Yankee

[Jonathan Lighter]

Three tidbits concerning the mysterious etymology of "Yankee," which I encourage others to follow up on :

1. Evidently there was a pirate called "Captain Yankey" who sialed the seas in the late 17th C.

2. Some years ago I met a young fellow on campus named "Dennis Yankee."  Naturally, he had not the slightest idea of where the name came from.

3. The Algonquian conversations subtitled in the 1993 film of _The Last of the Mohicans_ employ the word / 'yEngiz / (spelled "Yengees" elsewhere) to refer to the English.  Whatever the case in the 18th C.,  the modern-day film consultant on Algonquian evidently felt this word was genuine and appropriate.  (I believe that doubt has been expressed as to whether "Yengees" was a real word.)

JL


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