Okay, Charlotte. What does redneck mean to you? (sales, shop)

[nyxmike]

Originally Posted by MommyV

[SIZE=3]After painstakingly reading all these posts, I find it a bit shocking that almost everyone thinks that redneck is a derogatory term and even more baffled at how anyone can correlate it to ‘white trash’.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Redneck, as I think Loves stated earlier, is from the red necks farmers get from working in the fields. These are people that enjoy the simpler things in life that find happiness in God and each other rather than the latest and the greatest in technology or automation. So, they might be behind the times, but I envy that… the simple life. It shouldn’t be looked down on.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]When I hear ‘white trash’, I think of a person that uses vulgar language and has no respect for their self. These are 2 very different things.[/SIZE]

Well, that is where the word "redneck" originated from. As time goes by, things change, and so do the meaning of words. It has evolved into a derogatory word that has different meanings to certain people depending on their perception of things.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by nyxmike

Well, that is where the word "redneck" originated from. As time goes by, things change, and so do the meaning of words. It has evolved into a derogatory word that has different meanings to certain people depending on their perception of things.

Exactly - and exploring that was the very reason I posted this thread.

[leavincainjuly]

I was raised thinking that rednecks were inherently racist. My mother used to refer to the people that lived near the resort where we owned a house as rednecks, because they gave our family trouble for being the only black family that owned a home there. So when someone says they are a redneck, it used to send a shiver down my spine. Then I got into country radio. The morning DJ on my station uses it describe what other posters on here have referred to as Good Ole Boys. Of course, as a Black woman from California, there term GOB also connotes racism, but that is only because of how it is used around here. As far as all of those stereotypes about southerners, every one of Foxworthy's jokes applies to someone in my Black, Northern family, so go figure!

[leavincainjuly]

I didn't say it above, but interacting with self-described rednecks and GOBs has made me realize that neither of terms are inherently racist after all!

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by leavincainjuly

I was raised thinking that rednecks were inherently racist. My mother used to refer to the people that lived near the resort where we owned a house as rednecks, because they gave our family trouble for being the only black family that owned a home there. So when someone says they are a redneck, it used to send a shiver down my spine. Then I got into country radio. The morning DJ on my station uses it describe what other posters on here have referred to as Good Ole Boys. Of course, as a Black woman from California, there term GOB also connotes racism, but that is only because of how it is used around here. As far as all of those stereotypes about southerners, every one of Foxworthy's jokes applies to someone in my Black, Northern family, so go figure!

Hee Hee Hee. Aren't stereotypes amazing!!!???? I have learned something on this thread - "redneck" does NOT mean the same thing to everyone. Now I was not expecting that! Until it came up on this thread - I did not realize that so many people equate "redneck" and "racist."

[PeytonC]

This is interesting. Taken from dictionary.reference.com :

red·neck:
–noun
1.an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.
2.a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.
–adjective
3.Also, red-necked. narrow, prejudiced, or reactionary: a redneck attitude.

[Origin: 1820–30, Americanism; red1 + neck]
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Man, they sure do use the southern reference alot. Who writes these definitions, anyway???!!


Also interesting:
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yup·pie :
–noun (often initial capital letter) a young, ambitious, and well-educated city-dweller who has a professional career and an affluent lifestyle.
Also, yuppy.

[Origin: 1980–85, Americanism; y(oung) u(rban) p(rofessional) <------ they made that one up!!!
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I think it is safe to assume who writes these definitions, huh?

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by PeytonC

This is interesting. Taken from dictionary.reference.com :

red·neck:
–noun
1.an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.
2.a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.
–adjective
3.Also, red-necked. narrow, prejudiced, or reactionary: a redneck attitude.

[Origin: 1820–30, Americanism; red1 + neck]
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Man, they sure do use the southern reference alot. Who writes these definitions, anyway???!!

Also interesting:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

yup·pie :
–noun (often initial capital letter) a young, ambitious, and well-educated city-dweller who has a professional career and an affluent lifestyle.
Also, yuppy.

[Origin: 1980–85, Americanism; y(oung) u(rban) p(rofessional)

I think it is safe to assume who writes these definitions, huh?

LOL!!! I guess the Yuppies who live outside the South write them!!!

[PeytonC]

Originally Posted by anifani821

LOL!!! I guess the Yuppies who live outside the South write them!!!

Yup.

[Visvaldis]

Yuppies are not restricted to the North. Surely, the South has plenty of them as well.
Redneck (to me) is:
men wearing their baseball caps backwards, or shaving their heads to to be more macho. The caps have beer logos. Some wear bandanas, the utility I have never figured out. Maybe I'll ask one sometime.
Men that rip off the sleeves on their shirts to show their arms to be more macho. Has anyone ever seen the shirt with the inscription "101% Redneck"?
I've even encountered men that try to talk with a deep voice to be more macho. Bizarre to hear when it is not his usual voice.
Rednecks generally value brawn over brain.
Rednecks ride Harleys, the kind you can hear 3 miles away. Many redneck biker chicks (blondes) should wear a sign on their butts that reads "Double Wide".
Rednecks love to fight. There's nothing like going out, gittin' all likkered up, and using the fists.
Rednecks have bumper stickers like God Bless America, My President is Charleton Heston, NASCAR, One Nation Under God, 3 Things That Made This Country Great: God, Guns, and Guts, Bush/Cheney, Proud To Be An American Redneck, Praise The Lord & Pass The Ammo. I've seen all of these.
Rednecks have a flag next to their trailers, as well as an old car, old applicances, bicycles, and plenty of odds and ends sticking out among the waist high weeds. The 10 Commandments sign is in the mowed area.
Rednecks are easy to fool by politicians. All that the politician has to say is God Bless America, and they'll follow you anywhere. Any politician that mentions god often enough gets their attention. Politicians (and talk show hosts) can convince rednecks of anything; Muslims are all out to kill us, France is a commie nation that hates America (some rednecks even know where France is located), liberals hate America, people who don't believe in god are evil, there's something wrong with people who don't own guns, blacks (and immigrants) get priority for everything and are living from the hard earned money of white workers.

[PeytonC]

^^Okay. I agree with some of what you have said. The sleeveless shirt thing is so true! However, the way you mixed politics in with your "definition" is a little funny. You seem to be saying (forgive me if I'm wrong) that a supporter of Bush/Cheney, dedicated Christian, is a redneck. I hope that is not what you are saying, as that would scream ignorance. I agree, some (alot) of the traditional southern conservatives go extreme at times, but you almost have a tone in your post (again, forgive me if I'm reading too much into it) that reminds me of a pseudo-intellectual, out-of-touch Al franken devotee.