[skytrekker]

Originally Posted by notjustamom

You do not have to be a Yankee to be a WASP. Just sayin'.

Well the settlers and their ancestors from the early 1600s who had relatives that 'supposedly' came off the Mayflower. They where later called Wasps or 'Swamp Yankees'.

Generally the term 'Wasp' refers to someone of northern European ancestry, or from the British Isles of white Protestant background.

Today however, anyone in New England- of just about any racial or ethnic background would be called a 'Yankee' in the south...and you are correct on that issue in contemporary times. Historically however the 'Old Yankee' stock would be from Wasp heritage, from Great Britain (Not Catholic) or Northern Europe- Germany, Holland and sometimes Scandinavia; White 'Anglo Saxon' Protestant; The Angles and Saxons where in fact from Germany, who invaded the British Isles from about 600- 900- as did some of the Norsemen.

From my post over on the history forum

English is a Germanic language. English before the Norman invasion of 1066 was harsh and sounded much like German (as a result of the Saxon and Viking Invasions from about 550-800)

The Celts, who where pushed into the British Isles by the Romans- spoke a Gaelic tongue.
Although from an anthropological definition today most of the people from the British Isles from antiquity are related- from the Saxons, the Celts, French, the Danes and to a lessor degree the Latins (The Roman occupation lasted for centuries).

Vercingetorex is a national hero in France- though he was a Celt-defeated by Julius Caesar around 60BC- The city of Paris- the name is of Celtic origin. Despite the wars and differences between the French and British over the centuries- the two cultures are strangely intertwined. The French are mix of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Celt and Latin.

The Normans where actually Norsemen who invaded northern France and established a Kingdom- but learned the local Romance Language (French) and culture.

William the Conquerer took the British crown in 1066- and brought to the high court and society of England the French language. This filtered down throughout England over the coming century, and English became 'softened'.

English today remains basically a Germanic language- but has been made a more palpable language by the many French words brought in by William.

Words like; ability, abjection, aboard, abomination, abstain, amateur, bizarre, brave, Captain, Cause, change, costume,
devoid. diverse, enclave ,example, garage -an on-all French.

[notjustamom]

I have not heard the Mayflower bit, just earliest settlers. Perhaps that is another stereotype. LOL! It's interesting, I just started reading up on the term WASP. It seems there are many definitions of the term.

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One of my earliest "WASP" ancestors landed in Virginia in 1690. Or, maybe he wasn't a WASP, depending on one's definition. I still don't like the term.

[skytrekker]

Yes , I agree the term 'Wasp' has many negative attributes. I feel both proud and sometimes ashamed of my Wasp heritage on my mothers side.

[JViello]

HA! One of my neighbors was the queen bee! The owner of Shady Glen. She could trace her roots right to the Mayflower and was a member of the "Sisters Of the Revolution"! Talk about lineage!

P.S. She WAS a Protestant too.

[brattpowered]

Originally Posted by sevdie

Moderator cut

This is disturbing....CT sounds like such a great place for my husband and I to move to otherwise! This concerns me though.

Sheesh, what's with all the moderator cuts lately? Maybe it would be a good idea to cut objectionable words out and let people voice their opinions.

But anyways, I think the stereotype depends on where the person holding it comes from. When I lived in Vermont, people thought residents of Connecticut were fast-talking, brash people who all lived in or near high-crime urban areas or were exceedingly rich.

Now that I live in Texas, people expect me to have hosted parties with the Kennedys on Cape Cod (yes, I know that is Mass), and to be exceedingly rude.

[skytrekker]

brattpower


sometimes here you have to do what you gotta do

the thread's purpose was to be not controversial but 'light' as your input was.

[Donna Springer]

When I was 19 (yikes, please don't tell my kids this) I drove cross country with 2 of my friends in a Chey Vega.... we met so many nice people along the way and it really opened my eyes up to how different people are in different parts of this great country.. One thing for sure, we New Englanders are very high energy and serious about our work... We ended up in Colorado and at work people thought I was crazy I worked so fast ... On Fridays everyone (except me) split early to go do something in the Mountains or whatever.. took us a while to de stress and join in with our Rocky Mtn friends but it was great...

[Lincolnian]

I have always found that if you sit down and talk to just about anyone you will find more in common than differences.

While campaigning for local office I visited 1300 homes. With the exception of two people everyone was polite and many invited me in and shared stories of their past growing up in our city. I found it very difficult to cover my district because I would often have enjoyable conversations with families for 30 minutes or more.

I didn't win the election but I gained a lot of insight into just how much good there is in most people contrary to what you hear or see on TV.

[FLsuxsendmeback]

Black ppl and actually anyone other than white conservative religious people with a laid-back mentality and either southern sounding or slow paced voice are disrespected down here like no where else. people down here will never learn that we are all human beings and continue to teach hate to their children.

I was brought up as many in CT to see others as equal and be respectful to others. I think living here I may have become a more bitter person just because I haven't been fairly accepted which leads me to backlash against those who oppose me. Its simple down here if you're something other than whats expected you get outcasted.

Its a good bet u will notice here that original southerners are closed minded and those from up north become bitter whether because they are forced to conform or they are outcasted due to the fact that they didn't.

I guess it's close minded to group all in a specific category. These statements, as stereostypes always are, are simply generalizations. In fact that should be a period to this entire post.

[BigHouse9]

I don't think the term WASP should have any negative connotations. I think many people associate it with elite these days and it just wrong.

The term Yankee was coined from the Dutch roots of "JahnKee" or "Jankee". Many of the Dutch settled in the Hudson river valley and Catskills and this was a nickname for them. Of course there are other theories that disagree with that but that is what I remember learning a long time ago.

I always love when a Southerner calls me a Yankee and I tell them I root for the Red Sox. Throws them off completely.