Today Dad asked me where the name "Yankees" came from. A man from England asked him about it. Here's what I replied with;
From what I've heard, back in the late 1700s, and early 1800s, colonial Americans liked to pick on the Dutch. If food was bad, it was called Dutch food. If a house was bad, it was called a Dutch house. If a man was known to have bad habits or character, he was called "John Keys" - apparently a common Dutch name.
I guess the Dutch decided that enough is enough. They started calling the other colonial Americans the name the colonials had tried to pin on the Dutch; "John Keys." All the early Americans were soon being called "John Keys."
...However, Dutch pronunciation being what it is, we all became "Yan-kees."
Now, is that story correct? What have y'all heard?
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Random facts and tidbits of information from a student who is fascinated by seeing God's hand in history
How to Use This Blog
The posts on this blog need not be read in order. As the blog description says, they are really just a collection of random things I hear or read about concerning history. The list of labels on the left side of the screen shows the topics I have discussed so far. Feel free to browse them if you're looking for something particular, or just read straight through the posts in the order I've written them. I update often, so be sure to visit me again soon!
Edited to Add: Okay, so maybe I don't update as often as I'd like. Visit my other blog if you want frequent updates, and this one if you want cool random history stuff!
Edited to Add: Okay, so maybe I don't update as often as I'd like. Visit my other blog if you want frequent updates, and this one if you want cool random history stuff!
Labels
- Benjamin Franklin (1)
- Bible and Culture (1)
- Columbus (1)
- Exploration (1)
- Inventions (1)
- Issac Newton (1)
- John Adams (1)
- questions (1)
- Thoughts (1)
- Trivia (2)
- Where did that word come from? (1)
- women (1)
About Me
- Amber
- I am the second oldest of six children. I am interested in: serving the Lord Jesus Christ, sewing, cooking, children, gardening, history, writing, reading, and people!
2 comments:
Thats quite intresting! I never relized how the name Yankee came about. :)
I've never heard that story, but I guess even if it's true, it's not applicable in that way today! (Thank goodness, because my Mom's from NY, and we have a lot of family members up North, so, naturally we think "Yankees" are great! :)) That also explains why the Indians used to call all Europeans (not just Northerners) Yankees.
Post a Comment