Redneck vs. Hillbilly

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So this thread is about making up meanings for words?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly

The OP had it all wrong.
What he calls a hill billy is a redneck(hateful, racist,etc)
What he calls a redneck is a "good ole boy".( blue collar rural but w/o the attitude).

A Hill Billy has to be from the hills- the appalachians or the Ozarks.
Somefrom an isolated poverty pocket. But not necessarily bigoted nor even identifying with the confederacy ( west virginia seceded from the CSA and regoined the Union).

If your from the flat texas pan handle you could be redneck or a good ole boy but not a hill billy.

This thread is over 4 years old.

I have a friend who comes from a little town in my home state of Washington. He used to argued that rednecks can be eloquent, can recite Shakespeare (as his father can), and are over all of a noble breed. Since living in Spokane for a number of years, his views of small town and rural people has changed, in particular concerning homophobia, and over all being way too socially conservative for their own good.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Literally, a redneck would have a red neck from working outside all day. A hillbilly would be from the Appalachian foothills or the Ozark Mountains. In the St. Louis area, we call them hoosiers (not as in people from Indiana).

the myth about the term redneck coming from the sun burning one's neck is one of those that is widely held and believed, but wrong. the term was first used by journalist covering the battle of blair mountain ( wiki page about the battle ), where the union supporting, and proud west virginian hillbilly coal miners wore red bandannas around their necks so they knew who their friends were in battle. it was actually used as a term of solidarity for the men fighting to bring workers rights to coal miners in the neighboring county.
fascinating piece of american history too few know about.

Then from now on, I will no longer use the term "redneck" in a derogatory manner.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

When in doubt, research:

No connotation or denotation of racism or political perspective in implied in any of the citations.



Here the sense of the word is much more cleared aligned with particular attitudes.

Incidentally, the citations do not support JasonGone's suggestion about the origin. The Battle of Blair Mountain took place in 1921. The earliest citation of the term in the OED is dated 1830 from Southern Tour by A.Royall, which predates the Battle of Blair Mountain by some 91 years. There are three further citations that predate the battle (from 1891, 1904 and 1913).

I haven't looked up the actual entymology or origin of the word, but somebody once told me that "Redneck" came from the fact that whites working for the slaveowners would oversee African slaves working the fields. In the hot of day, their necks would get burned red.

I don't know if this is the real origin of the term and come to think of it it probably isn't, but still one interesting post hoc origin story.

sweet. thanks for the info.

Then in that case, I'll keep calling ignorant crackers rednecks.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Screw you OP, there are more racist rednecks than racist hillbillies. The big difference is that hillbillies come from the hills, mostly the Appalachians or the Ozarks.

The original poster made that original post eleven years ago. I doubt he will ever see your response.

Yeah for some reason this thread popped up in the recommended threads at the bottom of the screen. Maybe have them not pop up if there has been inactivity for more than six months.

I’m a hillbilly,sixth generation Ozarker and proud of it.

I always thought that hillbilly didn't have the negative connotation that redneck does.