British slang for "U.S. soldier in World War I," 1918, a reference to Uncle Sam.
A Sammie may be defined as an American soldier as he appears in an English newspaper or a French cinema. It is a name he did not invent, does not like, never uses and will not recognize. ["Stars & Stripes," March 29, 1918]
symbol of the United States of America, 1813, coined during the war with Britain as a contrast to John Bull, and no doubt suggested by the initials U.S.
in abbreviations. "[L]ater statements connecting it with different
government officials of the name of Samuel appear to be unfounded"
[OED]. The common figure of Uncle Sam began to appear in political
cartoons c.1850. Only gradually superseded earlier Brother Jonathan
(1776), largely through the popularization of the figure by cartoonist
Thomas Nast. British in World War I sometimes called U.S. soldiers Sammies.
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