【使用地区】：英国，澳大利亚

【释义】：

Commonly used in England today for an American．Also heard inAustralia．The word is a shortening of Yankee，which has a long，colorful history．The source of Yankee has long been disputed and its origin is still uncertain，despite all the research devoted to it．Candidates，among many，have included a slave named Yankee offered for sale in 1725，a Dutch sea captain named Yanky，the Yankos Indians，the Dutch name Janke(“Johnny”)，which the Dutch applied to the English，and an Indian mispronunciation(Yengees)of the word．The most popular explanation，also unproved，is that Yankee comes from Jan Kees，a contemptuous Flemish and German nickname for the Dutch that the English first applied to the Dutch in the New World．Yankee seems to have been first applied(contemptuously)to Americans by British soldiers serving under General James Wolfe in the French and Indian War prior to 1758．In any case，Yankee described a New Englander by the middle of the eighteenth century and was used by the British to designate any American during the Revolution，the most notable example found in the derisive song“Yankee Doodle”(which was taken up by the Americans as an ironic anthem)．Nowadays the British still use the words Yankee(and Yank)for an American，U．S．Southerners use it for Northerners，and Northerners use it for New Englanders，who，despite its early history，remain proud of the designation．The New York Yankees are，according to many，the greatest of baseball teams．

此词意为“扬基佬”，指美国人，如今在英国普遍使用，澳大利亚人也用。这个词是Yankee的缩略，有悠久丰富的历史。尽管对此词有很多研究，Yankee的词源长期以来备受争议，至今难以有定论。这其中有许多推测，一说是，1752年有个名叫Yankee的待售奴隶；又有人认为源自一位叫Yanky的荷兰船长；又一说是源自Yankos Indians，或荷兰名字Janke(意为“Johnny”)，荷兰人用来指英国人；又一说是源自印度人的错误发音Yengees。最流行的解释是：Yankee源自Jan Kee，后来，英国人首先称来到新大陆的荷兰人，是荷兰人对佛兰芒人和德国人所取的一个轻蔑的绰号。后来，英国人首先称来到新大陆的荷兰人为Yankee。但这一说法也没有得到证实。也许最早在1758年前的法印战争中，James Wolfe将军领导的英国士兵用Yankee轻蔑地称呼美国人。不管怎样，在18世纪中期，Yankee指新英格兰人，在独立战争时期英国人用来指美国人，最著名的例子是那首嘲讽性的歌曲“Yankee Doodle”(《扬基歌》)。(这是美国独立战争时期流行的一首歌曲；颇具讽刺意味的是后来美国人把此歌视为非正式的国歌)。现在，英国人仍然用Yankee和Yank指美国人；美国南方人用它指北方人；北方人又用它指新英格兰人(尽管这有早期的历史背景，后者仍以此而自豪)。大部分人都知道，New York Yankees是最棒的棒球队。