This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Hillbilly article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() | This article was the subject of an educational assignment in 2014 S. Further details were available on the "Education Program:Ohio University/Writing and Rhetoric II, Writing in Wikipedia (2014 S2)" page, which is now unavailable on the wiki. |
Re modern usage, does the term still only apply to people from mountainous areas? I haven't noticed it being any more specific in this regard than "redneck." 68.105.109.51 22:53, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
The supporters of William of Orange were not known as Orangemen, as far as I know. I don't think that term would have come into usage until the founding of the Orange Order, in 1795.
I am not deleting any of this, even though most of it violates NPOV. That doesn't bother me so much as the extraordinary lack of knowledge on display. For suggestions, it would be good to note that hillbillies as a term is no longer perjorative, "hillbillies" can be found in Texas, Arkansas, Southern Indiana etc. Historically, in Appalachia, the role of (king) coal and mining towns cannot be overlooked. And of course, Junior Johnson, Dolly Parton and a host of others hailing from Appalachia, who have so greatly enriched modern culture, should certainly be discussed here, in context.
I'm not going to defend my writing in this case as expert, but lets look at a few things. most people still consider hillbilly to be an insult. just because alcohol is illegal, doesn't make it nonexistent. The reason that its production was popular in the mountains was exactly because it was so isolated.
I tended to focus on the extreme examples, but that is what is interesting to me. It probably is more folkloric than factual. If you hate it so much, then fix it or remove the parts you think are false. you have demonstrated some personal knowledge, so lets see it.
Oh, and another thing. Who said the article was done? write about the damn coal mines and dolly parton.
I'm sorry, the quality of my judgement in writing tends to wax and wane. I was already mad about a particular argument in Osama bin Laden, so I flipped out. Please accept my apologies.
I think I have an old national geographic (one of many hundreds I now own I'm afraid) that details appalachian life in the 1960's, and my old college had a book on appalachian english "dialects" so maybe I'll dredge up some unique info after all. --Alan D. (not sjc)
Could someone please expand, about Hillbilly culture, it's image in american culture, etc? especially for us non-american readers. thanks.
Hell everyone, I have gone over this article a bit. It still needs significant cleanup, expansion, fact checking, spellchecking, copy-editing, wikifying, etc, etc... but I think it has great potential. Let's see if we can make it a feature article. -- FirstPrinciples 13:27, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
Also guys, remember to sign your talk page posts with four tildes (~~~~) so we can keep track of who's commenting ;) -- FirstPrinciples 13:29, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
Could this term have orginated out of the feuds between highlander lowlander Scots?
Its more likely the term 'redneck' came from the Irish ginger hair gene, or propensity to sunburn. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hachimanchu ( talk • contribs) 03:59, 23 October 2010 (UTC)
It is a bit odd that "yokel" redirects here, but its etymology is not explained. --
Beland
21:52, 18 December 2005 (UTC)
Barbara Shack
15:42, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
Yokel has an article of its own now.
I note the uncivil edit summary with which Fred Chessplayer's removal of Image:Cletus.gif was reverted by User:Abelson. [1] Abelson, please refrain from referring to obviously good-faith edits as "vandalism". That is considered a personal attack. "RTFT" is rude and uncouth and notably uncalled for, considering that the "fucking tag" on the image description page supports Fred's action, not yours. It says: ... It is believed that the use of this photograph to illustrate the person, product, or event in question, in the absence of a free alternative... qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law. Other use of this image, on Wikipedia or elsewhere, may be copyright infringement.". Bolding in original. That would mean the image is fair use in an article about the Simpsons, not anywhere else. Cletus is a Simpsons character, not a generalized hillbilly. I have removed the image again, please don't put it back. Thank you. Bishonen | talk 19:21, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
yep...down here in LA we believe in the hillbilly and the stomp whether or not anybody else does, we like it... aw hell, f*****m all if they dont like it.. I still do! KID ROCK! Love, Tren
Not everyone living in "Hillbilly Country" takes offense at the term. I spent my childhood in the Smokies and return there often and the term "Hillbilly" is thrown around pretty lightly. And believe it or not, some people do make moonshine and do smoke corncob pipes. An old family friend gives homemade moonshine as gifts and sometimes as payment to workermen at his house. People there take pride in their "hillbilly" life and the word only becomes offensive if it is used in a negative way from an outsider (e.g. "You're a dumb hillbilly") rather than in a general descriptive way (e.g. "Your Uncle Chuck is a hillbilly through and through"). Completely POV, but there's my 2 cents. -- 144.202.242.250 06:54, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
Hillbilly seems to be taken as perjorative primarily by people who aren't hillbilly's. Those of us from appalachia tend to use it as a term of solidarity and heritage. DHBoggs 18:33, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
My folks are from Izard County, Arkansas and the preferred term there seems to be "hillfolk" or "hill people". Hillbilly is okay if used with good humor but it can be misused as an insult. It's not the word, it's the intent. Even hillfolk sometimes use hillbilly to insult one another when protesting the sort of Li'l Abner stereotype behavior.
BTW, the article refers to Li'l Abner and The Beverly Hillbillies TV show as being located in the Ozarks. The BH MOVIE had the Clampetts be from Arkansas because of "Cousin Bill" jokes but the TV show repeatedly referred to Bug Tussle, Tennessee. And the Yokums of Li'l Abner were located in Appalachia, too, state unspecified, but I don't have a good source for that, it was just something Al Capp said in an interview. He based the way the Yokums talked on one trip South to Florida through the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia, apparently. Halfelven 05:31, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
I added the word naive to the stereotype section because I don't think this article conveys how the majority of hillbilly portrayals in the media are child-like, innocent country folks that are usually liked by the outsiders they encounter. Ma and pa Kettle, lil Abner, the klampetts. They weren't portrayed as being ridiculed, they were often sort of envied for their innocence. Blah, I'm not expressing it well. But the article just isn't hitting the true hillbilly spirit yet. -- cda 11:31, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
Hillbilly and Redneck are often transposed because they have been reduced to derogatory remarks conserning people that are nieve or have a southern or moutainous accent.Also the term has been applied to people who break public expectations for "normal" people-- 64.24.57.77 05:49, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
I'm not American so I don't really know but I've become quite interested in these white, poor, rural people but it seems like they're always killing each other in pool- room disputes or in bars because of their 'rough' nature.
Also do hillbilly 'clans' still exist in any form. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.2.88.225 ( talk) 18:05, 1 February 2007 (UTC).
No. Nothing of the sort. However, like most people around the world, the people of Appalachia were quite family oriented and disputes occasionally arose between families as they do everywhere. This might result in a fued. Occurrencnes of serious (murderous) fueds seems to have not been especially common. The most famous being the Hatfield/McCoy fued - which was largely an attempt to cheat Devilanse Hatfield out of some rich timberland. Moonshining, however, like any illegal activity, could be a very dangerous business. Some moonshiners, much like drug dealers, wanted to get rid of the competition and there were murders of moonshiners and of police officers and government officials, but it would be exaggerating to consider Appalachia as a particularly or unusually violent area. DHBoggs 12:08, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
I don't think this is accurate, at least as it applies to West Virginia. Grant County was created by the Wheeling government out of Hardy County, which had voted to seceed from the Union. The same is true of Lincoln County which was portioned primarily from Boone County, another Secessionist county. The people in these counties would hardly feel like honoring Lincoln or Grant. It was both an act of malice and an act of homage by Wheeling. It should also be remembered that the ex-Confederates, and anyone who supported them, were stripped of all civil rights and could do nothing to oppose Wheeling. This is discussed in Eric Foner's book "Reconstruction". I am not a qualified editor and do not want to make any changes on my own, I just wanted you to know. Bob
I heard from someone that there are regions ("always getting smaller nowadays") where people speak a type of English much closer to what was used in the Shakespearean era. Is there any truth to this? Esn 07:54, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
The article says: "Many of these immigrants were of Germanic origin and were named William, a common Germanic name during that time."
Should't that be "German" instead of "Germanic"? As Germans in general, German immigrants had a mixed Germanic, Slavic and Celtic background.
And the common name is not William, it's Wilhelm. Nobody in Germany was ever called William, it's an anglo-saxon version of that name.
Upon reading this article I noticed that all definitive Hillbilly mention in this article was directed toward the classical sense of the term. This article fails to mention any specifics in regards to modern “Hillbilly-ism.” In modern terminology, there are many kinds of Hillbillies and Hillbilly subgroups. Hillbillies now live everywhere across America spreading Hillbillyism as they travel.
The problem I have with this article is it largely references the definition of Hillbilly by regions and localities rather than the mental mind states and personal preferences inherent in modern hillbilly lifestyles and customs.
I have made minor change to the WP article section in regards to modern usage to reflect these particular modern viewpoints. Perhaps we should build upon this addition to foster better definition of what it truly means to be considered a Hillbilly in modern society. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.244.119 ( talk) 03:11, 9 September 2007 (UTC)
What about mentions of chicagoland hillbillies in the syndicated series Married With Children...? That show was RIFE with chicagoland "hillbillyism". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.244.119 ( talk) 03:48, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
I have located two specific examples in mass media popular culture to verify the material present in the article stub in regards to usage of the term hillbilly outside of Appalacia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.244.119 ( talk) 20:37, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
What the hell is "The term Hillbilly is commonly used in urban and suburban areas, the Chicagoland area as an example, in what could be more practically referenced as "Urban Hillbillies." suppose to mean? Reference? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.212.85.179 ( talk) 08:01, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
It means exactly what it says, with pop-culture references in the next paragraph backing up the statement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 ( talk) 23:05, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
Content has been more deeply referenced, with even more references added. Does anyone STILL have a problem with it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 ( talk) 17:29, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
Until an edit of 07:06, 5 May 2006, the paragraph referring to the "derogatory nickname given by the coastal plain-dwelling Anglo-Saxon Southerners for the hill-dwelling settlers" listed eastern TN, western VA and eastern KY. At that time northern Arkansas was added. I've now removed it, as the people of the Ozarks couldn't have been included in the name given by those of the plains to their neighbors in the Appalachians. (And I'd better change "given by X for Y" to "given by X to Y" while I'm at it.) Klippa ( talk) 11:51, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
I think that is a neologism, and you might as well give the example of the Beverly Hillbillies. Hillbilly can be used interchangeably with hick, or redneck, but in the strictest sense applies to people from the Appalachians, or persons that live a similar lifestyle. I am from Chicago, and we don't call people from the suburbs or city Hillbillies. Although like many dergatory names it is often used inarticulately Rds865 ( talk) 22:00, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
Well being from the Chicago Suburbs, WILL County, I see the term used regularly and uniformly out here. It's basically used as a softer term to describing people that are borderline white trash.
Seeing that there are no "REAL" hillbillies in illinois, due to an obvious lack of mountains, this is the practical use for the word in the entire State.
What we should keep in mind here is that there are no concrete definitions for what a Hillbilly/Redneck/Hick/Good-old-boy/etc are. For the most part, these are subjective terms that change depending on which region of the country your from. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 ( talk) 21:00, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
I was told that the word Hillbilly is actually derived from the Hungarian word helybeli, which means native. It came about when Hungarian immigrants to the US started to move into the coal mining regions of Appalachia and called the native people's Helybeli. The word became corrupted to hillbilly. Has anyone heard this explanation before? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.105.199.123 ( talk) 02:08, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
It is sort of ignorant to disclaim what someone else had heard unless you have solid evidence to disprove it. There were a number of Hungarian immigrants in the late 1800s that settled in the coal mining towns of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2010/03/magyars-in-morgantown.html
http://www.library.appstate.edu/appcoll/research_aids/ecasto.html
So it is possible the term is derived from the Hungarian word helybeli.
This is just a heads up that I'm going to make some changes to the beginning of the article under "History" to bring the article more in line with recent scholarship on the term. The origin theories currently listed in the article really seem to be reaching a bit. The term didn't appear in print till 1900, but the origins given in the article date from 100 to 300 years earlier. Read Harkins "Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon". I will keep the theories as currently presented in the article, but they will all be listed as conjectural. Some are a bit far-fetched: there's no citation that "hill-billies" was first encountered in documents from 17th century Ireland; or that the term was first used in America by British soldiers; or that a significant number of German immigrants were named Wilhelm (a lot of Scotch-Irish immigrants were named William, too); etc....
Eastcote (
talk)
14:16, 12 July 2008 (UTC)
If there was a significant German population, the term might have simply derived from the German word Hillebille, which is a wooden instrument often used at charcoal kilns. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.102.47.153 ( talk) 11:41, 2 June 2010 (UTC)
I edited the term "Scots-Irish" back to "Scotch-Irish". "Scotch-Irish" is the historical American term. See the article on Scotch-Irish. Also compare "Tha Boord o Ulster-Scotch", (The Ulster-Scots Agency), which promotes the Ullans language in Northern Ireland. Eastcote ( talk) 03:17, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Followup: I've started a discussion over at Talk:Scotch-Irish American. youngamerican ( wtf?) 15:32, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Well, I would imagine that the "n-word" goes back a bit further that African-American, too. that said, I must disagree with your contention that "most" don't find it offensive and I whole-heartedly disagree that it is considered to be "accepted, non-pejorative." I know this could easily break down into a "my friends say this, my friends say that," but I really do believe that more would find it offensive than not. youngamerican ( wtf?) 15:46, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Are you kidding me? "Ullans" is not a language. It is a regional accent that is being relentlessly promoted as a language for sectarian and political purposes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kobashiloveme ( talk • contribs) 16:35, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
The entire supposition of the terms 'redneck' or 'hillbilly' having anything to do with Ulster is a matter of propaganda. Hachimanchu ( talk) 04:07, 23 October 2010 (UTC)
There exists a similar word in Germany - de:Hillebille. translation
There it was an ideophon used by charcoal makers and others. It looks like this:
-- Arcy ( talk) 18:58, 3 June 2010 (UTC)
The Methodist Year-Book of 1834 by De Puy contains the word "Hill-Billy" in connection to the Ozarks. This far predates the first in-print reference made by the author noted in the first section of the article. The Railroad Trainman, Vol. 9, Pg. 770 (printed in 1892) also includes reference to a hillbilly, as does the Burns Mantle Yearbook, Vol. 20, Pg. 372 (1899) where a certain individual is insulted as "a bosom- beating, hypocritical, hill-billy, bladder-mouth, rink-stink, windbag — ."
Anyway, perhaps there is something to the Scots origin theory.
Sukiari ( talk) 23:29, 24 July 2011 (UTC)
(Note: Issue is use of the term "Hillbilly" in source, thus its relevance here.)
Marketdiamond ( talk) 14:39, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
Hi! I am planning on doing some edits on this article and wanted anyone involved to be aware. As of now, I am thinking about adding citations to the pop culture section. In addition, I want to add a usage section in order to show how the term is used and in what context. I am starting the editing process in my Sandbox, if you want to take a look. I'm open to any suggestions, comments, or feedback. Angela Reighard ( talk) 21:59, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
The section titled "Intragroup versus intergroup usage" doesn't really relate to the material. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.19.204.34 ( talk) 18:46, 19 September 2015 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Hillbilly. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 00:05, 4 November 2017 (UTC)
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/hillbilly.htm 89.134.199.32 ( talk) 20:35, 27 July 2018 (UTC).
We are hillbillies. Rooted . Apache and cherokee bred Mistyfinchet ( talk) 16:57, 31 August 2019 (UTC)
This article is littered with inappropriate and unneccessary speech marks that give it a sarcastic tone as if it's disbelieving of the existence of the Hillbilly stereotype. Entire page needs to be corrected. Adam Friedland's Soiled White Pants ( talk) 04:46, 14 March 2022 (UTC)
It should be noted that J. D. Vance's book "Hillbilly Elegy," as noted in the In Popular Culture, is regarded as very controversial in many southern appalachian spaces for its "bootstrap" narrative and its frequent condescension towards and perpetuation of stereotypes about southern appalachian people, to the point where there is a published response book titled "Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy." The backlash from the appalachian community seems important to note here since previous paragraphs cover in-community reactions to certain former portrayals and including this would continue that theme. (For a more in-depth cover of the why it's considered offensive, for anyone who's curious, check out The Bitter Southerner's episode, Hillbillies Need No Elegy.) 138.43.158.124 ( talk) 00:26, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
HILLBILLY: The word originated Scots-Irish / Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland / Ulster who moved into the Appalachian Mountains in the 1700s. Billy/Billies was a term meaning "brother, friend or comrade.
"Billy Boys" was the term used refering to Ulster Protestants who supported "William of Orange" (aka Billy) in invading England.
They were also known to wear red sashes around their necks (coining the term Rednecks) and once the Scots-Irish migrated in droves to the US, they quickly moved into the mountains and hills of Appalachia. The "Billys", now were now comrades of the hills/mountains, and therefore became known as Hillbillies. ~Livewire 103.9 of Erwin, TN 2605:59C8:60FB:8910:1EA7:AD82:D578:4751 ( talk) 15:23, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
"Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west of the Mississippi river, too, particularly those of the Rocky Mountains and near the Rio Grande."
The "Ozarks" are west of the Mississippi river. 2607:F220:41D:4D47:1D5:9C88:EC44:A290 ( talk) 13:08, 3 April 2023 (UTC)
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Hillbilly article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() | This article was the subject of an educational assignment in 2014 S. Further details were available on the "Education Program:Ohio University/Writing and Rhetoric II, Writing in Wikipedia (2014 S2)" page, which is now unavailable on the wiki. |
Re modern usage, does the term still only apply to people from mountainous areas? I haven't noticed it being any more specific in this regard than "redneck." 68.105.109.51 22:53, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
The supporters of William of Orange were not known as Orangemen, as far as I know. I don't think that term would have come into usage until the founding of the Orange Order, in 1795.
I am not deleting any of this, even though most of it violates NPOV. That doesn't bother me so much as the extraordinary lack of knowledge on display. For suggestions, it would be good to note that hillbillies as a term is no longer perjorative, "hillbillies" can be found in Texas, Arkansas, Southern Indiana etc. Historically, in Appalachia, the role of (king) coal and mining towns cannot be overlooked. And of course, Junior Johnson, Dolly Parton and a host of others hailing from Appalachia, who have so greatly enriched modern culture, should certainly be discussed here, in context.
I'm not going to defend my writing in this case as expert, but lets look at a few things. most people still consider hillbilly to be an insult. just because alcohol is illegal, doesn't make it nonexistent. The reason that its production was popular in the mountains was exactly because it was so isolated.
I tended to focus on the extreme examples, but that is what is interesting to me. It probably is more folkloric than factual. If you hate it so much, then fix it or remove the parts you think are false. you have demonstrated some personal knowledge, so lets see it.
Oh, and another thing. Who said the article was done? write about the damn coal mines and dolly parton.
I'm sorry, the quality of my judgement in writing tends to wax and wane. I was already mad about a particular argument in Osama bin Laden, so I flipped out. Please accept my apologies.
I think I have an old national geographic (one of many hundreds I now own I'm afraid) that details appalachian life in the 1960's, and my old college had a book on appalachian english "dialects" so maybe I'll dredge up some unique info after all. --Alan D. (not sjc)
Could someone please expand, about Hillbilly culture, it's image in american culture, etc? especially for us non-american readers. thanks.
Hell everyone, I have gone over this article a bit. It still needs significant cleanup, expansion, fact checking, spellchecking, copy-editing, wikifying, etc, etc... but I think it has great potential. Let's see if we can make it a feature article. -- FirstPrinciples 13:27, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
Also guys, remember to sign your talk page posts with four tildes (~~~~) so we can keep track of who's commenting ;) -- FirstPrinciples 13:29, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
Could this term have orginated out of the feuds between highlander lowlander Scots?
Its more likely the term 'redneck' came from the Irish ginger hair gene, or propensity to sunburn. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hachimanchu ( talk • contribs) 03:59, 23 October 2010 (UTC)
It is a bit odd that "yokel" redirects here, but its etymology is not explained. --
Beland
21:52, 18 December 2005 (UTC)
Barbara Shack
15:42, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
Yokel has an article of its own now.
I note the uncivil edit summary with which Fred Chessplayer's removal of Image:Cletus.gif was reverted by User:Abelson. [1] Abelson, please refrain from referring to obviously good-faith edits as "vandalism". That is considered a personal attack. "RTFT" is rude and uncouth and notably uncalled for, considering that the "fucking tag" on the image description page supports Fred's action, not yours. It says: ... It is believed that the use of this photograph to illustrate the person, product, or event in question, in the absence of a free alternative... qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law. Other use of this image, on Wikipedia or elsewhere, may be copyright infringement.". Bolding in original. That would mean the image is fair use in an article about the Simpsons, not anywhere else. Cletus is a Simpsons character, not a generalized hillbilly. I have removed the image again, please don't put it back. Thank you. Bishonen | talk 19:21, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
yep...down here in LA we believe in the hillbilly and the stomp whether or not anybody else does, we like it... aw hell, f*****m all if they dont like it.. I still do! KID ROCK! Love, Tren
Not everyone living in "Hillbilly Country" takes offense at the term. I spent my childhood in the Smokies and return there often and the term "Hillbilly" is thrown around pretty lightly. And believe it or not, some people do make moonshine and do smoke corncob pipes. An old family friend gives homemade moonshine as gifts and sometimes as payment to workermen at his house. People there take pride in their "hillbilly" life and the word only becomes offensive if it is used in a negative way from an outsider (e.g. "You're a dumb hillbilly") rather than in a general descriptive way (e.g. "Your Uncle Chuck is a hillbilly through and through"). Completely POV, but there's my 2 cents. -- 144.202.242.250 06:54, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
Hillbilly seems to be taken as perjorative primarily by people who aren't hillbilly's. Those of us from appalachia tend to use it as a term of solidarity and heritage. DHBoggs 18:33, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
My folks are from Izard County, Arkansas and the preferred term there seems to be "hillfolk" or "hill people". Hillbilly is okay if used with good humor but it can be misused as an insult. It's not the word, it's the intent. Even hillfolk sometimes use hillbilly to insult one another when protesting the sort of Li'l Abner stereotype behavior.
BTW, the article refers to Li'l Abner and The Beverly Hillbillies TV show as being located in the Ozarks. The BH MOVIE had the Clampetts be from Arkansas because of "Cousin Bill" jokes but the TV show repeatedly referred to Bug Tussle, Tennessee. And the Yokums of Li'l Abner were located in Appalachia, too, state unspecified, but I don't have a good source for that, it was just something Al Capp said in an interview. He based the way the Yokums talked on one trip South to Florida through the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia, apparently. Halfelven 05:31, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
I added the word naive to the stereotype section because I don't think this article conveys how the majority of hillbilly portrayals in the media are child-like, innocent country folks that are usually liked by the outsiders they encounter. Ma and pa Kettle, lil Abner, the klampetts. They weren't portrayed as being ridiculed, they were often sort of envied for their innocence. Blah, I'm not expressing it well. But the article just isn't hitting the true hillbilly spirit yet. -- cda 11:31, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
Hillbilly and Redneck are often transposed because they have been reduced to derogatory remarks conserning people that are nieve or have a southern or moutainous accent.Also the term has been applied to people who break public expectations for "normal" people-- 64.24.57.77 05:49, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
I'm not American so I don't really know but I've become quite interested in these white, poor, rural people but it seems like they're always killing each other in pool- room disputes or in bars because of their 'rough' nature.
Also do hillbilly 'clans' still exist in any form. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.2.88.225 ( talk) 18:05, 1 February 2007 (UTC).
No. Nothing of the sort. However, like most people around the world, the people of Appalachia were quite family oriented and disputes occasionally arose between families as they do everywhere. This might result in a fued. Occurrencnes of serious (murderous) fueds seems to have not been especially common. The most famous being the Hatfield/McCoy fued - which was largely an attempt to cheat Devilanse Hatfield out of some rich timberland. Moonshining, however, like any illegal activity, could be a very dangerous business. Some moonshiners, much like drug dealers, wanted to get rid of the competition and there were murders of moonshiners and of police officers and government officials, but it would be exaggerating to consider Appalachia as a particularly or unusually violent area. DHBoggs 12:08, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
I don't think this is accurate, at least as it applies to West Virginia. Grant County was created by the Wheeling government out of Hardy County, which had voted to seceed from the Union. The same is true of Lincoln County which was portioned primarily from Boone County, another Secessionist county. The people in these counties would hardly feel like honoring Lincoln or Grant. It was both an act of malice and an act of homage by Wheeling. It should also be remembered that the ex-Confederates, and anyone who supported them, were stripped of all civil rights and could do nothing to oppose Wheeling. This is discussed in Eric Foner's book "Reconstruction". I am not a qualified editor and do not want to make any changes on my own, I just wanted you to know. Bob
I heard from someone that there are regions ("always getting smaller nowadays") where people speak a type of English much closer to what was used in the Shakespearean era. Is there any truth to this? Esn 07:54, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
The article says: "Many of these immigrants were of Germanic origin and were named William, a common Germanic name during that time."
Should't that be "German" instead of "Germanic"? As Germans in general, German immigrants had a mixed Germanic, Slavic and Celtic background.
And the common name is not William, it's Wilhelm. Nobody in Germany was ever called William, it's an anglo-saxon version of that name.
Upon reading this article I noticed that all definitive Hillbilly mention in this article was directed toward the classical sense of the term. This article fails to mention any specifics in regards to modern “Hillbilly-ism.” In modern terminology, there are many kinds of Hillbillies and Hillbilly subgroups. Hillbillies now live everywhere across America spreading Hillbillyism as they travel.
The problem I have with this article is it largely references the definition of Hillbilly by regions and localities rather than the mental mind states and personal preferences inherent in modern hillbilly lifestyles and customs.
I have made minor change to the WP article section in regards to modern usage to reflect these particular modern viewpoints. Perhaps we should build upon this addition to foster better definition of what it truly means to be considered a Hillbilly in modern society. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.244.119 ( talk) 03:11, 9 September 2007 (UTC)
What about mentions of chicagoland hillbillies in the syndicated series Married With Children...? That show was RIFE with chicagoland "hillbillyism". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.244.119 ( talk) 03:48, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
I have located two specific examples in mass media popular culture to verify the material present in the article stub in regards to usage of the term hillbilly outside of Appalacia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.244.119 ( talk) 20:37, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
What the hell is "The term Hillbilly is commonly used in urban and suburban areas, the Chicagoland area as an example, in what could be more practically referenced as "Urban Hillbillies." suppose to mean? Reference? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.212.85.179 ( talk) 08:01, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
It means exactly what it says, with pop-culture references in the next paragraph backing up the statement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 ( talk) 23:05, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
Content has been more deeply referenced, with even more references added. Does anyone STILL have a problem with it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 ( talk) 17:29, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
Until an edit of 07:06, 5 May 2006, the paragraph referring to the "derogatory nickname given by the coastal plain-dwelling Anglo-Saxon Southerners for the hill-dwelling settlers" listed eastern TN, western VA and eastern KY. At that time northern Arkansas was added. I've now removed it, as the people of the Ozarks couldn't have been included in the name given by those of the plains to their neighbors in the Appalachians. (And I'd better change "given by X for Y" to "given by X to Y" while I'm at it.) Klippa ( talk) 11:51, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
I think that is a neologism, and you might as well give the example of the Beverly Hillbillies. Hillbilly can be used interchangeably with hick, or redneck, but in the strictest sense applies to people from the Appalachians, or persons that live a similar lifestyle. I am from Chicago, and we don't call people from the suburbs or city Hillbillies. Although like many dergatory names it is often used inarticulately Rds865 ( talk) 22:00, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
Well being from the Chicago Suburbs, WILL County, I see the term used regularly and uniformly out here. It's basically used as a softer term to describing people that are borderline white trash.
Seeing that there are no "REAL" hillbillies in illinois, due to an obvious lack of mountains, this is the practical use for the word in the entire State.
What we should keep in mind here is that there are no concrete definitions for what a Hillbilly/Redneck/Hick/Good-old-boy/etc are. For the most part, these are subjective terms that change depending on which region of the country your from. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 ( talk) 21:00, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
I was told that the word Hillbilly is actually derived from the Hungarian word helybeli, which means native. It came about when Hungarian immigrants to the US started to move into the coal mining regions of Appalachia and called the native people's Helybeli. The word became corrupted to hillbilly. Has anyone heard this explanation before? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.105.199.123 ( talk) 02:08, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
It is sort of ignorant to disclaim what someone else had heard unless you have solid evidence to disprove it. There were a number of Hungarian immigrants in the late 1800s that settled in the coal mining towns of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2010/03/magyars-in-morgantown.html
http://www.library.appstate.edu/appcoll/research_aids/ecasto.html
So it is possible the term is derived from the Hungarian word helybeli.
This is just a heads up that I'm going to make some changes to the beginning of the article under "History" to bring the article more in line with recent scholarship on the term. The origin theories currently listed in the article really seem to be reaching a bit. The term didn't appear in print till 1900, but the origins given in the article date from 100 to 300 years earlier. Read Harkins "Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon". I will keep the theories as currently presented in the article, but they will all be listed as conjectural. Some are a bit far-fetched: there's no citation that "hill-billies" was first encountered in documents from 17th century Ireland; or that the term was first used in America by British soldiers; or that a significant number of German immigrants were named Wilhelm (a lot of Scotch-Irish immigrants were named William, too); etc....
Eastcote (
talk)
14:16, 12 July 2008 (UTC)
If there was a significant German population, the term might have simply derived from the German word Hillebille, which is a wooden instrument often used at charcoal kilns. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.102.47.153 ( talk) 11:41, 2 June 2010 (UTC)
I edited the term "Scots-Irish" back to "Scotch-Irish". "Scotch-Irish" is the historical American term. See the article on Scotch-Irish. Also compare "Tha Boord o Ulster-Scotch", (The Ulster-Scots Agency), which promotes the Ullans language in Northern Ireland. Eastcote ( talk) 03:17, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Followup: I've started a discussion over at Talk:Scotch-Irish American. youngamerican ( wtf?) 15:32, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Well, I would imagine that the "n-word" goes back a bit further that African-American, too. that said, I must disagree with your contention that "most" don't find it offensive and I whole-heartedly disagree that it is considered to be "accepted, non-pejorative." I know this could easily break down into a "my friends say this, my friends say that," but I really do believe that more would find it offensive than not. youngamerican ( wtf?) 15:46, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Are you kidding me? "Ullans" is not a language. It is a regional accent that is being relentlessly promoted as a language for sectarian and political purposes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kobashiloveme ( talk • contribs) 16:35, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
The entire supposition of the terms 'redneck' or 'hillbilly' having anything to do with Ulster is a matter of propaganda. Hachimanchu ( talk) 04:07, 23 October 2010 (UTC)
There exists a similar word in Germany - de:Hillebille. translation
There it was an ideophon used by charcoal makers and others. It looks like this:
-- Arcy ( talk) 18:58, 3 June 2010 (UTC)
The Methodist Year-Book of 1834 by De Puy contains the word "Hill-Billy" in connection to the Ozarks. This far predates the first in-print reference made by the author noted in the first section of the article. The Railroad Trainman, Vol. 9, Pg. 770 (printed in 1892) also includes reference to a hillbilly, as does the Burns Mantle Yearbook, Vol. 20, Pg. 372 (1899) where a certain individual is insulted as "a bosom- beating, hypocritical, hill-billy, bladder-mouth, rink-stink, windbag — ."
Anyway, perhaps there is something to the Scots origin theory.
Sukiari ( talk) 23:29, 24 July 2011 (UTC)
(Note: Issue is use of the term "Hillbilly" in source, thus its relevance here.)
Marketdiamond ( talk) 14:39, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
Hi! I am planning on doing some edits on this article and wanted anyone involved to be aware. As of now, I am thinking about adding citations to the pop culture section. In addition, I want to add a usage section in order to show how the term is used and in what context. I am starting the editing process in my Sandbox, if you want to take a look. I'm open to any suggestions, comments, or feedback. Angela Reighard ( talk) 21:59, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
The section titled "Intragroup versus intergroup usage" doesn't really relate to the material. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.19.204.34 ( talk) 18:46, 19 September 2015 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Hillbilly. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 00:05, 4 November 2017 (UTC)
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/hillbilly.htm 89.134.199.32 ( talk) 20:35, 27 July 2018 (UTC).
We are hillbillies. Rooted . Apache and cherokee bred Mistyfinchet ( talk) 16:57, 31 August 2019 (UTC)
This article is littered with inappropriate and unneccessary speech marks that give it a sarcastic tone as if it's disbelieving of the existence of the Hillbilly stereotype. Entire page needs to be corrected. Adam Friedland's Soiled White Pants ( talk) 04:46, 14 March 2022 (UTC)
It should be noted that J. D. Vance's book "Hillbilly Elegy," as noted in the In Popular Culture, is regarded as very controversial in many southern appalachian spaces for its "bootstrap" narrative and its frequent condescension towards and perpetuation of stereotypes about southern appalachian people, to the point where there is a published response book titled "Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy." The backlash from the appalachian community seems important to note here since previous paragraphs cover in-community reactions to certain former portrayals and including this would continue that theme. (For a more in-depth cover of the why it's considered offensive, for anyone who's curious, check out The Bitter Southerner's episode, Hillbillies Need No Elegy.) 138.43.158.124 ( talk) 00:26, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
HILLBILLY: The word originated Scots-Irish / Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland / Ulster who moved into the Appalachian Mountains in the 1700s. Billy/Billies was a term meaning "brother, friend or comrade.
"Billy Boys" was the term used refering to Ulster Protestants who supported "William of Orange" (aka Billy) in invading England.
They were also known to wear red sashes around their necks (coining the term Rednecks) and once the Scots-Irish migrated in droves to the US, they quickly moved into the mountains and hills of Appalachia. The "Billys", now were now comrades of the hills/mountains, and therefore became known as Hillbillies. ~Livewire 103.9 of Erwin, TN 2605:59C8:60FB:8910:1EA7:AD82:D578:4751 ( talk) 15:23, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
"Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west of the Mississippi river, too, particularly those of the Rocky Mountains and near the Rio Grande."
The "Ozarks" are west of the Mississippi river. 2607:F220:41D:4D47:1D5:9C88:EC44:A290 ( talk) 13:08, 3 April 2023 (UTC)