# Origin of "Yankee"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-yankee/299176>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 13, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-yankee/299176 "2005-04-13T20:20:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pplepic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@pplepic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pplepic)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-yankee/299176/1 "2005-04-13T20:20:13Z")

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Old folks know that Jack Benny’s social security number was 1. Well, mine is 2, so when I tell you that the word “Yankee” is derived from the Chinese, “Yang Kwei”, = “Foreign Devil”, you can probably trust me. I don’t write often, but while I’m here, I beg to object to Cecil’s spaghetti sauce boast. I’m sorry to deflate the “Great One” but spaghetti sauce better than mine just does not exist. I can’t reveal my recipe because, as the CIA agent said when asked how many agents it takes to screw in a lightbulb, “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” Keep up the good work!

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-yankee/299176/2 "2005-04-13T21:43:43Z")

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> [@pplepic](#):
>
> …when I tell you that the word “Yankee” is derived from the Chinese, “Yang Kwei”, = “Foreign Devil”, you can probably trust me.

For very low values of “probably”.

As Cecil points out in [What is the origin of the word “Yankee”?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_260.html) the word was in use to refer to Americans no later than 1759, by an Englishman who never traveled east of Bavaria.

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-yankee/299176/3 "2005-04-17T17:53:45Z")

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I’m surprised the article doesn’t mention the theory that it comes from the Dutch name Janke.

The [dictionary](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=yankee) gives this as the most likely origin.