Yokel (also commonly known as "Hicks") is a derogatory term to refer to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people. A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression" is a generalized perception of first impressions behaviors presumed by a group In America, is commonly used as a derogatory term for someone from the rural South or Midwest; the word is almost synonymous with Bumpkin.

Stereotype

In England yokels are traditionally depicted as wearing the old West Country farmhand's dress of straw hat and white smock, chewing or sucking a piece of straw and carrying a pitchfork or rake, listening to Scrumpy and Western music. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region A farmer is a person who raises living organisms for food or raw materials For the 1974 Soviet film see The Straw Hat. For the crew from One Piece, see Straw Hat Pirates. Straw is an agricultural By-product, the dry stalk of a Cereal plant after the Grain or Seed has been removed Scrumpy and Western refers humorously to music from England 's West Country that fuses comical folk-style songs often full of Double entendre, with affectionate Yokels are portrayed as living in rural areas of Britain such as the Yorkshire Dales, the West Country, Wales or East Anglia. The Yorkshire Dales (also known as The Dales) is the name given to an upland area in Northern England. The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region East Anglia is often used as a shorthand for the Kingdom of the East Angles. English yokels speak a country dialect from some part of England. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of [1]

Yokels are depicted as straightforward and simple, but they aren't easily deceived as they easily see through false pretenses.

Yokels are also depicted as talking about bucolic topics like cows, sheep, goats, wheat, alfalfa, fields, crops, tractors, and buxom wenches to the exclusion of all else and dont seem to be aware of or at least show interest in the world outside of their own surroundings. Pastoral, as an adjective refers to the lifestyle of Shepherds and Pastoralists moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability Promiscuity refers to sexual behavior of a man or woman who casually has sex with many partners

Etymology

The word may derive either from a comic mispronunciation of the word 'local', from a dialect word 'yokel' meaning 'woodpecker' or from the Somerset word 'yogel' meaning 'owl', owls being common in Somerset. The woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks are a family, Picidae, of Near-passerine Birds. Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county The Owls are an order of birds of prey. Most are Solitary, and nocturnal, with some exceptions (e

Usage

The development of television brought many previously isolated communities into mainstream British culture in the 1950s and 1960s. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 The Internet continues this integration, further eroding the town/country divide. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks In the 21st century British country folk are less frequently seen as yokels. The 21st century is the current century of the Christian Era or Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. In British TV Show The Two Ronnies, it was asserted that despite political correctness, it is possible to poke fun at yokels as nobody sees themselves as being one. The Two Ronnies was a British Sketch show that aired on BBC 1 from 1971 to 1987 Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior

Origins for "Hicks"

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. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English 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. Andrew Jackson (March 15 1767 June 8 1845 was the seventh President of the United States (1829&ndash1837 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the This nickname suggested that Jackson was tough and enduring like an old Hickory tree. Trees in the genus Carya (from Ancient Greek κάρυον " Nut " are commonly known as Hickory. 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 and the South. Appalachia is a term used to describe a region in the eastern United States that stretches from southern New York state to northern Alabama,

Further Information

Famous fictional yokels

• Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, a character from The Simpsons. Cletus Delroy Spuckler is a recurring character in the FOX animated series The Simpsons, and is voiced by Hank Azaria.
• The name of the villain in the film Cars is Chick Hicks, a trash-talking southern anthropomorphized car. Cars is a 2006 animated Feature film produced by Pixar and directed by both John Lasseter and Joe Ranft.
• The Yokels portaryed by Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in The Two Ronnies. The Two Ronnies was a British Sketch show that aired on BBC 1 from 1971 to 1987
• The nurse in South Pacific describes herself as a "hick" from Little Rock, Arkansas. South Pacific is a musical, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and book by both Hammerstein and Joshua
• Ross Lloyd-Butler also known as "Inman" in Cold Mountain is a notorious hick
• Niko Bellic

See also

• Moonrakers
• Hillbilly, a term with similar connotations in North America. Moonrakers is the Colloquial name for people from Wiltshire, a County of South West England in the West Country. Hillbilly is a term referring to people who dwell in remote Rural, Mountainous areas of the United States, primarily southern Appalachia and
• Mountain men
• Redneck
• Village idiot

External links

• Wiltshire Poems(English Poems: This web site has an illustration of the traditional Wiltshire/Somerset smock and floppy hat. The Mountain Men is also the name of a 1980 movie starring Charlton Heston. Redneck refers to a Stereotype of usually Rural, Caucasian (i Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county )

• The Man from Ironbark, (An Aussie Poem)
  Note for readers who speak English as a second language, Aussie means Australian.

• [2] (yokel mentioned here, elucidating to some, maybe)

References

• Yokel

Further Reading

Goad, Jim. (1997). The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America's Scapegoats. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684838648