[meteorite-list] Re: A Sign From Above (Sylacauga Meteorite)

From: Kevin Fly Hill <khill_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:17:38 2004
Message-ID: <004f01c3b8e2$ce7faf60$6d00a8c0_at_coxinternet.com>

To further clarify classifications --

#1 - In Florida -- That's Cracker - not Redneck. Derived from the whips
they carried at one time as a weapon of choice.
#2 - In Central Texas there are Cedar Choppers with Bubba's and Rednecks
spreading out to the rest of the state. Cedar Chopper is a specific
designate in the area of Texas where cedar trees are abundant and are turned
into fence posts and is used to describe the indigenous peoples that perform
that duty. Similar in life style to a Hillbilly.
#3 - The non-specific but generally considered - White Trash. A term that
if used at most family gatherings in East Texas can get you labeled as
"uppity" or a "high falutn' snoot"
#4 - In Texas, at least, only Czechs are Bohemians, Germans are Square
Heads - (note: married to the former and being the latter - this is a fact)

Most Curious Listener
Fly Hill

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sterling K. Webb" <kelly_at_bhil.com>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Cc: "RYAN PAWELSKI" <yellowengine_at_earthlink.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 12:51 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Re: A Sign From Above (Sylacauga Meteorite)


> Hi,
>
> The term "hicks" refers to the inhabitants of Hicksville, New York,
located on Long Island, which was once (a century ago) a totally rural
environment. Hicksville, which is on the end of Long Island nearest to New
York City, had its quiet rural
> existence immortalized by George M. Cohan's long-ago hit song "Only 45
Minutes From Broadway." So, by extension, a "hick" has become a term for any
inhabitant of a small town or rural area, wherever located.
>
> A "hillbilly," though more easily found in those Appalachian (and
Ozarkian) states (and West Virginia and Missouri and western North Carolina,
etc.), is essentially a cultural classification, so members of that group
could be found anywhere. That
> culture is nothing more or less than the general rural culture of the US
in times past, now surviving only in mountainous enclaves. Eighty years ago,
"hillbilly" would have applied to a much wider area of the South and parts
of the Mid-West, and a
> century and a half ago would have well described about half to two-thirds
of the population of the US.
>
> And "redneck" is originally a term for a non-industrialized
agricultural worker. As there are very few folks out hoeing cotton by hand
these days, the term is widely applied in those areas where they used to be
numerous (like Alabama). Although I
> live in rural Illinois (not Alabama), there are plenty of folk about whose
necks are literally red from a lifetime spent in farm fields before tractors
had air conditioned cabs, GPS, laptop computers, stereos, and tinted glass.
All those "rednecks"
> would also be "hicks" by definition (non-urban populace) and some of them
would be "hillbillies" too, although some would instead be German, Italian,
Polish or "Bohemian" in cultural origin.
>
> The English article, of course, was not about hillbillies, hicks, or
rednecks; it was about stereotypes. More exactly, the English version of
stereotypes and is riddled with errors. Can you imagine an Alabama county
that had only ONE frog-gigger?
> The term "cattywampus" is dialectically wrong; it should be "cattywhumpus"
or "cattywompus." Miz Hodges sez "As sure as grits is grits," when any fan
of country music could tell you this expression should be in the form of a
comparative, as: "If I doan
> love you, then grits ain't groceries!"
>
> Perhaps somebody should write an American parody about a famous
English fall, like Wold Cottage?
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

----
> RYAN PAWELSKI wrote:
>
> > Actually, there is no such thing as an Alabama "hick", there are only
"rednecks" in Alabama. Just to clear things up, the following are the three
different subgroups of the of the "subclassy" society, better known as
hicks, hillbillys, and rednecks:
> >
> > Hicks: Found in Midwestern states such as Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin,
Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
> >
> > Hillbillys (mountains or hills): Found in Appalachian and Ozark states
such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas (Or "Our Kansas", because the
hillbilly founders were jealous that Kansas had a "too-cool-for-school"
name).
> >
> > Rednecks (from hot southern sun): Found in south, southwestern, and
southeastern states such as Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana,
Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.
> >
> > Maybe Jeff Foxworthy should write a word collection with all this here
information in it!
> >
> > Anyway, hope I helped ya'll in decipherin' them terms!
> >
> > -Ryan
> >
> >
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

Received on Tue 02 Dec 2003 09:44:34 AM PST