Rednecks, poor whites & crackers

Posted by Scott Marsden on July 13, 2000

In Reply to: Rednecks, poor whites & crackers posted by Mary on July 13, 2000

+: Since we're on the subject, ethnic groups have always had derogatory (for insult only)"pet names" thoughout history. I remember (about 100 threads back) a discussion about the origin of gringo which I beleive meant "a Greek" as a mocking of not understanding when whites spoke.

Along the same lines, I believe the derogatory slang "honky", referring to whites, had its origins with insults like "hunky" and "bohunk". These latter are very strong insults aimed at people of an Eastern European origin. They are basically combinations of Hungarian, Bohemian (in the sense of coming from Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic)and Ukrainian. Where I come from in Western Canada, someone of Ukraininan heritage would probably take offense if you called him a "hunky" or "bohunk"; but if you called any white person a "honky", they'd probably just laugh. It seems to be more retro-cheezy than actually insulting.

: There are spanish(from Spain), italian and Irish. I was wondering the origin of "Spic" and "Hick". and "Ginny"?

"Spic" is no doubt a bastardization of "Hispanic".

• Rednecks, poor whites & crackers Frankie 07/13/00
  • Rednecks, poor whites & crackers Scott Marsden 07/14/00
  • Honkies & hicks & hillbillies & gringos ESC 07/14/00
    • Honkies & hicks & hillbillies & gringos e.jimenez 09/07/00
    • Honkies & hicks & hillbillies & gringos Scott Marsden 07/14/00
      • Honkies & hicks & hillbillies & gringos & Rednecks @ "navvies" Billy Jo 07/16/00