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So that explains why you have listed your locations as: "north central Ohio, UNFORTUNATELY!"
North Central Ohio is actually a great place....especially if you are near the lake....however, right now they are one of the hardest hit economically. You can't blame anyone for wanting to leave and area that can't support them.
That has not a darn thing to do with this silly 'yankee' v. 'redneck' debate.
I have spent the better portion of an afternoon editing and deleting this thread and I probably did not catch it all. If I need to come back in here I will delete the entire thread.
"The next time I have to come back in here, I'm crackin' skulls!"
I'm a little confused... I thought this post was started because some guy wanted to see what others thought about the term Yankee? I took it as the original poster was picking-on a co worker by calling him a Yankee? Am I wrong? I thought it was funny but maybe that was my sarcatic and warped sence of humor. Sorry I don't mean to offend anyone I'm just a little confused, on how this seems to have become a huge debate on how mean slang can be if used the right way or the wrong way. I really am not bothered by being called a Yank, Yankee (huge fan of NY Yankees, BOOO Red Sox =P), Redneck or what ever because I am all of those things. I am still me no matter how folks try to pigeon-hole me. Once again I am not trying to offend anyone.
"Yankee" can be just a descriptive term, easier to say than "someone who moved down here from the North and has a Northern accent". OR it can be said with a sneer and an eyeroll, with quite a different intention. But you should be able to tell from tone, and do not assume it's derogatory if someone says something like "Oh, you're a Yankee" in a perfectly neutral or friendly tone. It just means "You're a Northern transplant". (For that matter "transplant" is another word that has no negative connotation on its own, but certainly CAN be said with a tone that conveys it.).
It's not unlike the word "Jew" (to name one)--you can say "I live next door to a family of Jews" and mean it perfectly innocently with no undertone whatsoever, but you can also say "I live next door to a family of Jews" with a sneer and a derisive tone; the key is the intention being conveyed, not the word.
It has nothing to do with the Civil War, any more than if a Southern person moved up North and someone said "Oh, you're a Southerner". They might mean it perfectly neutrally, or they might mean it much more stereotypically and negatively (and you can't tell me that wherever you're from, people don't have some mighty negative stereotypes about people with Southern accents!). You can typically tell when someone says it to you in person; it's just that on the internet, one can't always be sure what your undertone is.
If you're called a Yankee, please don't immediately assume it's an insult. To many/most of us who grew up here, it's just a descriptor, easier to say than "someone who moved down here from the North". If someone calls you that word with an obvious insult implied, then your reaction should be the same is if they used the N-word or any other clearly insulting term aimed at one segment of the population.
I think that the word "Yankee" has a number of different meanings. To me, growing up, it was a descriptive term denoting a person from north of Boston, or at least from New England, and was not derogatory in any way. Robert Frost was the stereotypical Yankee to me (whether he was born north of Boston or not). In my circle, the word was never used to refer to people from NY, NJ, or PA, for example, unless they were professional baseball players from the Bronx (THEY were the Damn Yankees!). The civil war was rarely mentioned, one way or the other. Of course, all Americans can be (and often are) called Yankees outside the USA.
I know it's a thin pancake that doesn't have two sides, but is it worth getting all worked up about something that is so silly? Sometimes you just have to laugh and let something go.
Being an Appalachian native, I have gotten decades of kidding from people from the northeast and midwest. If they want to believe I am so inbred I have webbed toes, can't tie my shoes, and "ain't got no book learnin," then I have to laugh. It's like the "dumb blonde" expectation, also leveled at me. Should I go through life mad at every fool who believes in stereotypes? Burst into a tirade when someone makes fun of my accent? What a way to live!
I have never really used the word "yankee" much. I tend to say, "He's from New Jersey" or Florida or wherever. When I hear someone referred to as a "yankee," I usually take it as a reference to someone being from the northeast, not as derision.
The whole north versus south issue is tedious and irrelevant. I have experienced the arrogance of southern pride from wealthy DAR matrons and working class folks alike. I have also experienced the arrogance of the transplanted know-it-alls who believe in stereotypes that are just as idiotic. Take the attitudes for what they are. Or better still, leave them and enjoy your life.
BTW, my fiance is from Gloucester, UK, and he calls me both "a southern belle" and "a yankee," depending on his mood, which is a new experience for me!
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.
They absolutely do call people "Yankee". I am a Yankee, everyone knows it because of my Chicago accent, and they call me "Yankee" right to my face! They'll say something like "Whall, yer eh Yankee, awren't y'all, whall, bless yore heart". Then go right on talking as if they didn't say something grotesquely uncivil. That's the way it is down here.
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