Erinn Goes Abroad

“Yank”: endearing or insulting?

Following the kiwi term trend from below, I thought I would shed some light on a term I’ve only recently become acquainted with: “yank”.

I will say I heard it once before arriving here. It was during a story my parents tell when they reminisce around trips to Ireland. They’ve flown over to track our ancestry (and just have fabulous vacations). The first time they turned up on Cousin Paddy’s door step, they were greeted with “The Yanks are here!”

My parents took nothing but amusement from that occasion. But since I’ve been in New Zealand I’ve heard my fellow countrymen called Yanks several times and I’m in a bit of a dilemma as to how I feel about the word.

I realize this may seem oversensitive. Feeling my own vexation surging when I heard it on the bus earlier today “If the Yanks win against Russia tonight… [read: USA v. Russia rugby match tonight]”, I had to stop and ask myself what was the source of discomfort.

Well… it sounds mean-spirited! But you see words don’t inherently sound mean-spirited. They are only mean-spirited through connotation. Thus, I decided to look up the word. Urban Dictionary offers several definitions (many of them ridiculous) but the one that seemed least biased was:

Yank: “A word used by Brits, Aussies and various others [Kiwis] to refer to Americans. [The] Connotation can range from affectionate to pejorative…”

You see elusiveness is the very nature of the connotation! If someone who likes you says it, it can be funny… context depending. But when a stranger says it in general conversation, it doesn’t seem like it’s meant to be interpreted as, “My good buddies, the Americans!”

Upon further introspection, I decided the main reason (in my humble opinion) I find it cantankerous is because it’s not a word I’ve chosen to describe myself. As I said earlier, the word is not used by Americans to describe Americans.* If I overheard someone say in general conversation:

 “If the patriots win against Russia tonight…” 

 “If Uncle Sam wins against Russia tonight…”

 “If Stars and Stripes win against Russia tonight…”

then I wouldn’t bat an eye. These are identities that we typically embrace as US Americans. I’m not sure if I can fully appreciate the term “yank”. 

*One may argue that Southern Americans sometimes call Northern Americans “Yankees”. That’s a deviation of the word that’s outside of the scope of this argument.