the word YANKEE... (Welcome: how much, home, live)

[eek]

i noticed that ppl on here use this word a lot...do ppl actually say this in real life when referring to ppl from the NE??

i'm not trying to be funny, i'm just curious.

[gman6974]

Of course . We have a guy from CT working at our company and we use to have one from PA and we would call them "damn yankees." We pick on them all the time and they get a kick out of it.

[lovebrentwood]

No, I'm sure they didn't get a kick out of being picked on all the time. But they felt it better to smile and keep their jobs rather than hit you upside your heads. It was Northern Charm and politeness at work.

Originally Posted by gman6974

Of course . We have a guy from CT working at our company and we use to have one from PA and we would call them "damn yankees." We pick on them all the time and they get a kick out of it.

[rubber_factory]

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

No, I'm sure they didn't get a kick out of being picked on all the time.

How would you know?

My friends down here from Vermont, Connecticut, Philly, etc., laugh when I call them yankees. they also laugh when I say FUHGGETABOUTIT really loud. Take it like a big joke, that's usually all it is.

[lovebrentwood]

How do you know they are not laughing AT you rather than WITH you?

Such "jokes" get real stale real fast.

Imagine yourself in a new job in an Northeastern city. Co-workers make fun of your accent (even though you are sure you don't have any accent). How long is that funny to you? When it's REALLY no longer funny, what do you do about it? Tell the "joker" to back off? Or just smile and say, "Heh-heh" because you don't want to get angry at the people you need to work with every day? Hmmmm?

Originally Posted by rubber_factory

How would you know?

My friends down here from Vermont, Connecticut, Philly, etc., laugh when I call them yankees. they also laugh when I say FUHGGETABOUTIT really loud. Take it like a big joke, that's usually all it is.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by eek

i noticed that ppl on here use this word a lot...do ppl actually say this in real life when referring to ppl from the NE??

i'm not trying to be funny, i'm just curious.

Yep, but it's done with affection. You've only got a problem with someone if they refer to you as a DAMN Yankee

[DanielleNC]

Some of my dads coworkers call him a west coast yankee. Many friends and coworkers tease and pick on each other in fun. If someone you don't know is being a jerk and calls you a yankee then obviously that is uncalled for and very rude, but you are less likely to come across this.

[Catrick]

Originally Posted by Wire120

Southerners who call people from the north Yankees are just jellous because they lost the war. Thats what makes the north awesome.

Well bless your heart.

[silverwing]

I found one branch of my family moved to Virginia from England (pretty common thing to do in the 17th century). They moved down to NC, skipped over to Ohio after three generations in this country, lingered briefly in Kentucky, then to Illinois where four generations settled before one - me - moved to NC. The other side are descendants from the the Carters of Virgina. One of the notable members of the family is a Robert E. Lee (nudge-nudge a certain Confederate General?) A few years ago I made a pilgrimage to Welcome to Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia. America's Oldest Family Business and Virginia's Oldest Plantation. History for eleven generations since 1613. where the Carter family still lives into its 11 or 12th generation

to do some more family tree investigations. I was directed to a church by one of the docents. The Carter Family book is lodged there. Found out there are 35000 descendants from the first Carter to hit these shores. That's a lotta cousins to look up! I don't doubt that many have ended up in "Yankeeland" It's just the natural progression of families uprooting themselves according to whim or need. Though some - like my Carter cousins of Shirley - stay bound to the home place out of inheritance and the desire to stay close to their roots.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by eek

i noticed that ppl on here use this word a lot...do ppl actually say this in real life when referring to ppl from the NE??

i'm not trying to be funny, i'm just curious.

Yes, people say "Yankee."
Many Yankees, myself included, say "Yankee."

Among friends, or without ill intent, it is no big deal.
Like any other word, used with rudeness and ill intent, it can be derogatory. But the word is not then the issue. The utterer or the subject person becomes the issue.

I am a Yankee. That fact will never change. Born in the Endless Mountains region of Pennsylvania.
If some calls me a Yankee due to that fact, it usually is just a word of convenience.
If someone calls me a Yankee with animosity and prejudice towards all from the North, they may be in a small minority, and they may just be a jerk.

If I were to go all-out "Yankee" and narcissistically assume I am a prophet the local folks had not heard before a million times; if I were to blabber and pontificate endlessly on how much better things are on the North side of the Mason-Dixon Line, how people are more intelligent, better governed, more articulate, better business people, more honest, better cooks, etc, etc, ad boring-whiney-ignorant-rude-stupid infinitum, I would be working hard to achieve status of "Damn Yankee."

I aim for embracing my adopted home, enjoying myself here, meeting a LOT of great people, and, yessireebob, accept being a "Yankee."