Originally posted by M.M. Floors:
[Well I always believed that the Dutch couldn't change a way of spelling a word (actually a name...which never can't be written a different way. i.e. John is John in Dutch and English)
This reminds me of a story I read many years ago:
It is said that the origin of the word "Yankee" occured when the Dutch lost Niew Amsterdam to the Duke of York. The still-largely Dutch population of New York deeply resented their new British masters. They charicatured Brits as always being named "John" and always eating cheese. Hence Dutch New Yorkers referred to British New Yorkers as "Jan Kaes" or as it became, "Yankees."
Imagine Fidel Castro constantly denouncing Americans with an ancient Dutch expression.
Another theory is that "Yankees" originated in another Dutch word, "Jankes," which I believe means "barking dog."
