this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2025
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Instead of 'american' or USian or others, why not Yankee? It has historical significance to the united states, originated a a pejorative, and the south hates it. Perfect
I’m literally a yankee, as in a lifelong resident of the area north of the Mason-Dixon line and I’ve visited several historical civil war sites over the decades because they’re among the inexpensive points of interest within several hours of here.
I think you’re both kind of right. Everything the previous comment said is correct IMO about it starting with a negative connotation and people in the south probably hating it. But modern online usage feels pretty respectful too. Even in a professional setting, if I were on a typical call and somebody from Europe referred to somebody thousands of km (or miles, lol) away on the other side of the US as one of the yankees/yanks, I don’t think it would even register as something I’d remember. (well NOW it will because of this comment, thanks lemmy! :D )
Plus more recently, those of us who do wild shit like pay attention to the outside world don’t exactly take offense to people insulting this fucked up country/government/culture/etc. We’re right here agreeing with you. So something like “yankee” doesn’t stand out much when you read somebody across the world write “fuck all USians” and you think to yourself “…I can see that. That’s fair.”
I've also heard that there's no true Yankee. Kinda like there's no true Scottsman. For someone in Mexico, all Yankees are from USandA and that's all they care about. For someone in Louisiana (myself) all Yankees are from north of the Mason-Dixon. For someone in Ohio, all Yankees are from the northeast somewhere. For someone in Jersey, all Yankees are just a bit further northeast. Maybe try Boston, they'll say. If you ask someone in Boston where to find a Yankee, they'll direct you to some street corner or a pub.
In Australia we call them "seppos". Short for "septics", which comes via rhyming slang from "yank" -> "tank" -> "septic tank".
Just lower case "yank" will suffice. That one's already in use.