# epithets for "American"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741 "2010-08-09T18:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/61 "2010-08-11T11:59:59Z")
> [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > I have worked for a US corporation for many years. I previously worked for an Australian corporation for many years. I have travelled all over the world in my six decades of life. > > I guess have probably met several thousand USAians and Australians, and got to know hundreds of them personally at work and socially. > > Of course, every country has a huge range of personality types. However, it is definitely my experience that persons from those two countries have a different sense of humour from the European norm. It’s a perfectly valid sense of humour, just based on different cultural expectations. It’s broader humour, and often less subtle. > > At meetings and social gatherings, they seem to miss witty comments, which seem obviously humourous to Europeans. This can lead to serious misunderstanding and unhappiness, when wit is taken as serious comment. Sometimes you can be divided by the same language. > > Your sarcasm seems misplaced. ☹ Your ancedotal evidence reflects only, to quote, your own “limited experience” and potential confirmation bias. Further, it’s simply nonsense to contend that there is a “European norm” in humour. Do you actually believe there is a sense of humour common to, say, Brits, Germans, Greeks, Estonians, Czechs and the Portugese? A subtle, witty grasp of humour somehow shared by these disparite cultures - despite language and cultural barriers! - that simply escapes Americans and Australians? If we’re playing anecdotes, consider this: I spent over 20 years in Australia, a year in the US and six years in the UK - including my current stint reading at Cambridge with colleagues from 47 nations. The Australians and Americans I have dealt with do not in general lack that magical European ability to detect “understated wit”. ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/62 "2010-08-11T12:17:32Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > If we’re playing anecdotes, consider this: I spent over 20 years in Australia, a year in the US and six years in the UK - including my current stint reading at Cambridge with colleagues from 47 nations. The Australians and Americans I have dealt with do not in general lack that magical European ability to detect “understated wit”. I don’t think there’s any doubt that well educated Americans understand irony as well as anyone. However, I share MOL’s experience that some Americans just don’t get it. More to the point, when you explain some instance of it to them they either look completely blank or uncertain as to whether or not they’ve just been insulted. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/63 "2010-08-11T12:59:26Z")
> [@qpw3141](#): > > I don’t think there’s any doubt that well educated Americans understand irony as well as anyone… I think that Brits and Aussies have a more steely attitude in their humour though… ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/64 "2010-08-11T13:26:16Z")
The first thing that came to mind was “yankee”, or more commonly “yank”, but I see that more as shorthand that can also double as an epithet depending on the delivery and the words surrounding it, just like “pom” for British people. I’m in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/65 "2010-08-11T19:42:53Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > > [@qpw3141](#): > > > > I don’t think there’s any doubt that well educated Americans understand irony as well as anyone… > > I think that Brits and Aussies have a more steely attitude in their humour though… Well, what do the Brits call people from Belgian? That seems rather difficult. ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/66 "2010-08-11T19:56:57Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Well, what do the Brits call people from Belgian? That seems rather difficult. Belgians. We don’t consider it mandatory to have a pet name for the population of every country. Of course we have our fair share of xenophobic idiots who just use \ \ gits. Or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/67 "2010-08-11T20:06:44Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > > [@An\_Gadai](#): > > > > A German poster might be able to verify but I believe the term “Ami” is something just pejoratively in Germany for American. “Go Home Ami” was a common slogan at one time I think. > > Yes, _Ami_ is a colloquial term for _Amerikaner_ that can serve as a pejorative epithet - but depending on context it can be neutral-colloquial or even affectionate. I’ve read someplace that an old Germanism for an American was _Erdnussbutterfresser_ = peanut butter eater. Apparently Germans once considered it odd to eat peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/68 "2010-08-12T01:22:42Z")
> [@qpw3141](#): > > > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > > > Well, what do the Brits call people from Belgian? That seems rather difficult. > > Belgians. > > We don’t consider it mandatory to have a pet name for the population of every country. > > Of course we have our fair share of xenophobic idiots who just use \ \ gits. Or something similar. I think Leo Bloom was referencing [Monty Python](http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode37.htm) there. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/69 "2010-08-12T02:42:44Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I’ve been called a Yankee a few times and have to stop myself from saying; “no, I’m from the south.” Would have just confused the situation. I’ve hesitated to refer to Americans as “Yanks” before for that very reason… and then inadvertently caused more potential offence by using “USer” as a short / lazy typing term. (I often use “NZer” so “USer” was just a logical extension – didn’t know that some people used it pejoratively). :smack: ---
**Author:** ![be\_bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@be\_bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/be_bright)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/70 "2010-08-12T02:53:20Z")
> [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > USAians I first read this “USAsians”. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/71 "2010-08-12T03:40:22Z")
> [@lexi](#): > > > [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > > > Online, but not offline, I have often seen “A merkin” used to annoy people from the USA. Of course, you have to know what a merkin is. > > My lefty friends here in Canada call them Merkins all the time. Mine too, in the UK, but it’s not intended to offend. It’s more an approximation of the way some US accents pronounce ‘American,’ which happens to sound like a mildly humourous word. I do occasionally hear septic and seppo, generally not intended in an offensive way even though the origin is. Paddy is definitely a pejorative term, though - an Irish website using it is just reclamation. The term itself isn’t on a par with n\*gger, and you might hear some non-Irish people using it to their Irish friends, but those are the kind of friendships where you might equally hear them greet each other with ‘how’s it going, you old cunt?’ Do the same to a complete stranger and it’s a different story. IME, people who work on construction sites and in similar trades tend to move from ‘stranger’ to ‘mate you can use insult words against’ very quickly. They’re still insult words - that’s kinda one of the reasons you use them, to show that you’re mates and don’t need to worry about taking offence. Mind you, hardly anyone uses the word Paddy these days, and Taff and Jock are so outdated that any offence would be overtaken by surprise. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/72 "2010-08-12T04:21:19Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > ‘septic tank, yank’ is just cockney rhyming slang and not offensive. But any term can become that with the right context and intonation. Being called a codeword for shit idoesn’t need a lot of context. And usually septic is used in a group setting with one or a small group of unsuspecting Americans that don’t know the secret code. Somehow it becomes the height of pisstaking fun to drop the word septic in a deadpan voice into conversation. And if not picked up the first time then repeated in more obviously outrageous fashion with sniggers, knowing smiles, trying to hold back belly laugyhs and not spit out their drink. I’ve witnessed it from Oxbridge grads, Sandhurst alumni, real cockney hard lads, run of the mill twits. It goes way beyond obnoxious with adults acting like playground bullies ‘all in good fun.’ And in my experience that is the context when pomsey bastards use septic.😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/73 "2010-08-12T05:27:49Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > The first thing that came to mind was “yankee”, or more commonly “yank”, but I see that more as shorthand that can also double as an epithet depending on the delivery and the words surrounding it, just like “pom” for British people. I’m in Australia. Also, dudes from the Deep South may get rather annoyed, as to some of them, “Damnyankee” is all one word.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/74 "2010-08-12T05:56:18Z")
> [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > > > Are you saying that calling an Irishman “Paddy” is neutral, not offensive, or not _always_ offensive? > > Only a person actually born on the island of Ireland is permitted to call himself a Paddy, and we often do. Use by any other group is deemed mildly pejorative but it’s no big deal. That’s a generous interpretation on your part. I would have said that most instances of “Paddy” I’ve heard have been _intended_ to be quite pejorative. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/75 "2010-08-12T06:01:43Z")
Yank or Yankee is fairly typical up here. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/76 "2010-08-12T07:18:10Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > > [@tagos](#): > > > > ‘septic tank, yank’ is just cockney rhyming slang and not offensive. But any term can become that with the right context and intonation. > > Being called a codeword for shit idoesn’t need a lot of context. > > And usually septic is used in a group setting with one or a small group of unsuspecting Americans that don’t know the secret code. Somehow it becomes the height of pisstaking fun to drop the word septic in a deadpan voice into conversation. And if not picked up the first time then repeated in more obviously outrageous fashion with sniggers, knowing smiles, trying to hold back belly laugyhs and not spit out their drink. I’ve witnessed it from Oxbridge grads, Sandhurst alumni, real cockney hard lads, run of the mill twits. It goes way beyond obnoxious with adults acting like playground bullies ‘all in good fun.’ > > And in my experience that is the context when pomsey bastards use septic.😉 Dude, the rest of your post is fine by me , but the winky bit would work a lot better if you hadn’t said pomsey instead of pommy; even then, pommy only works from Australians anyway, and only Begbie from Trainspotting would find it offensive. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/77 "2010-08-12T09:10:02Z")
I heard me, myself, and mine referred to as “Amis” in a snide French covert attitude and snootieness many times in central Europe. It’s a very subtle platitude and sometimes insult. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/78 "2010-08-12T13:13:41Z")
ARRSEpedia has [spam](http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Spam_(American)) as the prefered name for Americans, but that might be just the army. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/79 "2010-08-12T13:18:38Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > > [@tagos](#): > > > > ‘septic tank, yank’ is just cockney rhyming slang and not offensive. But any term can become that with the right context and intonation. > > Being called a codeword for shit idoesn’t need a lot of context. > > And usually septic is used in a group setting with one or a small group of unsuspecting Americans that don’t know the secret code. Somehow it becomes the height of pisstaking fun to drop the word septic in a deadpan voice into conversation. And if not picked up the first time then repeated in more obviously outrageous fashion with sniggers, knowing smiles, trying to hold back belly laugyhs and not spit out their drink. I’ve witnessed it from Oxbridge grads, Sandhurst alumni, real cockney hard lads, run of the mill twits. It goes way beyond obnoxious with adults acting like playground bullies ‘all in good fun.’ > > And in my experience that is the context when pomsey bastards use septic.😉 Maybe you should stop hanging out with juvenile scum then. It’s not a codeword for shit either. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741/80 "2010-08-12T14:13:34Z")
[quote=“China\_Guy, post:72, topic:549741”] > [@tagos](#): > > Being called a codeword for shit idoesn’t need a lot of context. Err, it’s not. It’s codeword for “American”. That’s how rhyming slang works. The words themselves don’t matter as long as it’s confusing to people who don’t get it. Another word for “yank” is wooden - wooden plank, yank. Are you offended by that ? 'course not. Now, if your mates called you a Berkshire or a Swiss, well, that’d be mildly offensive. But not on account of the actual words used. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epithets-for-american/549741.md?page=5)