To the Yankee, it's not the real thing (3)
I believe the answer is:
toy
'real thing' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'to the yankee it's not the' is the wordplay.
'yankee' becomes 'Y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'it's not' suggests deleting specific letters.
'to'+'the'+'y'='tothey'
'tothey' with 'the' taken away is 'TOY'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for toy that I've seen before include "Trifle with plaything?" , "Object for a child to play with" , "Child's amusement" , "One of spelt out words" , "Trifle or dally with" .)