Is the term Yankee supposed to apply only to someone from New York?

bbsmith

I know in the Civil War the two sides were known as the rebels(southerners) and the Yankees(northerners). Aug 06 10, 3:10 PM

star_gazer

The term Yankee (sometimes shortened to "Yank"), has a few related meanings, usually referring to someone either of general United States origin or, more specifically within the U.S., to people originating in New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region. The meaning of "Yankee" has varied over time. Originally in the 18th century it referred to residents of New England of colonial English descent, which was later used by Mark Twain in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889). As early as the 1770s, the British used the term for any person from the U.S. In the 19th century, southern U.S. people used the term to refer to those from the northern U.S. who were not recent immigrants from Europe; thus a visitor to Richmond, Virginia, in 1818 commented, "The enterprising people are mostly strangers; Scotch, Irish, and especially New England men, or Yankees, as they are called." Outside the country, "Yankee" or "Yank" is a slang term for anyone from the United States. It is especially popular with the British. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee The popular New York MLB team is named the Yankees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Yankees Aug 06 10, 3:45 PM

queproblema

Also see #82072. http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question82072.html Aug 06 10, 10:51 PM