3
   

What's the difference between a hillbilly, a redneck and a good ol' boy?

 
 
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 10:01 am
Hi. I am doing research on American rural subcultures. I know what a hillbilly is:

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly :

" 'Hillbilly' is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural,
mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern
Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people
from other rural and mountainous areas west of the Mississippi river too,
particularly those of the Rocky Mountains and near the Rio Grande."

I know what a redneck is:

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck :

"Redneck is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to
white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely
associated with rural whites of the Southern United States. Its
usage is similar in meaning to cracker (especially regarding Texas,
Georgia, and Florida), hillbilly (especially regarding Appalachia and the
Ozarks), and white trash (but without the last term's suggestions of
immorality). In Britain the Cambridge Dictionary definition
states: 'a poor, white person without education, esp. one living in the
countryside in the southern US, who is believed to have prejudiced ideas
and beliefs. This word is usually considered offensive.' People from
the white South sometimes jocularly call themselves 'rednecks' as
insider humor.

By the 1970s, the term had become offensive slang, its meaning expanded
to include racism, loutishness, and opposition to modern ways."

But how is a hillbilly and a redneck different from a good ol' boy?

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_boy_network :

"Mostly in the Southern United States, the term good ol' boy has a slightly
different, often derogatory meaning—a friendly, unambitious, relatively
uneducated white man who embodies the stereotype of the folksy culture
of the South. A good old boys network has the connotation of this sort of
personality combined with cronyism.

This southern term also refers to the personal and friendly relationship
between common citizens and local authorities usually resulting in
lenient or sometimes no punishments for crimes committed by friends of
law enforcement."

Please help. Thank you.
 
Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 10:14 am
@JGoldman10,
JGoldman10 wrote:

Hi. I am doing research on American rural subcultures. I know what a hillbilly is:

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly:

" 'Hillbilly' is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural,
mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern
Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people
from other rural and mountainous areas west of the Mississippi river too,
particularly those of the Rocky Mountains and near the Rio Grande."

I know what a redneck is:

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck :

"Redneck is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to
white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely
associated with rural whites of the Southern United States. Its
usage is similar in meaning to cracker (especially regarding Texas,
Georgia, and Florida), hillbilly (especially regarding Appalachia and the
Ozarks), and white trash (but without the last term's suggestions of
immorality). In Britain the Cambridge Dictionary definition
states: 'a poor, white person without education, esp. one living in the
countryside in the southern US, who is believed to have prejudiced ideas
and beliefs. This word is usually considered offensive.' People from
the white South sometimes jocularly call themselves 'rednecks' as
insider humor.

By the 1970s, the term had become offensive slang, its meaning expanded
to include racism, loutishness, and opposition to modern ways."

But how is a hillbilly and a redneck different from a good ol' boy?

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_boy_network:

"Mostly in the Southern United States, the term good ol' boy has a slightly
different, often derogatory meaning—a friendly, unambitious, relatively
uneducated white man who embodies the stereotype of the folksy culture
of the South. A good old boys network has the connotation of this sort of
personality combined with cronyism.

This southern term also refers to the personal and friendly relationship
between common citizens and local authorities usually resulting in
lenient or sometimes no punishments for crimes committed by friends of
law enforcement."

Please help. Thank you.



Some rednecks actually marry someone other than a family member...and usually have more teeth than hillbillies.

Fewer Good ole boys marry within the family than rednecks.

Rednecks play the banjo better 'n than Good ole boys...and Hillbillies play the banjo better'n Rednecks.

Good ole boys enjoy NASCAR. Most rednecks (and even fewer hillbillies) even know how to spell it.
JGoldman10
 
  -2  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 10:39 am
@Frank Apisa,
I was told hillbillies marry rednecks.
Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 11:16 am
@JGoldman10,
JGoldman10 wrote:

I was told hillbillies marry rednecks.


They do. But only if they are closely related.
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 12:02 pm
@Frank Apisa,
If I may ask are you from rural America?
Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 12:22 pm
@JGoldman10,
JGoldman10 wrote:

If I may ask are you from rural America?


I live within a 25 mile radius of The Empire State Building in New York City. Not especially rural.
izzythepush
 
  4  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 12:26 pm
@Frank Apisa,
Mr Goldman takes things very literally, your jokes shot over his head. He probably thinks you’re reading from some rule book or other. You can’t joke with him, it just pisses him off.
hightor
 
  2  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 01:01 pm
@JGoldman10,
You forgot "cracker".

Basically these mean the same thing, although "good ol' boy" implies some sort of social life. "Redneck" originally was used to draw a distinction between guys who didn't get their hands dirty and guys who worked outdoors all day and had red, sunburned necks. "Hillbilly" was a term used to differentiate between the white plantation class (Bourbons) who lived in the lowlands and the white (Scotch-Irish) immigrants who settled the hill country. A "cracker" was — and is — a white southern asshole:

Quote:
A 1783 pejorative use of crackers specified men who "descended from convicts that were transported from Great Britain to Virginia at different times, and inherit so much profligacy from their ancestors, that they are the most abandoned set of men on earth". Benjamin Franklin, in his memoirs (1790), referred to "a race of runnagates and crackers, equally wild and savage as the Indians" who inhabit the "desert[ed] woods and mountains".

wikipedia

The terms are all somewhat pejorative, with "cracker" probably being the worst and "good ol' boy" the least offensive.
0 Replies
 
InfraBlue
 
  2  
Reply Sun 28 Feb, 2021 02:48 pm
Let's not forget the term "peckerwood."
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Mon 1 Mar, 2021 04:09 am
@izzythepush,
Yes, I am such a stern, deadpan guy I don't find ANYTHING funny.

I am being facetious.
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Mon 1 Mar, 2021 04:50 am
@izzythepush,
Would you like me to post links to videos I find humorous? Or comics and such?
0 Replies
 
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Mon 1 Mar, 2021 04:54 am
@InfraBlue,
Yes.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peckerwood:

"Peckerwood is a term used in the Southern United States for a woodpecker which is also used as an offensive epithet toward white people, especially poor rural whites. Originally an ethnic slur, the term has been embraced by a subculture related to prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle clubs. The term was in use as an inversion of woodpecker by the 1830s, with the sense referring to white people documented from the 1850s.[2] African-American folklore in the 1920s contrasted the white 'peckerwood' bird with the African-American blackbird. The word became a common term in Jive."

For a long time I thought "peckerwood" was a vulgar sexual term. I heard the term used as a kid. I guess I was wrong.

If it means "woodpecker" I guess I can use it.
izzythepush
 
  2  
Reply Mon 1 Mar, 2021 04:57 am
@JGoldman10,
If you were really being facetious you wouldn’t have to say it.

I’m not saying you don’t find certain things funny but you need to know in advance that it’s supposed to be funny.

Joking and banter shoot over your head as is evidenced by your exchange with Frank at the beginning of this thread.
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Mon 1 Mar, 2021 08:19 am
@izzythepush,
I have seen some stuff online that has made me laugh like a giddy teenager. I DO have a sense of humor.
izzythepush
 
  3  
Reply Mon 1 Mar, 2021 08:31 am
@JGoldman10,
I never said you didn’t, but when people joke with you it invariably goes over your head.
0 Replies
 
JGoldman10
 
  -2  
Reply Mon 1 Mar, 2021 09:13 am
@JGoldman10,
JGoldman10 wrote:

Yes.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peckerwood :

"Peckerwood is a term used in the Southern United States for a woodpecker which is also used as an offensive epithet toward white people, especially poor rural whites. Originally an ethnic slur, the term has been embraced by a subculture related to prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle clubs. The term was in use as an inversion of woodpecker by the 1830s, with the sense referring to white people documented from the 1850s. African-American folklore in the 1920s contrasted the white 'peckerwood' bird with the African-American blackbird. The word became a common term in Jive."

For a long time I thought "peckerwood" was a vulgar sexual term. I heard the term used as a kid. I guess I was wrong.

If it means "woodpecker" I guess I can use it.


-FIXED.
0 Replies
 
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Tue 2 Mar, 2021 08:12 am
@JGoldman10,
Just curious why are you researching this? Seems an odd thing to research.

Also sometimes knowing why one is looking at something might help to isolate how to answer.
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Tue 2 Mar, 2021 10:40 am
@Linkat,
I want to develop a cartoon and/or comics series about rednecks, hillbillies and good ol' boys.
izzythepush
 
  1  
Reply Tue 2 Mar, 2021 10:42 am
@JGoldman10,
The old adage about writing about what you know clearly doesn’t apply in your case.
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Tue 2 Mar, 2021 10:49 am
@izzythepush,
I have a "hot" idea for an original series for kids. Just writing about "what I know" is dull and boring.

I would think cartoon and comics writers do a great deal of research when they are developing and producing series. I know production teams do research when they are producing animated films that take place in certain locales.

A lot of cartoon and comics stories take place in other places other than the main locale of whatever series they are from.
 

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