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JM, That is very interesting!! If "gringo" is not used in Spain, maybe the "green grows" story has some truth to it. The term is also used in Brazil; I guess it spread across the border from Argentina on its way south from Mexico. It is usually pejorative, but I had friends there who called me "gringa" as a term of endearment.  Speaking of which, what about the origin of "Yankee?" I used to know that, but in my dotage have forgotten. Interesting, those of us who live in the South (the Dixie cups) reserve that term for those who live in the North. But folks in the UK and Australia call us all Yanks. And South Americans call us all "Yanquis."
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it seems most lexicographers agree that the Spanish griego is the root, in the foreign sense of "it's all Greek to me". folk etymologists, of course, prefer the more colorful "green grow the lillies" or "green grow the lilacs" explanations. these things are often guesswork at this far remove.
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>But folks in the UK and Australia call us all Yanks. And South Americans call us all "Yanquis."
Yes. In Spain ‘Yanqui’ is synonym for North American and, I think, it happens almost everywhere outside USA.
May it be based on a Mark Twain novel?
By the way, I’m remembering a Disney film I saw when I was a kid, its Spanish name was ‘Un Yanqui en la corte de rey Arturo’. It was about an American who traveled in time and went to king Arthur’s court. Do you remember if it had the same title in English?.
May it be based on a Mark Twain novel?.
Juan Maria.
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JM, Yep, Mark Twain wrote "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." I guess "Connecticut" is a tad superfluous for a foreign-language book/film title But I think the term precedes Twain. Maybe it comes from a Native American word?
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Thank you!
I wasn’t speculating about the origin of the word ‘Yankee’ I’m sure that in a few days I’ll learn it. I was curious about the use of the word in the original title. Spanish distributors use to change film titles and this could have been one of those cases.
Do you know if the original film title included ‘Connecticut’ as in the book or was it cut as in Spain?.
Juan Maria.
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a search of the IMDb turns up the following for "king arthur's court"
Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court, A (1978) (TV)
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1921)
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1949)
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1989) (TV)
Kid in King Arthur's Court, A (1995)
Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1995)
Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979)
(Spaceman in King Arthur's Court, A (1979))
None of these looks like Disney....
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>None of these looks like Disney....
I was a kid when I watched this film on TV, maybe on the early seventies. Disney was a supposition. In my head it is mixed with Disney real actors films that I must have seen by the same time.
I have used 'real actors' as opposite of 'cartoon'. I have made it up. Is there an expression for that?.
Juan Maria.
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In Australia and the UK I understand that Americans are also referred to, nicely of course, as "septics" from the Cockney rhyming slang "septic tank".
I do love a good rhyming slang. My favourite is "syrup" for hairpiece/haircut. Then there's "boat", "dog", "rub-a-dub"... the list is endless.
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Meta4,
cute name! Could you please provide some enlightenment on your rhyme examples? Thanks to Dick Francis, this septic does at least understand the concept. I just don't know the particulars. The closest I could come for
syrup is 'hair up', and somehow I don't think that's it!
I can't even guess at the rest of yours. The only one I
recall now from Francis' book is "up the apples".
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> Speaking of which, what about the origin of "Yankee?" I used to know that, but in my dotage have forgotten. Interesting,
those of us who live in the South (the Dixie cups) reserve that term for those who live in the North. But folks in the UK
and Australia call us all Yanks. And South Americans call us all "Yanquis."
I believe that the word 'Yankee' comes from American Indian language. Like Colorado (Kolorado), Dakota (Dakotah), Kentucky (Kan -tuckee) and Detroit to name a few adopted Indian names, Yankee was chosen as the general term by which the Indians referred to the white settlers. In Sioux and Lacotah there were two names given for whites - 'Isatanka' for the Americans and 'Washechuska' for the British. I am unsure of the meanings but they may have something to do with the colours worn - i.e Red and Blue.
As for 'Yanks' - this is the diminutive of Yankees and is (or was) applied to all Americans who served in Europe in the two world wars. It is still used to a lesser respect in today's European English to refer to all Americans.
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