I noticed that most people outside of Connecticut don't know that our 'official' nickname for fellow residents is 'Nutmegger' or 'The Nutmeg State'. What I was called instead is truly what I would be preferred from this day forth: Yankee.

I just drove through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,, Missouri, and Oklahoma, and even though I wasn't wearing pinstripes, Yankee was the first thing that came out of people's mouths after they saw my license plate or found out I was from Connecticut. Nutmeg or Nutmegger? Ha! No way.

It's 2025 Connecticut, I've lived here since 1969, and I have never noticed an abundance of nutmeg anywhere in this state. According to ctpublic.org, nutmegs are the seeds of an evergreen tree native to the Spice Islands in the East Indies, which were imported into Connecticut during the Colonial era, and widely used in food dishes. Did colonial residents of Connecticut develop a bad habit for using too much nutmeg? No, and no one really knows why the term has been used since. Some theories that I found involve "Yankee' Peddlers, who duped Southerners into buying chunks of wood instead of real nutmeg. Which leads me again to say why aren't we owning the nickname Yankee in 2025?

Philadelphia Phillies v New York Yankees, Game 6
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Did the baseball team that plays in the Bronx steal away our identity and potential nickname 15 miles away from the CT border in Greenwich? Is Yankee still considered a slur in the Southern half of the US? Do we care at this point? Shouldn't we own the naming rights due to Mark Twain's 1889 novel 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'? Ok, the Connecticut was added to the title in later years, but does that matter?

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Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

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