Poll of the Day > Why do southerners still call Americans from elsewhere "Yankees"?

(+) Yeah! (+)

It is kind of cringe. "Yankees" have mostly forgot the civil war happened and have regional identities. The south is still clinging like an ex boyfriend calling his ex by her pet name... But her ex is like already engaged to somebody else and moved on.

Because they miss the Civil War

Do people still say carpetbagger? Thats a pretty fun word.

papercup posted...

Do people still say carpetbagger? Thats a pretty fun word.

Yes. All the time.

To be fair we would probably still call southerners a name if similarly catchy and we wanted to dump on them. They just don't have one. "Reb"?

becausethe south/right has a notoriously garbage sense of self-awareness and clings to the most mundane, stupid, or out-dated beliefs, jokes, or nicknames as much as they can for as long as they can.

see also: let's go brandon, which will probably stick around for at least 30 years after biden is dies.

wpot posted...

To be fair we would probably still call southerners a name if similarly catchy and we wanted to dump on them. They just don't have one. "Reb"?

hicks

also this explains a lot. there's been cultural revisionism regarding the Confederacy since the Confederacy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy

sadly politicians and businessmen encouraged southerners to self-victimize, put up a bunch of massive participation trophies (statues) and act like their cause was noble, when it wasn't, and they lost.

I thought Yankees is pretty much exclusively used for the baseball team

Muscles posted...

I thought Yankees is pretty much exclusively used for the baseball team

In the north, yes, but the original meaning (northeasterners, basically) still gets used down south.

wpot posted...

In the north, yes, but the original meaning (northeasterners, basically) still gets used down south.

It can even apply to states that joined after the Civil War for some reason.

Is it also not an international thing? Along the lines of people referring to the Brits as English or the Dutch as Hollanders?

All Americans are Yanks

I thought it was just other countries that called Americans Yankees

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Is it also not an international thing? Along the lines of people referring to the Brits as English or the Dutch as Hollanders?

Southerners mean it in a different way.

Jen0125 posted...

Because they miss the Civil War

You mean the War of Northern Aggression?

jsb0714 posted...

You mean the War of Northern Aggression?

The Lombards invading Rome?

Do they?

wpot posted...

To be fair we would probably still call southerners a name if similarly catchy and we wanted to dump on them. They just don't have one. "Reb"?

You mean like, Hick, Local yokel, and Hillbilly?

Lil_Bit83 posted...

Do they?

Yes. All the time. Lol

Lil_Bit83 posted...

You mean like, Hick, Local yokel, and Hillbilly?

Hillbillies are relatively rare in the south. Appalachia isn't as populated, so this is a term that people not from the south use.

I lived in Georgia and Florida (although not north enough in Florida to be the US South), as well as vacationing across the SE US, and I can't recall once hearing somebody use Yankee. This feels like it's not a thing.

And, as a general rule, it's northerners who spend more time mocking the south, which makes turning around and pretending that the north is the wronged party all the more hilarious.

BigOlePappy posted...

It is kind of cringe. "Yankees" have mostly forgot the civil war happened and have regional identities. The south is still clinging like an ex boyfriend calling his ex by her pet name... But her ex is like already engaged to somebody else and moved on.

Not for nothing, but it's pretty fucking cringe that's your argument.

Pretty much only really old people say it unironically

wpot posted...

To be fair we would probably still call southerners a name if similarly catchy and we wanted to dump on them.

To be fair, we don't really need one. We just got most of our aggression out by stomping them into the mud for decades, devastating their economies and educational systems so they'd never be capable of ever rebelling again.

Every time someone in the North complains about how backward the South is, just remember it's almost entirely the North's fault they're like that.

Count_Drachma posted...

I lived in Georgia and Florida (although not north enough in Florida to be the US South), as well as vacationing across the SE US, and I can't recall once hearing somebody use Yankee. This feels like it's not a thing.

And, as a general rule, it's northerners who spend more time mocking the south, which makes turning around and pretending that the north is the wronged party all the more hilarious.

Not for nothing, but it's pretty fucking cringe that's your argument.

Have you been to an SEC school? A tailgate? After church lunch? Military base? People say it all the time in the south. Gulfport, Lake Charles, Mobile, where there is a lot of old money white people? Are you social? Do you interact with southerners less than others by chance?

My argument wasnt that it was cringe. It is that the behavior of southerners can be cringe in various contexts and worldviews.

It doesn't look like you had an argument. It looks like you got triggered and resorted to the safety of an ad hominem.

What military base do you hear it on? I dont think I ever really hear it on the bases Ive been to I havent heard it at after church lunches or tailgates, either

Because America didn't completely purge the southern (then Democrat) party and culturally crush the south like they should have.

Instead of addressing their problems, they wanted look unify the country. Sounds pretty familiar, right? The confederacy is still plaguing us to this day.

LinkPizza posted...

What military base do you hear it on? I dont think I ever really hear it on the bases Ive been to I havent heard it at after church lunches or tailgates, either

I won't divulge personal info to that level, but it is there. Especially the old row/old money types that are in/went to frats or sororities.

Just say Fort Polk for fucks sake.

BigOlePappy posted...

I won't divulge personal info to that level, but it is there. Especially the old row/old money types that are in/went to frats or sororities.

Maybe. But as someone whos been working (and for a short time, living) on an Air Force base in Texas for nearly a decade and a half, I dont really hear it, if I hear it at all So, its kind of hard to believe But maybe its only certain bases

Count_Drachma posted...

although not north enough in Florida to be the US South

I find this way funnier than I probably should. Obviously "the south" describes a region that's based more on culture and history than on actual geography, but it's still really entertaining to see it actually said as "I wasn't north enough to be south."

LinkPizza posted...

Maybe. But as someone whos been working (and for a short time, living) on an Air Force base in Texas for nearly a decade and a half, I dont really hear it, if I hear it at all So, its kind of hard to believe But maybe its only certain bases

Texas isn't really part of the deep south. It is, as many Texans will gladly tell you, distinct. Also, Are you a linguist by chance?

adjl posted...

I find this way funnier than I probably should. Obviously "the south" describes a region that's based more on culture and history than on actual geography, but it's still really entertaining to see it actually said as "I wasn't north enough to be south."

Yeah, southerners consider south of Jacksonville to be the land of carpet bag transplants, tourists, gays, and Tony Montanas.

I'm not espousing that idea, but that's the perception.

BigOlePappy posted...

Texas isn't really part of the deep south. It is, as many Texans will gladly tell you, distinct. Also, Are you a linguist by chance?

Nope. My job is more focused around aircraft maintenance

Jen0125 posted...

Because they miss the Civil War

Lol

BigOlePappy posted...

It is kind of cringe. "Yankees" have mostly forgot the civil war happened and have regional identities. The south is still clinging like an ex boyfriend calling his ex by her pet name... But her ex is like already engaged to somebody else and moved on.

the south is both jealous and in awe of the superior prowess of the north.

Metalsonic66 posted...

All Americans are Yanks

Yep. This is exactly what I'd call them.

LinkPizza posted...

Nope. My job is more focused around aircraft maintenance

C-17s?

Count_Drachma posted...

I lived in Georgia and Florida (although not north enough in Florida to be the US South), as well as vacationing across the SE US, and I can't recall once hearing somebody use Yankee. This feels like it's not a thing.

to be fair, you wouldn't call someone to their face a yankee, thats just an insult

Panhandle resident here. The only people I have heard use that term are northerners who moved down here, like my dad. Everyone just calls them northerners.

CaptainObvius posted...

Panhandle resident here. The only people I have heard use that term are northerners who moved down here, like my dad. Everyone just calls them northerners.

Same. I think it might have been said more often in my great grandpa's day and before but it is more used in other countries to describe Americans in a joking way.

agesboy posted...

to be fair, you wouldn't call someone to their face a yankee, thats just an insult

It is?

To the rest of the world we are all Yankees. That's what I find amusing about it.

I only use it in a joking manner when I'm busting the chops of someone i know from the north. Usually over something stupid like food preferences.