
Originally Posted by
freeringo
THE ORIGINS OF "HICK"
According to the Oxford English dictionary the term is a "by-form" of the personal name Richard (like Dick) and Hob (like Bob) for Robert. Although the English word "hick" is of recent vintage, distinctions between urban and rural dwellers are ancient.
According to a popular etymology derives from the nickname "Old Hickory" for Andrew Jackson, one of the first Presidents of the United States to come from rural hard-scrabble roots. This nickname suggested that Jackson was tough and enduring like an old Hickory tree. Jackson was particularly admired by the residents of remote and mountainous areas of the United States, people who would come to be known as "hicks."
Though not a term explicitly denoting lower class, some argue that the term degrades impoverished rural people and that "hicks" continue as one of the few groups that can be ridiculed and stereotyped with impunity. In "The Redneck Manifesto," Jim Goad argues that this stereotype has largely served to blind the general population to the economic exploitation of rural areas, specifically in Appalachia, the South, and parts of the Midwest.
I am damned proud to be known as a Hick.
Mountain and rural folk know how to live within their means
that's for sure. We don't feel we need to keep up with our neighbors.
This is where I would normally turn this around and ask why you would
classify people in catagories. But I won't and instead say that, we all need to look at this and laugh at ourselves for the times we actually looked like a hick once or twice. Who can say they didn't go to a store in the last month in slippers or a dirty shirt or not shaved and showered. Our wonderful country is full of hicks,
Our last president and American idol winner were hicks.
Who's to say hicks aren't better off than the white collar educated person who can't be happy unless they are over exceeding in some way or another.
Much Love for Hicks