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Rednecks & Westies

Posted by ESC on December 13, 2003

In Reply to: Rednecks & Westies posted by Lotg on December 12, 2003

: : When someone is rigging something poorly, I've heard people say, "Well, you sure are an Afro Operator."

: : There's another term along those lines.

: In the previous comment, Lewis used the term 'Rednecks'. I've only ever heard this to be an American term. I assumed that this describes someone of a presumably lower intellect, perhaps from a lower socio-economic group. My partner disagrees saying that he thinks it refers more to an attitude, quoting when the 'rednecks' belted the proverbial out of the Easyriders. Although I'm not sure how that makes his view of rednecks different to mine.

: So what exactly is a redneck? Is there a particular geographical area that they are confined to and how did this originate?

: This sounds a bit like our term 'Westy'. In Melbourne and Sydney the western suburbs have traditionally been the working class suburbs. As a result, there's a certain 'attitude' that evolved from these areas, that has now generically been termed 'Westies'. Historically, Westies wore checked flannelette shirts, opened all the way to reveal dark blue singlets, and they wore ugg boots on their feet. That's changed now as you can spot a Westy even without that attire. They also speak and behave a certain way. As a result, because it's now an attitude rather than simply a location, a Westy can be found anywhere in Australia.

: Is that similar to a Redneck?

Sounds like it to me.

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