To the European, a Yankee is an American.
To an American, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To a New Englander, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
To a Vermonter, a Yankee is someone who eats apple pie for breakfast.
And to a Vermonter who eats apple pie for breakfast
a Yankee is someone who eats it with a knife.
~An old Yankee joke
"What New England is, is a state of mind, a place where dry humor and perpetual disappointment blend to produce an ironic pessimism that folks from away find most perplexing." ~ Willem Lange
To an American, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To a New Englander, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
To a Vermonter, a Yankee is someone who eats apple pie for breakfast.
And to a Vermonter who eats apple pie for breakfast
a Yankee is someone who eats it with a knife.
~An old Yankee joke
"What New England is, is a state of mind, a place where dry humor and perpetual disappointment blend to produce an ironic pessimism that folks from away find most perplexing." ~ Willem Lange
Random New England 'proverbs':
"You can't keep trouble from coming, but you don't have to give it a chair to sit on."
"It won't be warm till the snow gets off the mountain, and the snow won't get off the mountain till it gets warm."
"Talk less and say more"
"Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves."
"We have two seasons: winter and the Fourth of July."
"In New England we have nine months of winter and three months of darned poor sledding."
"In New England we have nine months of winter and three months of darned poor sledding."
"An ounce of experience is worth a pound of theory."
"The quickest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time."
"The quickest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time."
"Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up." ~Robert Frost, poet from Vermont.
We were discussing the "Old Yankee Joke" this morning, and wondering why it seemed everyone avoided being called a Yankee. At first I thought it was because nobody wanted that association, but after discussing it for a bit we surmised that (at least for Vermonters), they didn't think they were worthy of the honorable title "Yankee".
ReplyDeleteAnother funny thing-- the apple pie bit really is a good indicator of 'Yankeehood', because Southerners can't eat apple pie for breakfast... Their apples aren't good enough to be made into pie, and... they prefer sweet pies (like pecan) that really should not be eaten for breakfast. ;-D
I've eaten apple pie for breakfast before, actually! :) But then again, pretty much anything is "breakfast food" in my book (including meatloaf and lentils)...so go figure. ;)
ReplyDeleteYay! Another person who thinks dinner is the best food for breakfast! My favorites are gravy and biscuits, beef stew, and chili. Who ever invented eggs and toast as a breakfast food?!? Don't worry, all the apple pie and Yankee stuff is just theory to give us good laughs-- these things almost always break down in practice. :-)
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