# "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:** 3
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/41 "2009-05-19T14:06:02Z")
In Francophone Africa they’d be _villageois_, the _village_ being as much a state of mind as a physical place. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/42 "2009-05-19T15:09:56Z")
We’ve had contributions from Canada, from France, so here’s the French-Canadian version: Habitant. _litt_. an inhabitant, one who inhabits the country-side. The pejorative aspect is debatable, however, since there was such a long period of French-Canadian culture where the church glorified rural agricultural life as morally superior as it was apart from the sinful cities, and reprehensible practises of commerce, business and finance. For a long time it could be synonymous with French-Canadian (as opposed to English Canadians in Quebec), esp. before 1950 or so. As more and more French-Canadians moved to the cities and engaged in commerce & business, it lost it’s association with all French-Canadians and came to refer more to those who remained rural. Although it can be used as an insult, it can also be used with pride, depending on one’s perspective, so the meaning is dependent on context. Interestingly, the H in the [logo of the Montreal Canadiens](http://images.google.ca/images?q=montreal+canadians+logo&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=JsoSSp3wPKDwswOb6pjyDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title) NHL team stands for Habitants, and the teams is often affectionately referred to as the “Habs” In the history of Hockey, the Canadians were the team that represented the French-Canadians, while the \*eeevil \*oppressing English bourgeoisie was represented by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Other Quebec dopers, feel free to chip in. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/43 "2009-05-19T15:33:53Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > We’ve had contributions from Canada, from France, so here’s the French-Canadian version: > > Habitant. _litt_. an inhabitant, one who inhabits the country-side. That’s really an old term, I don’t hear it at all today. And I don’t believe it has a pejorative connotation either. I can’t think of any exact equivalent to “redneck” in Canadian French. Maybe “colon” (colonist), which is pejorative but connotates stupidity or naivety more than a rural lack of sophistication, despite the term’s probable origin. Not an exact match, but it’s the closest I’ve been able to find. But honestly, if I wanted to talk about rednecks, I’d probably just use “redneck”, even when speaking French. > [@](#): > > Interestingly, the H in the [logo of the Montreal Canadiens](http://images.google.ca/images?q=montreal+canadians+logo&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=JsoSSp3wPKDwswOb6pjyDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title) NHL team stands for Habitants No it does not, it stands for “hockey”, as in “Club de hockey canadien”. You may have noticed them using [this related design](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/MontrealCanadiens1913.png) last season, to celebrate their 100th anniversary. It stands for “Club athlétique canadien”. ---
**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 19, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/44 "2009-05-19T17:15:57Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Usage may vary, but for me, a stubblejumper just means someone from the rural parts of the prairie provinces, or even just from the prairies generally, including the cities. I don’t think it has the connotations that redneck has. I wouldn’t mind being called a ‘stubblejumper’, but I’d be bothered by being called a redneck. Sliding off-topic, my cousin referred to the young lads who’d motor into his yard to converse with his pubescent daughters “gunnits”, due to their vrooming habits. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/45 "2009-05-19T23:03:11Z")
‘swede-bashers’ or ‘carrot-crunchers’. ‘_Redneck_’ in the sense of ‘_country-dweller with socially conservative/extreme right-wing views_’ does not really fly here. ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/46 "2009-05-19T23:08:43Z")
**Hibernicus** has already mentioned _culchies_, but in Ireland we also have _bogtrotters_. We use _redneck_ too. I’d say they’d all be considered moderately offensive. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/47 "2009-05-19T23:25:24Z")
I notice I’ve been beaten to the punch for the Australian one of **Bogan**. However I’ve also always enjoyed a more regional version, which I understand is restricted to Queensland which is a **Bevan**. Both of these terms though are closer I think to the trailer-trash theme, far more so than a ‘redneck’. I may be wrong, but doesn’t redneck have connotations of backwoods rural sort of person? Both Bogan and Bevan are very much urban-dwellers. ---
**Author:** ![MarcinCiez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@MarcinCiez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcinCiez)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/48 "2009-05-20T01:17:35Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Both of these terms though are closer I think to the trailer-trash theme, far more so than a ‘redneck’. I may be wrong, but doesn’t redneck have connotations of backwoods rural sort of person? > Both Bogan and Bevan are very much urban-dwellers. Redneck has a connotation or racist, backWARD\* kind of person. Bogan/Bevan is, as you pointed out, like trailer-trash (in da US). It is more a reference to people from poorer metro “satelite” cities. Plus we have many other inventive words for stupid half-witted people. Such as the Aussie [drongo](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drongo). \*I’m not correcting you, I’m just pointing out that I did in fact mean to write ‘backward’, as opposed to ‘backwood’. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/49 "2009-05-20T02:50:48Z")
In Venezuela we have the word “campesino” (of the fields, farmer) which is never taken as derogatory. There is also “campuruso” (which is a variation of “campesino” but with a derogatory termination) which is always derogatory. So it is easy to know whether you are being insulting or not. As Karl said, in Puerto Rico it is not as clear since “jibaro” can be used affectionately or insultingly and it is context that makes the difference. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/50 "2009-05-20T04:12:35Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’d come awfully close to suggesting “naco” for Mexico. My wife is a real Mexican, and she’s never satisfactorily supplied a good, equivalent expression. Heck, I think I’ve got her using “cuello rojo” and “basura blanca” these days. Yeah, “naco” is a closer fit to “redneck” than most other terms I can think of. There’s also “indio” literally meaning “indian” and generally is used to signify lack of sophistication. It comes from the long history of the mistreatment of native Mexicans from the more mestizo populace. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/51 "2009-05-20T07:55:27Z")
In Spain other words that are derogatory indicating an utter lack of culture and manners are names of different “barbarian” groups: vándalo, bárbaro, mameluco or the cafre that **sailor** mentioned… but they normally carry connotations of physical violence. ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/52 "2009-05-20T13:03:23Z")
In slovenian that would be kmetavzar (peasant, despicably) or rovtar (someone from small, unknown and distant village). ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/53 "2009-05-20T17:27:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Hibernicus has already mentioned culchies, but in Ireland we also have bogtrotters. We use redneck too. > > I’d say they’d all be considered moderately offensive Also ‘boggers’ and ‘bogmonsters’. I’d say ‘bogmonster’ is the most insulting - the rest can be used to insult someone simply on the basis of where he comes from, but ‘bogmonster’ implies that this specific person is wayyyyy off at one end of the spectrum of sheep-shagging, inbred, semi-intelligible, three-mile-radius, potato-bound, priest-worshipping redneckhood. Anyone from, say, rural Mayo can be called a culchie; only someone who’s actively afraid of pasta and buses really counts as a bogmonster. ---
**Author:** ![citizen69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@citizen69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/citizen69)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/54 "2009-05-20T17:28:20Z")
In Northern Ireland we use the terms ‘culchie’ which i think refers to agriculture. We also use the term ‘Hillbilly’ which is where the word originates. The first recorded usage of the word hillbilly was in the 1680’s by the catholic King James II in ireland. he used the word to refer to the supporters of the protestant King William III in the North of Ireland. Those people were the Scots-Irish, the name followed them to America. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/55 "2009-05-20T17:32:14Z")
P.S. Also, another vote for ‘nekulturny’ being pre-Soviet - my mother’s side of the family got booted out of Russia during the Revolution, and we use it as a fairly major put-down. I also agree that it doesn’t necessarily imply ruralness, though. Just ignorance and vulgarity. ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/56 "2009-05-20T20:19:43Z")
I belive nekulturny (nekulturen in my language) has something diffrent conotation than simple being redneck. Let me explain: If I went to champagne reception in my jogging clothes on purpose (as - I know it is champagne reception and don’t give a crap)… nekulturny If I went to champagne reception in my jogging clothes as per se. (as - Ah look cool free sparking alcohol and where is roasted swine?)… redneck ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/57 "2009-05-20T20:29:12Z")
> [@citizen69](#): > > In Northern Ireland we use the terms ‘culchie’ which i think refers to agriculture. > > We also use the term ‘Hillbilly’ which is where the word originates. The first recorded usage of the word hillbilly was in the 1680’s by the catholic King James II in ireland. he used the word to refer to the supporters of the protestant King William III in the North of Ireland. Those people were the Scots-Irish, the name followed them to America. Do you have a cite for that? Etymonline says the following: “southern Appalachian resident,” c.1900, from _hill_ + masc. proper name _Billy/Billie._ As a type of folk music, first attested 1924. “In short, a Hill-Billie is a free and untrammelled white citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires of his revolver as the fancy takes him.” [“New York Journal,” April 23, 1900] ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/58 "2009-05-20T20:45:52Z")
I’m not positive about this one, as I could be mistaken and remembering differently, but I believe colloquially in Germany, the name _Eberhard_, is synonomyous with a redneck. It’s used much like Cletus, or Billie Bob, or Bubba. It infers a ‘redneck’ by its usage. Der Eberhard (Boar’s Heart) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/59 "2009-05-21T09:28:15Z")
In Dutch: Boer (should be self-explanatory) or provinciaal: from the province, or more precise: not from Amsterdam. ---
**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 21, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516/60 "2009-05-21T13:13:20Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > “In short, a Hill-Billie is a free and untrammelled white citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires of his revolver as the fancy takes him.” [“New York Journal,” April 23, 1900] My word for that description is “Family.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-in-other-languages/496516.md?page=4)