redneck

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Compound of red +‎ neck. Compare rooinek. The term originally characterized farmers that had a red neck, caused by sunburn from long hours working in the fields.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈɹɛdnɛk/
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Noun[edit]

redneck (plural rednecks)

  1. (slang, usually derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A poor, rural, usually white, person from the Southern United States or parts of the Midwest and Northeast, especially one whose beliefs are seen as unsophisticated and backward; sometimes with additional connotations of being bigoted.
    • 1989, “Fight the Power”, in Fear of a Black Planet, performed by Public Enemy:
      Sample a look back you look and find / Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check
  2. (historical, slang, US) Any of the miners who wore red bandanas for identification during the West Virginia mine war of 1921.[1]
  3. (historical, slang, US) A member of a certain Baltimore street gang, active in 1859.[2]
  4. (UK, archaic, 19th and 20th centuries, religious slur) A Roman Catholic.[3]

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “West Virginia Division of Culture and History”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎[1], 2008 March 30 (last accessed), archived from the original on 4 June 2013
  2. ^ The New York Times (New York, New York), 3 November 1859, Thu • Page 4
  3. ^ The Raleigh Register, (Raleigh, North Carolina), 19 March 1841, Fri • Page 2
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