When you think of America...........

Verisure said:
Good on ya'.
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It's just another term we wonderful Americans use to to shorten the word yankies. Its often used ehen someone wants to insult norterners, I was using it jokingly.. I do believe people make up such charming terms all around the world in little corners that some may or may not have or approve of. BTW I was born and raised in NY so I've been referred to as many things now living in the lower section of the US. No big deal
 
AprilT said:
It's just another term we wonderful Americans use to to shorten the word yankies. Its often used ehen someone wants to insult norterners, I was using it jokingly.. I do believe people make up such charming terms all around the world in little corners that some may or may not have or approve of. BTW I was born and raised in NY so I've been referred to as many things now living in the lower section of the US. No big deal
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And that was just another phrase those wonderful, fair dinkum Aussies use. It's never used ehen someone wants to insult anyone.
 
senile1 said:
When most people
think of the United states and America, they seem not to separate the two. When
using the term Americans to refer to US citizens is like using European to
describe France or the UK, as neither America nor Europe are countries, they are
both continents. There are about 23 independent Nations in North America alone,
and 12 in South America. What is your thought ?
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We are called Americans because calling us United Statians would sound stupid... Right?
 
QuickSilver said:
We are called Americans because calling us United Statians would sound stupid... Right?
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It was very short-sighted of them not to find a better name for themselves. I suppose it was a term used by the British to demonstratively clarify they were speaking about the colonials in the Americas, rather than one of the others. But why the "ungrateful" break-away population didn't invent a new name I don't understand. They could have chosen any name at all. Even "United States" is ambiguous. Mexico is called "Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos" which is pretty much the same thing, but at at least they gave their county a unique and meaningful name. The Spanish also gave Canada a meaningful name. Very few people know this but when the Conquistadores returned to Spain, the queen asked them if the new territory consisted of anything useful. Their reply was "Ah! Que nada!" And so the name stuck.[FONT=arial, sans-serif]


















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It is my understanding that the name Canada, which has been in use since the sixteenth century, is derived from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word, Kanata (Canada.) This word was used variously to mean "settlement," "village," or "land."
 
Robusta said:
I was always told by my Reb friends that a Yankee was a northerner,but a Damn Yankee was one that came and stayed!
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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. Now the term carries less emotion—except of course for baseball fans.

Word Origin: Yankee

Origin: 1765
 
senile1 said:
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. Now the term carries less emotion—except of course for baseball fans.

Word Origin: Yankee

Origin: 1765
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Thanks, Senile1! Here's a quote I found and it has an air of adventure about it.

In 1758, British General James Wolfe made the earliest recorded use of the word Yankee to refer to people from what was to become the United States, referring to the New England soldiers under his command as Yankees: "I can afford you two companies of Yankees, and the more because they are better for ranging and scouting than either work or vigilance"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee
 
Shalimar said:
It is my understanding that the name Canada, which has been in use since the sixteenth century, is derived from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word, Kanata (Canada.) This word was used variously to mean "settlement," "village," or "land."
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Interesting Ms. Shalimar, thank you.
 
Shalimar said:
It is my understanding that the name Canada, which has been in use since the sixteenth century, is derived from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word, Kanata (Canada.) This word was used variously to mean "settlement," "village," or "land."
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Name of Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Canada
Wikipedia





The name of Canada has been in use since the founding of Canada in the 16th century, with the name originating from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata (or canada) for "settlement", "village", or "land". ... as originating from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata or canada, meaning "village" or "settlement".


Thank you Ms. Shalimar, you have taught this old dog something today. Great thing about venues such as this, there is much one can learn, if one can but keep an open mind.
 
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/yanks



yank

(redirected from yanks)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to yanks: tanks Yank

(yăngk)n. Informal A Yankee.

yank

(yăngk)v. yanked, yank·ing, yanks
v.tr.1. To pull with a quick, strong movement; jerk: yanked the emergency cord.
2. Informal To extract or remove abruptly: yanked the starting pitcher early in the game.

v.intr. To pull on something suddenly.

n. A sudden vigorous pull; a jerk.

[Origin unknown.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
yank

(jæŋk) vbto pull, jerk, or move with a sharp movement; tug

na sharp jerking movement; tug

[C19: of unknown origin]
Yank

(jæŋk) n1. (Peoples) a slang word for an American

2. (Peoples) informal US short for Yankee


Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
yank

(yæŋk)

v.i. 1. to pull or tug sharply: Yank on the bell rope.
v.t. 2. to pull abruptly.
3. to remove abruptly and unceremoniously: He was yanked out of school.
n. 4. an abrupt, vigorous pull; jerk.
[1810–20]
Yank



(yangk),
n., adj. Informal. Yankee.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Well, we have the same problem - The UK, Great Britain and the British Isles. Different things.

Most Brits would regard 'America' as the same as the USA . If I was cynical, I's say that some Brits regard 'America' = Disneyland.
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Some Americans regard Britain as Disneyland -- a quaint land of villages and tea cosies and museums, where all there is to Fortnum & Mason is a clock seen from a tour bus window, and Big Ben is another clock, and the Tower has cute ravens and men in quaint cute uniforms, and at a certain time every morning sexy men in quaint red uniforms come out and march in formation in front of Cinderella's palace.

Of course, some Americans seem to view Israel the same way ...
 
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