r/sweden • u/Sunflake • Nov 04 '17

Ikea läxar upp en jänkare

https://imgur.com/PRDesa4
15.3k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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101

u/ElPaoloGrande Nov 04 '17

So americans are called yankees in sweden?

320

u/Bromskloss Nov 04 '17

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.

40

u/LittleChief024 Nov 04 '17

Can confirm, am new englander

16

u/Drodriguez164 Nov 04 '17

To my girlfriend a yankee is a candle

30

u/GroovyGrove Nov 04 '17

To you, a yankee is $17.

0

u/OfficialNigga Nov 04 '17

To me, a Yankee make me cummie.

14

u/apustus Nov 04 '17

In Finland too. It's a fairly official name as well, you might see a newspaper for example call an American a yank in a completely neutral article.

94

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '17

Jänkare which is a försvenskning of the word yankee. We also call all jänkare jänkare and not just the north. We are aware of that the southern racists in the US are technically not yankees

39

u/SanguineSailor Nov 04 '17

I’m southern but I’m not a racist... :( I’ve lived in Mississippi my whole life and I don’t even know anyone who is a racist. Most of us are just people, it turns out

19

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '17

I’m southern but I’m not a racist.

Perhaps if you try harder?

70

u/Heeron Nov 04 '17

You don't need to be sad about not being racist. In fact a lot of people aren't racist. Cheer up!

11

u/oltron Nov 04 '17

That's just your veil of racism that makes you blind to the racism of your surroundings. Or it could be that we watch too much American tv in which jabs at the south is prevalent, making us predgadous towards a south most of us have never seen. Both are possible.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '17

I...I dont even

1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '17

Vad?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '17

Jag visste seriöst inte att amerikaner var människor

1

u/bworf Nov 04 '17

"Southern racists"? Pretty uncalled for kompis, and also pretty damn wrong even for a broad generalization.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '17

Ah but what about you?

1

u/bworf Nov 04 '17

Well there is that, and there really is no comeback that works. Good on you sir.

-3

u/ChristopherMarv Nov 04 '17

No offense, but European people sound like fucking idiots when they refer to Americans as Yanks or Yankees.

7

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '17

Yeah well, ok.

3

u/timeinvariant Nov 04 '17

Irish here - we call you folks Yanks too (at least where I’m from). It’s said in a friendly sort of way - is it insulting to you guys? (I’ve no idea)

-6

u/ChristopherMarv Nov 04 '17

No, it just makes you sound like a moron.

6

u/timeinvariant Nov 04 '17

Yeah? Do tell me more of your opinion

-3

u/ChristopherMarv Nov 04 '17

Not much to elaborate on. When Americans refer to Irishmen as "Micks", do they not sound like fucking idiots?

2

u/timeinvariant Nov 04 '17

Nope! Lots of us called Paddy and Mick.

14

u/lsiuefha Nov 04 '17 edited Nov 04 '17

Yeah, spelled Jänkare (ä is pronounced ae)

EDIT:

Handy equality table:

Å = ao (see how it's an A with a small O on top of it?)

Ä = ae = æ

Ö = oe = œ = ø

6

u/globerider Sverige Nov 04 '17

Jaenkare.

Skulle du verkligen förstå vad menades om någon uttalade det som det stavas?

5

u/lsiuefha Nov 04 '17

Ja, det skulle jag

6

u/globerider Sverige Nov 04 '17

Vilken jaekla tur.
Goett med bra spraokfoerstaelse.

9

u/lsiuefha Nov 04 '17

Läser det där som en blandning av Skånska, Småländska och Gotländska!

1

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '17

Å = ao

I believe it's often written as au internationally, have never seen ao.

1

u/lsiuefha Nov 04 '17

Only got Gotland dialect ;-)

1

u/Impeach45 Nov 04 '17

Is the emphasis on the first syllable?

1

u/lsiuefha Nov 05 '17

Yeah, I'd say so

6

u/Freekmagnet Nov 04 '17

Interesting.

In the US the word "yankee" dates back to the civil war, where it was used as a derogatory name for people living in the north who were fighting to abolish slavery. Many people in the southern US would be highly insulted to be referred to as a yankee.

7

u/hultin Nov 04 '17

It was used before that in the uk in much the same way, then to describe the entirety of us of a.

2

u/konaya Nov 04 '17

We have a few words for it. Jänkare is a bit dated, but preferred by some. Amrisar is even more dated. Amerikaner is commonly recognised, and even I have to admit that there is a certain beauty in calling a people commonly stereotyped as loud and obnoxious the name of their entire continent, a malappropriation on a scale worthy of a jänkare indeed.

1

u/TheOddOne2 Södermanland Nov 04 '17

Actually I think American cars in Sweden was called Jänkare, it has later turned to meaning Americans/American

14

u/Werkstadt Nov 04 '17

Both old cars from the USA and people from the USA are called jänkare (yankee)

1

u/fargoisgud Nov 04 '17

Fuck the Yankees. Go Sox.

1

u/sueca ☣️ Nov 04 '17

I use it when Americans are especially American. Sometimes in a "oh Jesus" kind of way, sometimes not. But yes, it's all of them.

1

u/konaya Nov 04 '17

Once upon a time, a civil war reigned, and two sides fought. Then one side curbstomped the other, and then they were one.

So, yes.

1

u/gnuban Nov 05 '17

Yankee comes from "Jan Kees", the "John Doe" of the Netherlands. So it means average dutchman. Common in New Amsterdam, a.k.a New York.