Quote Originally Posted by ChubRock View Post
I prefer Yank to "Jerk" another term that could be used for pulling sharply on a piece of rope. The old song "Over There" with the line "The Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming" never bothered me. Now those from the South who also fought and lost lives in WWII might take offense.

I think in general most of us prefer American or British Ex-Patriots :-)
My grandfather, a native of Iowa, was known to correct people who referred to him a "Yankee" by saying, "No, I'm a Midwesterner -- Yankees live in New England." He would also refer to himself as a "Hawkeye", which of course is Iowa's nickname.

I personally prefer the term "Mudsill", a once perjorative term used by a Senator from South Carolina before the War to deride the "greasy mechanics and farmers" of the North. Those same farmers and mechanics made the term their own when they enlisted in 1861, and Northern soldiers from "The West" were called Mudsills.

Regards,

Todd