“Nothing strikes fear in a Texan like a Yankee with a U-Haul”
The saying “Nothing strikes fear in a Texans like a Yankee with a U-Haul” (that is, a Northerner who moves to the South) is cited in print from 1984-85, but probably dates to the 1970s. The phrase “Yankee with a U-Haul” is used throughout the South and not just in Texas.
The longer phrase about the things a Texan fears most is politically incorrect: (1) a Mexican with a gun, (2) a Negro with a knife, and (3) a Yankee with a U-Haul.
Wikipedia: U-Haul
U-Haul International, Inc. (NASDAQ: UHAL) is a North American equipment rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945. The company was founded by Leonard Shoen in Ridgefield, Washington, who began it in the garage owned by his wife’s family, and expanded through franchising with gas stations.
Texas National Press
Texian Humor
The only thing a Texan fears more than a Mexican with a knife is a Yankee with a U-Haul.
Texas Jokes
Actually, my family and I are transplanted Yankees. So we’ve already heard that the only thing a Texan fears more than a Mexican with a knife is a Yankee with a U-Haul.
Google Books
The Making of America’s Homeless
By Kim Hopper and Jill Hamberg
New York, NY: Community Service Society of New York
1984
Pg. 45:
In Houston and other sunbelt cities, a “Yankee with a U-haul” is an unwelcorned guest (New York Times, 12/10/82).
Google Books
Maledicta
Waukesha, WI: Maledicta Press
v. 8 - 1985
Pg. 229:
A nigger with a knife, a Mexican with a gun, and a Yankee with a U-Haul truck.
Google Books
April 1986, Vegetarian Times, pg. 64, col. 2:
“The difference between a Yankee and a damn Yankee,” Parsons explains, “is a Yankee comes down as a tourist and a damn Yankee comes with a U-Haul and stays.”
New York (NY) Daily News
ATLANTA UNLEASHES ITS DAWGS ON YANKS
By MARTY ROSEN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, October 21th 1999, 2:11AM
(...)
“You know what us Southerners hate to see?” asked customer Mike Hall, 54, his blue eyes earnest, his face deadpan. “A Yankee with a U-Haul behind his car.”
TheFiringLine Forums
Art Eatman
2000-07-15, 04:45 PM
Ah, yes. Two things really scare Texans: A Catholic with a football, and a Yankee with a U-Haul.
Google Books
Out of Texas
By James Hold
iUniverse, Inc.
2004
Pg. 112:
“What’s the one thing that strikes fear into the heart of a Texan?”
“A Yankee with a U-haul.”
North vs. South
By bobnbambi on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 1:55 pm:
Don’t anyone take offense-this is just a joke. The board seems a little touchy lately…....
Three things a southerner fears:
1. A Texan with a gun
2. A mexican with a knife
3. A Yankee with a u-haul
CarSPace Automotive Forums
Re: Well, they don’t take kindly to folks [driftracer] by asafonov Mar 10, 2005 (10:14 am)
Replying to: driftracer (Mar 09, 2005 2:49 pm)
Three things a Texan hates to see - a burr in his saddle, a rock in his boot, and a Yankee with a U-Haul.
The Dirty Dozen Bunker Forum
DorGunR
10-30-2007, 06:16 PM
A Quiz For Gus
“Are You a Texan?”
(...)
The thing that scares a Texan most is
A: a black guy with a gun
B: a Mexican with a knife
C: a Yankee with a U-Haul
Modern Vespa - Forum
Fuzzy
Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:59 am
Q. What is the most feared thing in Texas?
A. A Yankee with a U-haul.
Gunboard’s Forums
Texian
12-31-2008, 11:25 AM
There are three things a Texan fears: the fury of a tornado, the wrath of a prairie fire, and a south bound Yankee with a U-Haul.
MSNBC - Politics
White-Bread Message #71
04/19/09 11:45 AM
The blue parts of Texas are the parts infested with illegal beaners.
A real Texan fears 3 things:
1. A Mexican with a machete.
2 A Negro with a knife.
3 A yankee with a U-Haul.
Texas Insider
3:11 pm CST - July 17, 2009
Going Alamo: Why Jobs and Companies Are Flocking to a Big Small-Government State
By Kevin D. Williamson - National Review
(...)
COMMENTS
brenda
8:14 pm CST
July 17, 2009
You know the old joke–What puts fear in the hearts of Texans? A yankee with a u-haul. signed, a 5th generation Texan.