Janners

[Lorcan]

Why are Plymouthians knowns as 'janners?'

BBC2's 'Eggheads' were at a loss to explain.

[kags]

I was born and bred in Plymouth, and always thought Janner it was an old term, possibly naval, for someone who lives by the sea. I have no idea how it became specific to Plymouth though!

[kags]

ps I have now moved up the line

[dannydingbat]

You may get many different answers here but I will give the one my Dad told me. Sailors make up slang terms for just about everything, jobs, places, etc. Portsmouth is "Pompey", Devonport is "Guz" and so on. As sailors are known as "Jack Tar" they needed to identify other types of people on and around the ship so the name "Jan Dockie" was used to describe a dockyard worker. This became "Janner" which originated at Devonport in Plymouth and consequently meant anyone from that city.

[Buenchico]

I suspect that, like so many dialect words, the derivation of 'janner' is lost in antiquity. These links don't really answer the question but, hopefully, they may be of interest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janner
http://www.stevebond2k.eurobell.co.uk/janner.htm

Chris