# "Redneck" in other languages **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516 "2009-05-15T12:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/1 "2009-05-15T12:08:02Z")
Here in the US we have lots of terms (of varying offensiveness) for country folk: redneck, hick, cracker, white trash, trailer park people… What do folks in other cultures call their rural residents? Are the terms used offensively? I asked my german friend and said they used the term Bauer (Farmer). So I’m not sure if he understood the exact nature of my question or if “Farmer” is used with negative connotations. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/2 "2009-05-15T12:57:49Z")
In South Africa, they pick on “Freelanders”, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/3 "2009-05-15T13:01:22Z")
You can use bonde (farmer) derogatorily in Norwegian, but if you want to be offensive it’s better to add a suffix. Bondeknøl and bondetamp are the options I can think of, and a quick searh shows bondetamp being used as a translation of redneck. ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/4 "2009-05-15T13:15:26Z")
The only offensive term I can think of in swedish is “bonnläpp”, or “bondläpp”, which literally means “farmers lip”. Presumably this is in reference to the idea that many country folks would use snuff, which you put under your upper lip. Put too much snuff under there, and it will be quite visible, and not very attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/5 "2009-05-15T13:25:30Z")
Bulgarians call them “selanko/a”, or “peasant”. It comes from the word “selo”, which means “village”. It’s a pretty bad insult. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/6 "2009-05-15T13:55:57Z")
In French : - paysan (yes, it’s the same as the English “peasant”, since you nicked it from us.). Not necessarily an insult or pejorative, can be either - a literal descriptive of someone who lives out in the country and works the land, or an expletive/adjective to mean uncouth. Always pejoratives : - cul-terreux (“one whose arse is covered in dirt/soil”), - bouseux (“one who comes from cow shite”), - pèque, pequenaud, pécore : all come from an Occitan word meaning “little” (Compare with Spanish : “pequeño”, “poco”), came to mean “little people” and now “rustics”. Speaking of which : - rustaud : deformation of “rustique” meaning, well, rustic. - plouc : apparently, loanword from Breton language meaning “parrishioner”. I never knew. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/7 "2009-05-15T14:17:20Z")
> [@Etumretniw](#): > > The only offensive term I can think of in swedish is “bonnläpp”, or “bondläpp”, which literally means “farmers lip”. Presumably this is in reference to the idea that many country folks would use snuff, which you put under your upper lip. Put too much snuff under there, and it will be quite visible, and not very attractive. What about plain “bonne” in Swedish? Preferably with a “jävla” (damn) in front of it. In Icelandic we’d say that something or someone is “sveitó” (farmerish) - but that’s used rather amiably. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/8 "2009-05-15T15:46:34Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > In South Africa, they pick on “Freelanders”, IIRC. Sorry, Free _Staters_. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/9 "2009-05-15T15:47:40Z")
In Austria: Burgerlanderen Literally “those of the castle country”, but used similarly to hillbilly or redneck in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/10 "2009-05-15T16:00:11Z")
Dutch: " boerepummel". It is a pretty bad insult, but it means “boorish” without the ignorant/racist connotations. However, it is one of those insults you can’t use in Dutch, because the speaker shows himself to be an arrogant uppity towner, which is a far worse sin then being boorish over here. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/11 "2009-05-15T16:09:38Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Sorry, Free _Staters_. :smack: I never heard that as an insulting term before. It seems a reasonable thing to call someone from Free State province a Free Stater, so it doesn’t seem more insulting then calling someone in the US a Californian or Floridian 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/12 "2009-05-15T16:19:26Z")
In Ireland, “culchies”. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/13 "2009-05-15T16:33:24Z")
The Romans also had several Latin names for country folk, but I’d say _agrestis_ - lit. “field squatter” was probably the one most commonly used as an offensive epithet. Cicero has a typical example in his _On the Orator_: “I don’t mean to say that the art (of oratory) is unable to refine anyone…but their are certain people who, either because of stuttering, or a jarring voice, or because they are fat and rustic (_agrestes_) in appearance and manner, even if they have talent and skill, will never be admitted to the circle of orators” (de Or. I.25.115). _Paganus_ - “countryman, villager, peasant” was a later term of abuse for country folk. While early Christianity grew in urban settings of the empire, rural areas were more resistant to the new religion, and soon this epithet–originally applied to “country bumpkins”–came to mean any anti-Christian “pagan” regardless of where he lived. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/14 "2009-05-15T16:41:57Z")
In Germany Hinterwäldler (n, m)/Hinterwäldlerin (n, f) - person from a very rural environment/worldview Provinzler (n, m)/Provinzlerin (n, f) - same, ‘provincial’ Landei (n, n) - ‘land egg’ - person unused to city ways - not always offensive, sometimes used self-deprecatingly Spießbürger (n, m)/Spießbürgerin (n, f, rare) - originially small-town burgher part of the town’s militia, armed with a spear - now person of a narrow, socially conventional and intolerant outlook When the occasion offers you can also mention the person’s tribe if it’s not your own (‘He’s an Upper Bavarian, what can you expect?’) ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/15 "2009-05-15T16:44:41Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > What about plain “bonne” in Swedish? Preferably with a “jävla” (damn) in front of it. Seeing as “bonde” (not bonne) literally means farmer, I don’t think that it is an offensive term in itself. Put a swearword in front of it, and sure, it may be seen as offensive, and insulting, but that goes for just about any noun, I think. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/16 "2009-05-15T16:50:09Z")
Mexico is interesting, because, despite its being an increasingly urban (and sometimes even urbane) society, the land-based, salt-of-the-earth peasant has been romanticized since at least the Revolution a century ago. So, no widespread derogatory phrase comes to mind – “campesino” (peasant) is just a neutral designation of one’s “profession”. The urban Aztecs did call various hick tribal peoples around them “Chichimecas”, which is said to have derogatory roots and shadings. Perhaps a real Mexican will come around this thread with a good equivalent of “redneck”. ---
**Author:** ![Grendel\_s\_Father](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grendel\_s\_Father](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grendel_s_Father)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/17 "2009-05-15T17:00:07Z")
In 'Stralian: [bogan](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bogan) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/18 "2009-05-15T17:18:05Z")
> [@Etumretniw](#): > > Seeing as “bonde” (not bonne) literally means farmer, I don’t think that it is an offensive term in itself. Put a swearword in front of it, and sure, it may be seen as offensive, and insulting, but that goes for just about any noun, I think. There’s a huge difference in pronouncing bonde and bonne. I’d say bonne is at least a bit offensive (at least in Skåne/Southern Sweden). ---
**Author:** ![The\_dread\_simoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_dread\_simoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_dread_simoom)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/19 "2009-05-15T17:32:17Z")
Au Canada, on the prairies, I’ve heard stubblejumper. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/20 "2009-05-15T22:36:33Z")
In Greece the we call them Vlachs: [QUOTE=[Vlachs - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlachs)] In Greece, the word Βλάχος (Vláhos) is often used as a slur against any supposedly uncouth or uncultured person. [/quote] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516.md?page=2)