What / Who is a 'Yankee'?

[PersonOfInterest]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

[dewilson58]

:crap2::crap2::crap2:


Need to wait for the Mod's to wake-up.
This should not last long.

:thumbup:

[larbud]

It’s yankmes!

[CoachKandSportsguy]

birth, last place of residence, gawd awful ahksent, tagged for life in the database of life

[Polarlys]

I have a New Yorker friend that has been transplanted for years in Virginia. I asked him what's the difference between a "Yankee" and a "Damn Yankee". He told me a Yankee goes home. He does, however, feel very welcome among his Virginia friends

[Bay Kid]

I have a New Yorker friend that has been transplanted for years in Virginia. I asked him what's the difference between a "Yankee" and a "Damn Yankee". He told me a Yankee goes home. He does, however, feel very welcome among his Virginia friends

Yep. As a Virginian we were the dividing line, but not anymore.

[Stu from NYC]

I have a New Yorker friend that has been transplanted for years in Virginia. I asked him what's the difference between a "Yankee" and a "Damn Yankee". He told me a Yankee goes home. He does, however, feel very welcome among his Virginia friends

We felt the same way coming from NY and moving to Va.

However our closest friends were former NYers. Guess we had more in common

[Michael G.]

:crap2::crap2::crap2:


Need to wait for the Mod's to wake-up.
This should not last long.

:thumbup:

Yep, this should be "YANKED"

[Velvet]

In Europe a “yankee” refers to any American. Mostly with admiration.

[GpaVader]

I lived in Houston, TX for a couple of years and the morning DJ or shock jock described a Yankee as someone from up north that thinks the only people that drive pickup trucks are plumbers and electricians and wonders why there are so many plumbers and electricians here....

[Veiragirl]

Anyone born north of the mason dixon line. Oh wait...you need to know what sarcasam is (unrelatable to rebels) you know what good pizza is ( and it's not dominaos)

[npwalters]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

If you need to ask you probably are one.

[tophcfa]

Yankee - A baseball player who plays for The Evil Empire

[dewilson58]

A candle.

[ThirdOfFive]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

Dunno. What is a _____ (fill in the blank).

"Yankee" is probably the ONLY semi-derogatory term here that WON'T get you gigged by the Thought Police. But there are hundreds, probably, if not more. Labels that one group slaps on another group. Some are in jest. Others, not so much. Back home as a young man I was a "Ranger"; born and raised on the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota. Rangers have an accent and a manner of speaking that is recognizable just about everywhere in Minnesota, or at least was, about 50 years or so ago. I was also a Bohunk (southern Slav heritage). Neither label was seen as particularly derogatory; people were able to laugh at themselves back then. A standing joke among Rangers was that those of us who went to college went on the "Ranger Five-Year Plan", so named because no Ranger was ever bright enough to get a Bachelor's Degree in four years. Another joke that got a lot of laughs was "how do you tell an Italian from a Bohunk? Simple. The Bohunks are the guys in the bottom of the pit with the shovels. The Italians are the guys in the suits standing at the top of the pit looking DOWN at the guys with the shovels." Like a lot of similar jokes it had just enough truth to make it funny. But nobody ever got bent out of shape over it, and similar jokes.

There's a lot to be said about not taking yourself too seriously.

[JohnN]

Merriam-Webster dictionary clarifies the topic:
Yan·​kee ˈyaŋ-kē

1a: a native or inhabitant of New England
b: a native or inhabitant of the northern U.S.

2: a native or inhabitant of the U.S.

Any questions??

[bandsdavis]

Not originally with admiration. Here's some interesting info from Wikipedia. The song was a pre-Revolutionary War song originally sung by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. It was written at Fort Crailo around 1755 by British Army surgeon Richard Shuckburgh while campaigning in Rensselaer, New York.[15] The British troops sang it to make fun of their stereotype of the American soldier as a Yankee simpleton who thought that he was stylish if he simply stuck a feather in his cap.[1] It was also popular among the Americans as a song of defiance,[1] and they added verses to it that mocked the British troops and hailed George Washington as the Commander of the Continental army. By 1781, "Yankee Doodle" had turned from being an insult to being a song of national pride.[16][17]

[Worldseries27]

yankee - a baseball player who plays for the evil empire
who has 27 world series championships that others do not

[Sandy and Ed]

Anyone born north of the mason dixon line. Oh wait...you need to know what sarcasam is (unrelatable to rebels) you know what good pizza is ( and it's not dominaos)
Actually a good observation. What a northerner might consider a good natured jab a southerner might consider an insult. “Bless your heart” has an entirely different meaning to a northerner. Depends on how and where you were raised. Just need to cut some slack when communicating with each other. Am I really hearing what I think I am hearing? Is he hearing what I am really saying?

[Sandy and Ed]

Diamond Carts Mobile Detailing/ Specialize in golf cart detailing for interior, exterior and wax/ We come to you/ feel free to call or text 352.617.9658.
Another classy advertisement sandwiched among the responses. Didn’t realize we could pop commercial advertisements here. If so, I am having a yard sale on Tuesday and also have a used dresser for sale. Anyone want me to sit their pets?? Etc

[RICH1]

Figuring this should run it’s course and poop out after Easter!

We will be getting same day Drs appts and no calling ahead for Reservations…

[RICH1]

Another classy advertisement sandwiched among the responses. Didn’t realize we could pop commercial advertisements here. If so, I am having a yard sale on Tuesday and also have a used dresser for sale. Anyone want me to sit their pets?? Etc
Or call him in the middle of the night …

[Judy n Ron]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.
There is the global term 'Yankee' used by other countries to refer to Americans in general. WWII soldiers were often referred to as Yanks by allies. In the domestic terminology, Yankees were generally those who were from the states that did not join the Confederacy in 1861, however those that lived North of the Mason-Dixon line were traditionally called Yankees. The Mason-Dixon Line, named for Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the men who surveyed boundaries between Maryland and Pennsylvania, was known as the dividing line between the North and the South. It's a pretty nebulous term today. Also, we have snow birds from Canada and other states not traditionally called Yankee states.

[defrey12]

A candle.

LOL…love your posts. Actually, the term’s earliest use dates to the Revolutionary War and refers ONLY to those of y’all from Connecticut. Possible slur on Dutch colonists? “Yankee Doodle” is still the state song of Connecticut. Now, if you’re in Europe, it’s anyone from the States. Really sort of relative. The Yanks are coming!

[defrey12]

Merriam-Webster dictionary clarifies the topic:
Yan·​kee ˈyaŋ-kē

1a: a native or inhabitant of New England
b: a native or inhabitant of the northern U.S.

2: a native or inhabitant of the U.S.

Any questions??

Oversimplified…look a little further. Actually, after living in and embracing the South for 20+ years, my wife defines a Yankee thusly:

ANYONE who moves here and wants to change and fix things that don’t need changing of fixing. If you don’t like it, go back. Nobody asked you move here.

[Notsocrates]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

A Yankee is someone who has won the World ..Series 27 times, many more than anyone else

[Morty S]

Anyone born north of The Mason Dixon line.

[airstreamingypsy]

Silly question, a Yankee is a member of the world's greatest baseball team.

[airstreamingypsy]

A Yankee is someone who has won the World ..Series 27 times, many more than anyone else

Why do they call it the World Series, when it's almost always played in the Bronx? <g>

[BostonRich]

How many of you realize that there is a town named Yankeetown northwest of here? BTW - you have to go through Crackertown to get there :)

All true.

[Steve]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

Ever hear of the "Mason-Dixon Line"? Having said that, I was born in Iowa but I have spent over half of my 74 years in Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and now Florida and consider myself a Southerner by choice, which I think is the best kind!

[Bellavita]

When my husband and I went to Normandy there was an old man in a resturant sitting next to us at the other table. He asked if we were Americans we said yes. He told us that he was a boy when and remembers the invasion in France when we liberated them. He3 thanked us.

We are all Yankees.
Proud of it

In Europe a “yankee” refers to any American. Mostly with admiration.

[Vermilion Villager]

The "Yankee's" won the Civil War. (unless that not allowed to be taught in Florida anymore):shrug::crap2::1rotfl:

[MrFlorida]

To me, a Yankee would be anybody from the north. An endearing term without malice or prejudice.

[Get real]

Why do they call it the World Series, when it's almost always played in the Bronx? <g>

Yankee reason:
Because there is NYC, and then there is the rest of the world.

[Get real]

In Miami the correct term is Jankee.

[Causey]

In New England, "Yankee" has an almost entirely different meaning than anything I see expressed on this thread. A true Yankee would be a frugal individual that wastes nothing, and wants for nothing. An extremely capable individual, that is dependent on no one but himself and is all but self sufficient. There are very few "Yankee's" left anywhere, and if you know one, there is no more loyal friend that you could find.

[Quent]

If you need to ask you probably are one.

Spot on

[MandoMan]

There is the global term 'Yankee' used by other countries to refer to Americans in general. WWII soldiers were often referred to as Yanks by allies. In the domestic terminology, Yankees were generally those who were from the states that did not join the Confederacy in 1861, however those that lived North of the Mason-Dixon line were traditionally called Yankees. The Mason-Dixon Line, named for Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the men who surveyed boundaries between Maryland and Pennsylvania, was known as the dividing line between the North and the South. It's a pretty nebulous term today. Also, we have snow birds from Canada and other states not traditionally called Yankee states.

I think when native Floridians refer to “up-northers” or “Yankees,” they sometimes mean anyone north of the Florida line. Terra incognita to those who use that term. But I have friends here who are real Yankees and refuse to say the letter R in words, except for the one in the word “idear.” I think more commonly, though, they mean people from states that were not confederate states during the Civil War and don’t realize that for some people, the war continues.
In the immortal words of Randy Newman:
https://youtu.be/hTLHxpUQ_B8

[Regorp]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

I lived in Connecticut for 65 years and along with New York we were considered Yankees. Took offence to that as I hate The Yankees, prefer my LA teams, the Dodgers and Angels. So a "Yankee" is someone from the upper northeast, but not north of Connecticut (Red Sox country).

[Carterm101]

It all depends on where you and/or your family were born. If you were born nonetheless of the Mason/Dixon line you are a yankee.

[DonnaNi4os]

I’m a NJ transplant. Not a baseball fan but I prefer the Mets 🤣

[PJackpot]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is "a nickname for a native or inhabitant of New England, or, more widely, of the northern States generally".

[ElDiabloJoe]

I was born in California, and lived my entire professional life in California. However, my formative high school years were in a small farm town in a rural (then) county south of the Mason-Dixon Line. That line, for those not sure, was laid out by Misters Mason and Dixon. It is essentially the border between the states of Maryland (south of the line) and Pennsylvania (north of the line). Gettysburg is about 3 or 5 miles north of the line. I had heard that those born and raised outside the south were "yankees" regardless of where, including Texas and California.

However, working in a factory in rural Tennessee not long ago, the local born-and-bred hillbillies (literally, they live in Tellico Plains in the Smokies - the actual birthplace of hillbillies), it was made clear that Californians were not considered yankees by these folks. Mostly they considered New Englanders and mid-westerners (especially a lot of dislike for Chicago and Michigan folks).

I think the other poster nailed it, people who move to the south but insist on changing the culture or continuing with their thought/belief/opinions that do not align with those commonly held by those born and raised in the south.

The definition of South depends on where your frame work is. If you're in Virginia, you think it is there. If you are in Tennessee, they are not sure they consider Kentuckians southerners, muchless Virginians or Marylanders.

For what it is worth, Maryland was a "slave" state during the war of northern aggression, despite being below the Mason-Dixon, however they never seceded.

[gbs317]

Forgetaboutit… Florida is the sixth borough of NY anyway.

[srswans]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

Yankees are a Puritan culture in the northeast US from New England west thru Minnesota. Much different culture from FL which is the Deep South.

See Colin Woodard’s book American Nations

[PurePeach]

The "Yankee's" won the Civil War. (unless that not allowed to be taught in Florida anymore):shrug::crap2::1rotfl:

History can still be taught in Florida, thanks to DeSantis. It’s the rest of the “woke” US that can’t teach it. :bigbow:

[cjrjck]

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once wrote of “hard-core” pornography: “I know it when I see it.”

What is a Yankee? You'll know one when you see one.

[ThirdOfFive]

Part of my work life was in international Falls, MN, on the Minnesota-Ontario border. There was a fair amount of intermingling with Canadians. It was not unusual, in a conversation, to hear a reference to “You Yanks”. Nothing malicious or insulting about it.

[IndianaJones]

As a lifelong Floridian, I was taught that “Yankees” meant anyone north of Virginia for the northeast & anyone north of Kentucky for the Midwest. I was also taught Snowbirds were an essential part of our economy & should be valued & treated with respect.
Oh, & Granny always said, “Every old person drives like they’re the only one on the road, they can’t see & can’t hear, so just smile & stay out of their way!” Good advice, I think.

[Worldseries27]

in new england, "yankee" has an almost entirely different meaning than anything i see expressed on this thread. A true yankee would be a frugal individual that wastes nothing, and wants for nothing. An extremely capable individual, that is dependent on no one but himself and is all but self sufficient. There are very few "yankee's" left anywhere, and if you know one, there is no more loyal friend that you could find.
a yankee is someone who would send the alligator the way of his ancestors

[npwalters]

I have a New Yorker friend that has been transplanted for years in Virginia. I asked him what's the difference between a "Yankee" and a "Damn Yankee". He told me a Yankee goes home. He does, however, feel very welcome among his Virginia friends

I was 16 years old before I realized damn yankee is 2 words

[New Englander]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

I'm a Yankee from Boston.

[mikeycereal]

:duck:

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

My understanding is that the origin of the word is New England native Americans having difficulty pronouncing the word “English “. They called the first settlers here in Massachusetts Yankees.

[Garywt]

I always figured it was anyone who rooted for that terrible baseball team from NY.

[Black Beauty]

Fargo, ND has got to be

[dhayward@att.net]

In seeing the term 'Yankee' used on this forum I'm wondering what the definition of a Yankee would be. Is there a definitive line that defines where the Yankees are? If you are born in a Yankee location are you a Yankee for life? How many months per year do you have to live in a Yankee location to be considered a Yankee? Is there any connection of Yankees to SnowBirds?
Thanks for your help.

It's 2023, Yankees are a baseball team and that is all! Yes, they are snowbirds, the spring train in Tampa.

[Whooter]

A definition I remember from when i was a kid was- anyone who lives in the US, to people who do not. Anyone living north of the Mason-Dixon line to an American. To someone above the line, it's a New englander. To a New Englander, it's someone from VT. To a Vermonter, it's anyone who eats apple pie for breakfast.

[airstreamingypsy]

History can still be taught in Florida, thanks to DeSantis. It’s the rest of the “woke” US that can’t teach it. :bigbow:

People like you, are my phobia.... referring to the other thread.

[Ndomines]

The Mason Dixon line is between Pa. and Maryland. Said to be the dividing line between the Yankee Northern States and the Southern States.
Folks from either side are generally said to identified by their regional accent and level of social skill.

[ElDiabloJoe]

The Mason Dixon line is between Pa. and Maryland. Said to be the dividing line between the Yankee Northern States and the Southern States.
Folks from either side are generally said to identified by their regional accent and level of social skill.

While thoroughly discussed and already stated (loc of Mason-Dixon Line) in earlier posts, I will note that Maryland and Virginia - while technically below the Mason-Dixon Line, are generally regarded as Mid-Atlantic states. They make up two-thirds of the DelMarVa peninsula.

[Janhug123]

Someone from New England is often referred to as a Yankee

[ldj1938]

Anyone north of Maryland!

[New Englander]

A Yankee is from New England and the ONLY states that are part of New England are:::::
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
People from these states are true Yankees. People from other states are not.

[Worldseries27]

a yankee is from new england and the only states that are part of new england are:::::
Maine, new hampshire, vermont, massachusetts, rhode island, and connecticut.
People from these states are true yankees. People from other states are not.
think other states civil war veterans would have disagreed with you since they paid with their blood, limbs and lives

[TRAYSEE]

My parents moved from Ohio to Virginia in 1985. They had a underground house built there and they had a hard time finding anyone who construct it. They said they dont work for Yankees.