Oxford and English Dictionary Draft Revision Jan. 2006
Mackem, n.
A native or inhabitant of Sunderland or Wearside; a supporter of Sunderland Association Football Club.
Brit. colloq. (orig. Eng. regional (north-east.)).
Watched Balderdash and Piffle on BBC2 tonight and one of the words included was the word Mackem - meaning someone from Sunderland. Now when I first heard this word about 15 years ago it was a derogatory term used by Geordies (from Newcastle)to insult us Wearsiders.
However in the intervening years it seems to have been adopted by the inhabitants of my town of birth as a badge of pride. Mind you with the team doing so well this season I guess we have to find our pride where we can.
blond_lucy
Like the word Tyke for Yorkshire folk. It was supposed to be a derogatory term but we adopted it. I've never actually found out why it was derogatory but most of the suggestions are that Yorkshire folk are tight with money.
Lucy