Americans: What do you think of the term "jenkki"

mississippibound · Post by **mississippibound** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:08 pm

Hello:

Many Finns use the term "jenkki" to refer to the USA or to Americans?

For the US citizens out there, what you think of this word as a way to decribe us or our country?

Please comment.

Mississippibound

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catfish78 · Post by **catfish78** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:15 pm

I have never heard anyone call me that but according to me dictionary it means Yank or American car. If that is the slang Finn word for Americans, than to me, so be it. Does that word have negative connotations to it?

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:21 pm

hmm and then I wonder what to think about a jenkkikaapi!!

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:23 pm

I associate it first with the chewing gum Jenkki jee jee jee

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:24 pm

catfish78 wrote:I have never heard anyone call me that but according to me dictionary it means Yank or American car. If that is the slang Finn word for Americans, than to me, so be it. Does that word have negative connotations to it?

One might imagine that your average good ol' boy might be a bit offended at being called a GDY?

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:26 pm

sinikala wrote: One might imagine that your average good ol' boy might be a bit offended at being called a GDY?

Oh, but it could be worse... Many Finns use the term "tyhmä" to refer to the USA or to Americans?

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:27 pm

catfish78 wrote:Does that word have negative connotations to it?

Well not in my opinion at least, if that's anything to go by. It's derived from "Yankee" but the Finnish word doesn't have quite the same -erm- geographical connotations - apart from being a well-known chewing gum brand

you often hear the natives say "lähden viikon päästä jenkkeihin" meaning that they're going to the USA... olin jenkeissä vaihto-oppilaana... I was an exchange student in the US... jenkkiversio (of, say a DVD or a CD / LP) just refers to a US edition... things like that. So it refers to the USA as a whole. Jenkkiauto - American car. Jenkkikaappi or jenkkisänky... hmm well they're slightly bigger aren't they... I mean the freezers and the beds

Sometimes, when referring to Americans - jenkit on sellaisia... jenkit sitä, jenkit tätä... the word might be slightly derogative but IMO that depends on how you say it. The word itself is pretty neutral, and I'd actually say you nowadays hear it more often in other contexts than referring to persons.

edit: but hey yeah, despite the above it's definitely a 'slang' word. You won't hear that on the news!

Then again I'm not the right person to answer the actual question - just a native's point of view on how the word's used here

catfish78 · Post by **catfish78** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:28 pm

If someone calls me a derogatory name, the chances are damn near 100% that I have been called worse by better people.

greenhorn · Post by **greenhorn** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 5:51 pm

Hank W. wrote:I associate it first with the chewing gum Jenkki jee jee jee

That's what I thought all these days. Thanks for the new word !

karen · Post by **karen** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:25 pm

Yankees are from north of the Mason-Dixon line and are usually referred to as "damn Yankees." Native Texans still use the term, but it's getting harder and harder to find a real Texan because there are so many damn Yankees moving south.

I absolutely take offense at being called a Yankee because I'm a Texan, not a Yankee.

catfish78 · Post by **catfish78** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:42 pm

If they use Yank as a term for American in general than that is okay with me. I am a southerner however and am not a "yank" when the term is used in the States.

Rob A. · Post by **Rob A.** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:59 pm

catfish78 wrote:If they use Yank as a term for American in general than that is okay with me. I am a southerner however and am not a "yank" when the term is used in the States.

...even in Canada, the term "Yankee" means any American... Now that's what you get for losing the war...

enk · Post by **enk** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:33 am

I don't care as long as someone doesn't try the "pure jenkki" crap on me. Mom's a yank and
my dad was from the south, so I'm a bastardized version of an American anyways.

-enk

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:58 am

karen wrote:I absolutely take offense at being called a Yankee because I'm a Texan, not a Yankee.

Yep, I guessed so - there's a big cultural difference here since in its common usage, the Finnish word "jenkki" does not bear any of those north/south/whatever distinctions, even though the word is derived from Yankee. Usually it merely refers to the USA, or whatever's "American". So if a Finnish person calls you jenkki, it's most likely that he/she isn't even aware of any offensive potential there

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:24 am

Same thing y'all calling us "Caucasians" I is a white person goddamnit calling me a blackamoor like dat.

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