From Spain here, when we want to speak about USA people we use the term “yankee” or “gringo” rather than “american” cause our americans arent from USA, that terms are correct or mean other things?

  • Akasazh@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    10 hours ago

    As a Dutchie, I’ve heard it being an contraction of the names Jan and Kees, both are common names in Dutch

    • Zagorath@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      9 hours ago

      Yeah, that was another one of the theories. Linguists seem pretty sure it has something to do with Dutch, but are in disagreement over exactly how it came to be. (The “Janneke” example I gave above being, according to what I read, a diminutive form of Jan.)