Some bit that give some indication of the proper boundaries.
"Certainly the Irish have for years complained of Yankee discrimination against them."
—William F. Whyte
"There were no civil rights groups then. Even the Federal Government was controlled by bigoted Yankees and Irish who banded together against the Italian immigrant."
—Fred Langone
"The one anomaly of this era was the election of Yankee Republican Leverett Saltonstall as governor in 1938, and even then Saltonstall jokingly attributed his high vote totals in Irish districts to his 'South Boston face'."
—Stephen Puleo
Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas pointed out as late as 1966, "The very word 'Yankee' still wakens in Southern minds historical memories of defeat and humiliation, of the burning of Atlanta and Sherman's march to the sea, or of an ancestral farmhouse burned by Cantrill's raiders".
Ambrose Bierce defines the term in The Devil's Dictionary as: "n. In Europe, an American. In the Northern States of our Union, a New Englander. In the Southern States the word is unknown. (See DAMNYANK.)"
A humorous aphorism attributed to E. B. White summarizes the following distinctions:
To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
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.
A yankee is just a pejorative term for someone from the US used by foreigners, and when someone south of the Mason-Dixon says it it means anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line.
I'm familiar with the etymological hypothesis that connects it to a nickname for Dutch Americans, although I don't find them convincing without doubt (but I am not acquainted with the vernacular of both 16th century Dutch and English in general, let alone the American colonies in particular.)
It must have been more than two decades ago that I heard Dutch people use it; it did back then refer to (white*) Americans in e very general sense, like one would use 'Krauts' for Germans, 'Frogs' for French people etc.
*Not explicitly; more in the sense that back then, an 'American' was thought of as a white person.
In any case the Dutch in the North are routinely called Yankees in literature on cultural Americana. Martin Van Buren of New York, former US president, for example. He even spoke Dutch.
Then there are the Roosevelts. Though they were part English and in Teddy's case he was a raving Anglophile.
It always cringe when I hear the name Roosevelt pronounced like with the 'oo' like in choose; I once read that 'Roosevelt himself' (but I can't recall that the anecdote specified whether this was Teddy or FDR) insisted it was to pronounced like in rose, which is what would make sense in Dutch. Btw I've never actually met, or referred to in contemporary media, someone named Roosevelt; it is a rather Dutch looking name though. (If names were codified with modern spelling, I suppose it'd have been Rozenveld.)
Van Buren is not an uncommon name. The present Dutch king has on several occasions used the alias Alexander van Buren, or a variant, for anonymity purposes, like when he signed up for the Elfstedentocht, a national skating tour (traditionally held in Friesland when the ice becomes thick enough, but because of the climate change, it has only happened sporadically in the last few decades), and when he enlisted at university; the name does occur somewhere in his ancestry.
Wikipedia brought me to this guy, Teddy's paternal grandfather:
Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1794, in New York City, to James Jacobus Roosevelt and Maria Helen Van Schaack. He was the last full-blooded Dutch Roosevelt of his line.
Also not some dude with a drawl from Alabama just because Brits or others call him 'yank' when he serves in the US military overseas.
Having grown up in Texas, it was very disorienting when I was in Australia as an 18 year old Marine and the girls kept calling me a yank.
I guess the truth of the matter is that what exactly is a yankee changes depending on who is the speaker. Where and when I grew up it basically meant anyone from a non-Confederate State. Though not usually applied to Westerners whose States were not yet States at the time of the War of Northern Aggression, we did use in reference to pretty much anyone from far enough North (such as say, the Dakotas).
I have also been in circles where the definition was more tightly defined, though.
From what you have told me about your family background the girls in Oz probably weren't too far off. I doubt you sound like a Southerner for example.
Yankees, that is old stock British Protestants (with some Dutch) moved out west of course. Places like San Francisco, Oregon, Washington, bear their mark. Seattle is a center of Unitarianism. So there is a similarity in attitudes. In California the northern part wamore pro-union during the Civil War. Southern California was settled more by Southerners. I'd venture to guess this accounts in part for why Orange County is as conservative as it is.
I'm not from the Northeast but I am from a dissenter Profestant background with Puritans in my family tree. I'll be hard to convince me a Bostonian of Sicilian ancestry is more of a Yankee than me but I guess it could be debated.
How much I sound like a Southerner/Texan is often directly proportional to how much I’ve had to drink and/or with whom I am talking and for how long. If I am talking to old friends over a few beers, I will start talking with more of a regional accent. You’re right, though. My normal speaking voice is fairly standard American (I forget the exact name for it these days, not exactly mid-western but kind of).
Joe_McCarthy ago
Some bit that give some indication of the proper boundaries.
"Certainly the Irish have for years complained of Yankee discrimination against them." —William F. Whyte
"There were no civil rights groups then. Even the Federal Government was controlled by bigoted Yankees and Irish who banded together against the Italian immigrant." —Fred Langone
"The one anomaly of this era was the election of Yankee Republican Leverett Saltonstall as governor in 1938, and even then Saltonstall jokingly attributed his high vote totals in Irish districts to his 'South Boston face'." —Stephen Puleo
Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas pointed out as late as 1966, "The very word 'Yankee' still wakens in Southern minds historical memories of defeat and humiliation, of the burning of Atlanta and Sherman's march to the sea, or of an ancestral farmhouse burned by Cantrill's raiders".
Ambrose Bierce defines the term in The Devil's Dictionary as: "n. In Europe, an American. In the Northern States of our Union, a New Englander. In the Southern States the word is unknown. (See DAMNYANK.)"
A humorous aphorism attributed to E. B. White summarizes the following distinctions:
To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner. 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.
The_Duke_of_Dabs ago
A yankee is just a pejorative term for someone from the US used by foreigners, and when someone south of the Mason-Dixon says it it means anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Quaestorr ago
I'm familiar with the etymological hypothesis that connects it to a nickname for Dutch Americans, although I don't find them convincing without doubt (but I am not acquainted with the vernacular of both 16th century Dutch and English in general, let alone the American colonies in particular.)
It must have been more than two decades ago that I heard Dutch people use it; it did back then refer to (white*) Americans in e very general sense, like one would use 'Krauts' for Germans, 'Frogs' for French people etc.
*Not explicitly; more in the sense that back then, an 'American' was thought of as a white person.
Joe_McCarthy ago
In any case the Dutch in the North are routinely called Yankees in literature on cultural Americana. Martin Van Buren of New York, former US president, for example. He even spoke Dutch.
Then there are the Roosevelts. Though they were part English and in Teddy's case he was a raving Anglophile.
Quaestorr ago
It always cringe when I hear the name Roosevelt pronounced like with the 'oo' like in choose; I once read that 'Roosevelt himself' (but I can't recall that the anecdote specified whether this was Teddy or FDR) insisted it was to pronounced like in rose, which is what would make sense in Dutch. Btw I've never actually met, or referred to in contemporary media, someone named Roosevelt; it is a rather Dutch looking name though. (If names were codified with modern spelling, I suppose it'd have been Rozenveld.)
Van Buren is not an uncommon name. The present Dutch king has on several occasions used the alias Alexander van Buren, or a variant, for anonymity purposes, like when he signed up for the Elfstedentocht, a national skating tour (traditionally held in Friesland when the ice becomes thick enough, but because of the climate change, it has only happened sporadically in the last few decades), and when he enlisted at university; the name does occur somewhere in his ancestry.
Quaestorr ago
Wikipedia brought me to this guy, Teddy's paternal grandfather:
Thisismyvoatusername ago
Having grown up in Texas, it was very disorienting when I was in Australia as an 18 year old Marine and the girls kept calling me a yank.
I guess the truth of the matter is that what exactly is a yankee changes depending on who is the speaker. Where and when I grew up it basically meant anyone from a non-Confederate State. Though not usually applied to Westerners whose States were not yet States at the time of the War of Northern Aggression, we did use in reference to pretty much anyone from far enough North (such as say, the Dakotas).
I have also been in circles where the definition was more tightly defined, though.
Joe_McCarthy ago
From what you have told me about your family background the girls in Oz probably weren't too far off. I doubt you sound like a Southerner for example.
Yankees, that is old stock British Protestants (with some Dutch) moved out west of course. Places like San Francisco, Oregon, Washington, bear their mark. Seattle is a center of Unitarianism. So there is a similarity in attitudes. In California the northern part wamore pro-union during the Civil War. Southern California was settled more by Southerners. I'd venture to guess this accounts in part for why Orange County is as conservative as it is.
I'm not from the Northeast but I am from a dissenter Profestant background with Puritans in my family tree. I'll be hard to convince me a Bostonian of Sicilian ancestry is more of a Yankee than me but I guess it could be debated.
Thisismyvoatusername ago
How much I sound like a Southerner/Texan is often directly proportional to how much I’ve had to drink and/or with whom I am talking and for how long. If I am talking to old friends over a few beers, I will start talking with more of a regional accent. You’re right, though. My normal speaking voice is fairly standard American (I forget the exact name for it these days, not exactly mid-western but kind of).
Joe_McCarthy ago
The Midwest, of course, is basically a Yankee region with a bunch of Germans and Catholics Americanized by them.