Canadians have the 1st of July and Yankees have July 4th. These are days set aside to remember the countries coming into existence as nations. Where did the term Yankee come from to describe an inhabitant of the United States of America?
Yankee began as an insult. British General James Wolfe used the term in the mid-1700s to express his low opinion of the New England troops assigned to him. From around the same time there is a report of British troops using Yankee as a term of abuse for the citizens of Boston.
Although the origins of Yankee are unclear the word has a plausible derivation from the Dutch word Janneke, a diminutive form of Jan, equivalent to John in English. Thus, a Yankee indicated a common, pintsize oaf, of little consequence or use.
In 1755, British army surgeon Richard Shuckburgh used the derogatory term Yankee in the song Yankee Doddle to mock the soldiers of the American Colonies.
“Yankee Doodle went to town, a-riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his cap, and called it macaroni.” The song was sung by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonials with whom they served in the French and Indian War (1754-1763).
The term “macaroni” comes from an English social club. In the 1700s a club was started in London for stylish world travellers. They called it the Macaroni Club after the Italian pasta that was then a new and exotic delicacy sweeping Europe. The underlying inference was that these sophisticated gentlemen, who had developed a taste for the tube-shaped pasta on their international voyages, were of superior style, elegance, and enlightenment. Members of the club were called macaronis, a precursor to a dandy, a man who gives exaggerated attention to personal appearance. Thus, a Yankee was someone who wrongly thought that sticking a feather in his cap made him stylish and socially accepted.
But the colonials turned Yankee into a positive expression. In 1775, after the battles of Lexington and Concord showed that Americans could stand up to British regulars, Yankee was proudly adopted by the colonials as a positive self-descriptor.
Yankee Doddle became popular among the Americans as a song of defiance. They added verses to it that mocked the British troops and hailed George Washington as the Commander of the Continental army. By 1781, Yankee Doodle had turned from being an insult to being a song of national pride.
Yankee Doodle went to town a-riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni.
(Chorus) Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle Dandy,
Mind the music and the step and with the girls be handy.
Father and I went down to camp along with Captain Gooding,
There were all the men and boys as thick as hasty pudding. (Chorus)
And there was Captain Washington upon a strapping stallion,
Giving orders to his men I guess there were a million. (Chorus)
Yankee Doodle is a tune that comes in mighty handy,
The enemy all runs away at Yankee Doodle Dandy. (Chorus)
In 1952 the NATO alphabet was developed to assign a communication code word for each letter of the English alphabet. This enabled the accurate exchange of radio messages. Yankee was the word chosen for “y.” It is used to this day by air traffic controllers, police and emergency services, shipping communications, etc.
The meaning of words can be turned from the original negative to a positive meaning, or sadly vice versa. So don’t despair of what some may call you today. It may be imbued with a new connotation someday.
Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and writes this weekly Word Wisdom column for Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com. He has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com . Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
