# What's the difference between hillbillies, rednecks, and briars? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202 "2003-08-05T21:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/41 "2013-01-25T10:17:46Z")
I’ve never heard the expression “briars.” I think of redneck as being a state of mind and hillbilly denoting a location, although we just call ourselves country. I just thought of this: why does a drawl mean dim-witted? It’s an accent, right? We don’t think French, Scottish etc. accents automatically equate stupid, so why are we so derisively dismissive of differently-spoken English? (Try saying that four times, fast.) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/42 "2013-01-25T11:58:11Z")
> [@Girl\_Next\_Door](#): > > Only person I’ve ever heard use the term “briar” is my husband, who was born and raised in … wait for it … Dayton, Ohio. Fascinating how it’s such a regional term. I still live/work around Dayton, and frequently here the term being used. So based on the responses in this zombie, it looks like there’s lots of overlap – but distinct differences – between hillbillies rednecks good ol’ boys white trash ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/43 "2013-01-25T13:27:02Z")
My mother came from hillbilly stock in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. The term described backwards mountain folk, although by the mid-20th century, towns in the Ozarks were pushing the “hillbilly” tag for tourism. The football team of my mother’s high school was even called the Hillbillies. Rednecks are the people I grew up among in West Texas. Knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers. But nary a mountain sight. Briars. Never heard of them. EDIT: Wait a minute. Briars. Maybe you’re thinking of Br’er? As in Br’er Rabbit, the Uncle Remus stories? If so, I believe that was regional for “brother.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/44 "2013-01-25T13:59:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > EDIT: Wait a minute. Briars. Maybe you’re thinking of Br’er? As in Br’er Rabbit, the Uncle Remus stories? If so, I believe that was regional for “brother.” That would make great sense, if it’s true. Br’er and Bro and Bruh and Brah sound much alike if you say them like a rurally located person might. We mustn’t ignore the power that Jeff Foxworthy has bestowed on Rednecks. It’s almost a badge of honor nowadays. Li’l Abner may be the prototype for Hillbillies that the Beverly Hills group attempted to emulate. My all-time favorite depiction of White Trash was [God’s Little Acre (1958)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051666/?ref_=sr_1) which was by the author of [Tobacco Road (1941)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034297/) and which led me to a favorite expression: “pluperfect hell.” ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/45 "2013-01-25T15:22:08Z")
Fuckin’ A well tole Buddy Roe. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/46 "2013-01-25T15:27:34Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I have heard “redneck” used in two ways. > > 1. Someone who calls themselves a redneck is signifying they are socially conservative (usually), outdoorsy (huntin’ and fishin’), non-pretentious (working-class or from working-class roots), and most importantly PROUD. “Redneck” is akin to an ethnicity for the self-identifiers. Check for the rebel flag on their truck. As someone who grew up in the South, this is my definition of a redneck. It is not so much as a pejorative as a culture/attitude. Its just another identifier like “hipster.” I have a black friend that is constantly out hunting, fishing, is very conservative, and enjoys driving around in his big truck. When I describe him to someone else, he is “black redneck.” Many people use it to mean racist and uneducated, but that side of the South has been fading out for many years. Is it still there? Of course. But most of the young “rednecks” I know are engineering majors and are not (overtly at least) racist. Edited to add: A briar is a bush with thorns on it last I heard. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/47 "2013-01-25T15:33:47Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > Fuckin’ A well tole Buddy Roe. > > 🙂 Damn if that don’t sound like Gus Grissom (as played by Fred Ward) in [The Right Stuff (1983)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/?ref_=sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/48 "2013-01-25T16:04:11Z")
_Briar_ does indeed come from _briar hopper_, and almost exclusively referred to people from Kentucky. So, hearing them referred to as Briars in and around Cincinnati/Dayton would be logical. There were countryh/hillbilly singing groups on the radio from Cincinnati called “Briar Hopper Boys” as early as 1931. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/49 "2013-01-25T16:20:25Z")
I confess I’ve never heard of briars. When I hear redneck, I think southerners, NASCAR fans, NRA types, guys who fix things with duct tape. Hillbillies I think mountaineers, moonshiners, guys with missing teeth, guys who hate revenuers and keep shootin’ irons. A third class I use is hayseed, which would be northern or plains rural folk who hate the government and love their Bible, have their homemade pies every Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/50 "2013-01-25T16:34:51Z")
A redneck is poor, carries guns, and drinks and smokes to excess. A hillbilly is all of those things plus he sleeps with his sister. Geographically, I associate rednecks with the South and hillbillies with Appalachia. Central West Virginia is full of hillbillies. Central North Carolina is full of rednecks. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/51 "2013-01-25T17:24:52Z")
To me hillbilly conveys a sense of ignorance due to social isolation. Redneck is more of a role someone is choosing to play, possibly as a way to excuse ignorant behavior. Never heard of briars. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_Next\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/52 "2013-01-25T17:57:25Z")
I’m currently surveying all three of my Kentucky friends to see if they know of the term “briar”. Will report back with my findings. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/53 "2013-01-25T18:10:24Z")
Hillbillies are redneck-like people who dwell in and between the Appalachians and the Ozarks. Rednecks are hillbilly-like people who dwell everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/54 "2013-01-26T03:29:43Z")
> [@Max\_Carnage](#): > > Good ol boys, of course, never mean no harm, beat all you ever saw, been in trouble with the law since the day they was born. > > Actually good ol boys and rednecks are opposites. Rednecks are assholes, while good ol boys will loan you their pickups when you’re moving. Max, you hit the note. We got both kind here in NW Washington, but most a’ them 'necks have never been in the woods and hate on everyone that isn’t just like them. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/55 "2013-01-27T00:45:13Z")
I don’t know, I refer to myself as a redneck all the time. As a joke, but lots of people would say I was. I live in rural Illinois. I grew up on a farm, I wear a farmer’s/baseball cap all the time, I have a twangy accent, I work in a welding shop and get dirty at work, I am generally conservative in political opinions, and I am quite religious. But- I am not the slightest bit racist, nor do I drink beer. Nor am I most of the other unpleasant things associated with rednecks, like being mean to women or much of a gun person (I support gun rights, but have never fired a gun in my life). So am I a redneck, a hillbilly, a good ol’ boy, or something else? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/56 "2013-01-27T01:46:03Z")
Look for the tin of Skoal or pouch of Red Man in the pocket. You just met a Redneck. Rednecks are typically found in the suburbs or semi-rural areas. They very much love the country life but probably work blue collar jobs in town. Hillbillies are the real thing. They actually live 40 miles from nowhere. Some in extreme poverty. The ones I’ve known were really good god loving people. Very proud of their heritage. But of course theres always bad people in any population. I’ve lived in the South most of my life. Known a lot of rednecks and made a lot of friends. But they are different than your typical Southerner. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/57 "2013-01-27T03:34:37Z")
How can you tell if you’re a redneck? [Here’s a start](http://www.countryhumor.com/redneck/mightbe.htm). And here is some info on [being a Bubba](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgBS_hTxSXE). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/58 "2013-01-27T03:39:58Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > **Rednecks** > MLBs John Rocker > Those guys in the Dodge “HEMI” commercial > Strom Thurmond A person who went to Clemson and pledged to a fraternity is not a redneck. Rednecks, however, can live anywhere; hillbillies have a geographic range. Also, they are not mutually exclusive. A person can be both a redneck and a hillbilly. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/59 "2013-01-27T04:26:00Z")
Hillbilly is geographically limited: it means specifically Appalachian peoples (and Ozark too, I think). Flatlanders can’t be hillbillies, obviously. Rednecks can be from anywhere in the country (and they’re mostly flatlanders). Then there’s Missouri, where “hoosier” is the worst, lowest, most offensive thing you can call somebody. It means an unlikable rural person with no redeeming qualities. I have no idea why Missourians have taken the word that Indianans call themselves with pride and turned it into a pejorative. But Missourians and Indianans don’t seem to take much notice of each other anyway. Just settle for knowing that the respectable Indiana term has a capital H, while the derogative Missouri term is lowercased. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202/60 "2013-01-27T06:13:19Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I also grew up in the Miami Valley (Dayton, OH) area, and “briar” was a commonly-use term. I still live in the area and hear it on occasion. Born and raised in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Never heard of “briar” in that sense in my life until now. Sometimes I wonder what’s Cleveland doing in Ohio anyway. There’s the Western Reserve and then there’s the rest of Ohio; it’s like two different states in one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-hillbillies-rednecks-and-briars/193202.md?page=4)