What should residents of the USA be called?

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Yeah, a person from the Netherlands is "Dutch", but he isn't "a Dutch". What do you call the person?

 

Dutchman.

I'm using "Yankee" when I can't use "American". Really, not much alternatives.

 

Well, actually, we refer to ourselves as 'Netherlanders' in our own tongue. I think 'Dutch' comes from an old word meaning 'the people', but I'm hardly an expert on the subject.

And I actually prefer 'a Dutchie' over 'a Dutchman'.

 

USAnese?

 

I just call them a "Yank" or "Yanks". No negative connotation here, we called them that during World War II so I can't see how it can possibly be inflamatory, unless they believe that their men in World War II were bad people...

 

I like Tassadar's but I would shorten in to USAn that were there is no confusion to our Latin American, Canadian or Brazilian brethren.

If others want to call me a Yank fine. However it is psychologically impossible for me to use the term.

 

The word Yankee comes from the Civil War AFAIK, which was yankees (north) vs. confederates (south). As such, I could understand if some from the south do not wish to be called by such a name.

 

The term Yankee dates back to our revolution and was originally used by the British as an insult in, I think, Vermont. It was adopted as a positive term.

Fel is correct in its usage during our Civil War. I was told by my grandmother that the term 'damnyank' spoken as one word was acceptable usage even by Southern ladies.

 

But that begs a question, during the Second World War British and Commonwealth troops would call the USA soldiers Yanks to their faces as a method of identification, not an insult, and the American forces took no offence as far as I know.

 

It comes from an old germanic term for "people" that was vulgar-latinized into offical "theodisca lingua" from where it became Deutsch/Duits/Dytsch/Teutsch/Tedesco and .... Dutch.

"Thedodisca lingua" means language of the common people that do not speak Welsch and dewll in central Europe. Welsch being the generic term for celts, who do not speak "Thedosica lingua".

Language problems really only came up 1871 with the birth of "Greater Alemannia", land of many names. And it's birth-problem -> Swallowing everyone with a slight language ressemblence.

Simple.

 

The term Yankee absolutely dates to the Revolutionary period. The British called the colonial forces Yankees, and it was derogatory. To call someone a Yankee meant that they were kind of like a country bumpkin, hick, redneck - take your pick really. It also usually meant that they were not of noble birth and low class.

I'm sure every American knows the first few lines of "Yankee Doodle" - the Revolutionary War song:

Yankee Doodle went to town
Riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his cap
and called it Macaroni

To understand what was meant, you'll need a little background history. At the time, there was a very exclusive club in England called the Macaroni club. It was sort of a who's who of England at the time, made up of all upper class individuals. It was very fashionable at the time for men to wear feathered caps as a sign of their wealth.

So the song is basically says this country hick comes riding in to town on a pony (because he was too poor to afford a horse), and just because he happened to find a feather and attach it to his hat, suddenly he thinks he's upper class.

Despite the negative connotations to the term originally, most people in the US would not consider the term negative today.

 

I know a different version of the origin of Yankees. It goes all the way back to when the British and Dutch were the most represented groups of Euros on the east coast, and NY in particular. It was supposedly some kind of cursename for the Dutch and here's how it saw it's first daylight... A lot of the Dutch males go by the name of Jan (even today) and they ate (and still do) quite a lot of cheese. Put Jan and Cheese together, and it spells Jancheese, which later evolved into Yankees.

Got that bit of info from the Discovery channel, so excuse me for not adding a link to a source.

 

Interesting, Pac Man.

@Abomination, the term Yankee or Yank is not considered negative except to a white southerner and I have no idea how much that still holds true.

After WW II I do remember jokes being told about southerners taken prisoner, called Yanks and going berserk and wiping out the prison camp. Jokes, mind you.

It doesn't bother me if someone from another country calls me a Yankee or a Yank but what should we call ourselves?

As Liriodelagua pointed out the term American refers to anyone born in North, South or Central America. The fact that no other country has appropriated the term simply means that they are aware of that fact.

 

Unless you are a Red Sox fan

 

I think you could still get shot calling someone from a southern state a Yankee (or least earn a serious beating).

Them southern boys ain't too keen on the term Yank. Down there they're Rebs and wear the confederate flag on their hats and paste it on their windshields to prove it.

 

Frank Lloyd Wright suggested the word 'Usonian' (along with other ideas as to how US culture and cities should organize themselves) and designed a set of relatively low-cost houses he called Usonian Houses. But the term didn't catch on because it was sh!te...

'American' seems to be the global consensus (when Bowie sings "I'm afraid of Americans" he's not refering to Guatamala), but I suppose 'Yanqui,' 'Seppo,' etc will do at a pinch...

 

I guess the rest of the world would gladly call people from the United States of America whatever they want us to call them if only they could all agree on what they want to be called...

 

wouldnt the term unitedstatesman or statesperson or something along the lines of "states" be appropreate since thats technically what the US is called its the united states

 

This thread reminds me of a conversation at Uni.
A lass didn't want to be labelled by her nationality, so insisted on being called a "World Citizen". (Anyone want a bucket?)

We could call you "doodle dandy's" if you prefer...