this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
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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?

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (8 children)

In America, yankee means people from a particular part of America. But we use it here in Australia to mean any American. It's especially fun when people from the south (that is…the south of the country America, not from the continent of South America) take offence at the term IMO.

We also use "seppo" which is an Australian shortening slang of "septic", which is rhyming slang (of the kind used in both Australia and London, England) that comes via "septic tank" via "yank".

Gringo seems strange to me. I thought that was a predominantly Latin American term for white people, and would apply equally well to Americans as Canadians as Australians as (of particular relevance to someone from Spain) English…but only the white of each, so it would seem to me it shouldn't work as synonymous with "American" because it excludes African Americans, Asian Americans, etc. But I'm not Spanish or Latin American, so I might just be misunderstanding the word.

Edit: what yank means depending on where you are (allegedly):

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Seppo, septic tank, yank. Love it! Cockney rhyming slang strikes again?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago

Australian rhyming slang in this case, but yeah, it functions in much the same way as Cockney.

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