February 2, 2017 – Proud Yankee and proud Patriot

          Surprisingly, last night a gentleman picked up on my Yankee accent last night even though we have now lived in the South for 31 years.  However, he missed the mark and thought I was from New York and I politely corrected him that New Yorkers are not Yankees.  He will probably never forget us as rarely is anyone corrected on the proper use of the term Yankee.  But, my personal heritage jumped in the way of good manners.  [My Mom wasn’t there to chastise me with my slight lack of diplomacy, so I don’t feel I stepped over the line.]

          As with all words – the meaning changes over time.  When I was schooled in New England, which consists of six states, Connecticut, Main, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, a Yankee is a native of those six states.

          Later, when the Civil War broke out, the term Yankee was enlarged to include the Union soldiers and Northerners generally.  And, then, in World War I the English began calling American soldiers, both Southerners and Northerners “Yankee”.

          That is how I absorb the etymology of the origin of the word Yankee.

         

          Then consider the New York Yankee’s baseball team to confuse everyone who isn’t aware of the “native of the New England States definition” and simply lumps anyone who likes that baseball team as a Yankee.

          So, my hackles come up when someone calls me a Yankee and then tells me I am from New York and I am not from New York.  I guess I have a thin veneer when it comes to the term and some may say I am splitting hairs – but, it is in my proud heritage.  I am a real “Yankee” and I honestly don’t mind being called a “Damn Yankee” as that term fits us as well which is “a Yankee that moves to the South to live.”   Yes, we are taking full advantage of the fine Southern winters here in North Carolina as well as the long gardening season.

There is just a slippery slope on the term Yankee.   Patriot is a broad term, but I go with the “No taxation without representation” definition which predicated the Boston Tea Party and is in keeping with Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels and American Whigs.  The phrases, “Don’t shot until you see the whites of their eyes” and “One if by land, two if by sea” pop into my head to cement the location of the term in my understanding of history and my solidarity with the term.

          We are also Patriots – both in the essence of the above definition and in the modern connotation of The New England Patriots football team which we have been rooting for our entire lifetime.  We may not live in New England, but we religiously pull for our team no matter where we live.

Note to self: Pull out Patriot team t-shirts out and

get them ready for the Super Bowl this weekend!

GO PATRIOTS!

         

         

http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/yankee