Kaas; the two words thus would sound somewhat like Yahn-kees and could have given birth to the present term.

Wonder if he did a silly walk?

That's a terrible reason; "Oh we can't come up with anything original for the colonists who aren't dutch so we'll just stick with the dutch name.". Even then, why in the world would the Dutch translation of John Cheese to insult colonists of British descent?

You guys really need to make a new name, Yankees is just plain terrible.

As far as the Confederates using it, they were allied with the English during the Civil War so of course they're going to use the same terms. The North used a term that actually applied to the situation "Johnny Rebs" which relates to the fact that they were 'rebels'.

Yank comes from the rhyming slang for Septic Tank, As in America smells like a septic tank because its not British anymore and we don't care, so ner-ner ner-ner-ner!

I mean that makes perfect sense to me. Case closed.









[some or all of the very valid reasons presented in this post may or may not be factually incorrect]

I can think of a few names but Rule #1 prohibits the posting

That is only one theory and may not be correct.
General Wolfe used the term to describe his chaps according to that link.

My theory is that Yank = jerk. Derived from the fact that Americans eat beef jerkie.

Just be thankful we don't call you gobblers cos of the turkeys!