a city hick? Apologies all around for the hicks who are offended. Being an equal opportunity hickbasher, I am trying to find the right word for a person who acts like a hick but lives in the city since I see so many of them around. (Like the child beaters who had 10 kids at the polls last night who kept throwing one of the kids around and forced there other 9 kids to sit on the steps hitting them with a switch everytime they moved. They constantly yell-talked at eachother. A yell-talk is a form of conversation where every word is yelled but not in an argumentative manner. I was happy to see them leave.)
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Silly Satan, I want something that is even more descriptive that fits the total stereotype of hickdom but for a city denizon. I think I can write it into a short story or something.
"yob, yobbo noun [C] BRITISH AND AUSTRALIAN INFORMAL
a young man who behaves in a very rude, offensive and sometimes violent way " --Cambridge Dictionary Online
Not exactly a hick but it describes the loutish, rude, violent behaviour you described.
I always understood ‘yobbo’ to basically refer to what here in the USA we might call a ‘punk’, a kid that acts antisocially and destructively. For instance, the participants in soccer riots are often called ‘yobs’. I don’t think it quite fits what you want.
In my city (Seattle), we don’t put any rural requirement on ‘redneck’. At least, that’s what I call urban hicks, as well as the non-urban ones.
In fact, there are plenty of highly-skilled, upper-middleclass rednecks hereabouts.
Also, you missed my point. I was more curious if there was actually a word that basically has the same stereotypical meaning for the wifebeaters/moonshine brewers/child neglecting urbanites as hick has for the wifebeaters/moonshine brewers/child neglecting rural people. Sorry if this offended you, it was not my intention.
PS. Hick and the to be determined urban version of the word to me only refers to behavioural aspects such as the wifebeating etc that I listed above.
One other thing, Tris, I don’t believe this to be bigotry personally, but I don’t want a debate here. Please if you want to hijack my thread, go into Great Debates (preferrably) or if you must, the Pit, where I will be more than happy to explain further.
With all due respect to Tris, I don’t think it’s inherently bigotted to want to label people. I have a friend who has darker skin than I do, is decended from slaves who were brought to this country from Africa, and grew up in a community in which most people, including her family, have dark skin, are decendents of African slaves, listen to jazz, rap, gospel or R&B, enjoy eating soul food, belong to the AME, CME, AMEZ or (non-Southern) Baptist church, and are likely to enjoy the poetry of Langston Hughes more than that of Shelly. Is it bigotted of me to call her Black? She doesn’t seem to mind.
Granted, Sqrl’s description of the group he wants to label is less than flattering. But come on, we all knew exactly what he was talking about. There is a definable group of people who are white, lower-class city-dwellers who are culturally more similar to poor rural whites than to other cityfolk, and I think we need a name for them. Some of the words suggested so far come close, but none of them quite pick out this group precicely.
BTW, I also think its fair to say that a lot of the cultural characteristics of this group are the sort that are held in low esteem by others. I am not sure what to about this, since many of these characteristics are objectively undesireable, but are also the result of social conditions WE (I’m speaking here to my fellow members of the middle and upper classes) have a lot more control over than they themselves do. We can (and should) be doing things a lot more constructive than mocking and otherwise bad-mouthing these people. But I’m not sure we all have to stop telling redneck jokes. I hope not. I know some doozies.
I should add also that this isn’t necessarily an income contingent factor as I have known several wealthy people who I would consider urban hicks like Dave Thomas (Wendy’s founder… although he does some nice things a lot of his ideas are very backwards), my father (middle class and about 90% backwards but has been changing since I came out), Jerry Falwell (I suppose he has money and he lives in the city I think…), etc.
Well, a country hick who acts in the manner you describe is also known as a “redneck”. And, the shadows of the buildings in the city keep a person from getting subburned. So, how about “paleneck”?
I’m curious how many of you have actually used or heard hick to mean anything other than an unrefined dweller of the countryside (in opposition to its natural countrpart, the slicker who is seen as a shrewd and cunning city dweller).
I have never in my (advancing) life heard hick assigned attributes such as “wife-beater.” It doesn’t even make sense (not that language is a logical process), given that one attribute of a hick is his affability and lack of any intense emotion.
Is this new? Do people say hick when they mean red neck (or worse). Or has SqrlCub simply siezed on a word that is little-used, these days, and imposed his own connotations. (NTTAWWT, except that you won’t convey your meaning to anyone who does not associate hicks with rednecks–the term that would most likely convey the image that you are portraying.)
