Quote Originally Posted by neloon View Post
I think most people in the UK are totally oblivious to these fine geographical/historical nuances.
About "yankee"

To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.

While in the US "south" it means somebody from the "north" (as per the ACW) in the north it means somebody from New England (Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island).

Within New England, Yankee appears to mean the people and the dialect from eastern New England and in particular the descendants of the original English Puritan settlers.