Am I a hick?

The Online Etymology Dictionary says, Meaning “awkward provincial person” was established by 1700.

I’m wondering established where? My guess would be to call this an Americanism, but I wouldn’t put money on it. They also talk about “rube” having a similar definition and also from a man’s name; hick from Richard and rube from Reuben, both from essentially the same time period.

I don’t think either name evokes anything in particular these days. I was certainly surprised to learn that Hick was a pet name for Richard. Were these common names for “hicks” in 1700? If you saw the name Richard Smith in print, would you assume this person was “country” or would it be that only provincial people used the Hick pet name for Richard?

From “A New Dictionary of Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew” from about 1698, which was an English dictionary of Thieves’ Cant:

Hick: A Person of whom any Prey can be made, also a silly Country fellow.

And then in the 1702 play “Grief A-la-mode” “Richard Bumpkin! Ha! A perfect country hick!”

You’re a hick if you use 20 miles of copper wire to connect to the closest fiber optic cable.

So definitely not an Americanism.

When we moved out of the city several years ago, we first decided to become ‘hicks’. But the connotation was off, so we switched to ‘bumpkin’ and it’s been pleasant ever since.

Bumpkin:

Notice that ‘hick’ is an awkward provincial person, whereas ‘bumpkin’ is merely country. Small, but important, difference.