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Does this make me a redneck


Perro Del Diablo

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1 hour ago, Snakebite said:

I would be interested in hearing a definition of "Redneck"

Depends on who you ask.

 

Originally, it's honest, hard working and often poor country folks.  Depending on who you ask, the term either started out referring to the sunburned necks or farmers or the red bandanas worn by striking coal miners.

 

Others have usurped the term to refer to poor- usually white- trash (aka trailer park trash aka the folks that you see on Cops) exclusively and they are the antithesis of honest and hard working.

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28 minutes ago, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said:

Depends on who you ask.

 

Originally, it's honest, hard working and often poor country folks.  Depending on who you ask, the term either started out referring to the sunburned necks or farmers or the red bandanas worn by striking coal miners.

 

Others have usurped the term to refer to poor- usually white- trash aka trailer park trash aka the folks that you see on Cops exclusively that are the antithesis of honest and hard working.

 

Nope. It goes back much further than that. I've mentioned this in other posts, but here goes. Remember, huge numbers of Scots-Irish (Or Ulster-Irish, Ulster-Scots, whatever one prefers to call them, settled in Appalachia. I trace my own roots back to Ulster.

 

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The origins of this term Redneck are Scottish and refer to supporters of the National Covenant and The Solemn League and Covenant, or "Covenanters", largely Lowland Presbyterians, many of whom would flee Scotland for Ulster (Northern Ireland) during persecutions by the British Crown. The Covenanters of 1638 and 1641 signed the documents that stated that Scotland desired the Presbyterian form of church government and would not accept the Church of England as its official state church.

Many Covenanters signed in their own blood and wore red pieces of cloth around their necks as distinctive insignia; hence the term "Red neck", (rednecks) which became slang for a Scottish dissenter*. One Scottish immigrant, interviewed by the author, remembered a Presbyterian minister, one Dr. Coulter, in Glasgow in the 1940's wearing a red clerical collar -- is this symbolic of the "rednecks"?

Since many Ulster-Scottish settlers in America (especially the South) were Presbyterian, the term was applied to them, and then, later, their Southern descendants. One of the earliest examples of its use comes from 1830, when an author noted that "red-neck" was a "name bestowed upon the Presbyterians." It makes you wonder if the originators of the ever-present "redneck" joke are aware of the term’s origins - Rednecks?

 

https://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/rednecks/rednecks.html
 

This gives some other interesting information as well. A great book on the subject of the Scots-Irish is Jim Webb's Born Fighting: How The Scots-Irish Shaped America.

 

In the modern usage, I consider myself a redneck to some extent, merely because I've been labeled such by others, without asking on my part. Something to do with guns, cars, four-wheeling, camping and such.

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21 minutes ago, DocWard said:

 

Nope. It goes back much further than that. I've mentioned this in other posts, but here goes. Remember, huge numbers of Scots-Irish (Or Ulster-Irish, Ulster-Scots, whatever one prefers to call them, settled in Appalachia. I trace my own roots back to Ulster.

 

 

https://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/rednecks/rednecks.html
 

This gives some other interesting information as well. A great book on the subject of the Scots-Irish is Jim Webb's Born Fighting: How The Scots-Irish Shaped America.

 

In the modern usage, I consider myself a redneck to some extent, merely because I've been labeled such by others, without asking on my part. Something to do with guns, cars, four-wheeling, camping and such.

And that's the 3rd completely different origin story of the term I've heard.

 

It makes as much sense as the other two.  LOTS of Scots, Irish and Scots-Irish (my ancestors include McDowells from around Lorne) ended up in the South and the Appalachians.  Many (like my ancestors) came early, headed headed for the hills shortly after they got off of the boat and stayed.  The McDowell branch of the family tree can trace their movement through the birth and death locations from Baltimore- where he landed in 1680- to the Appalachians and southward through the  mountain chain until they ended up in the southern foothills around Pine Mountain, GA about the same time as the Creeks got ran off and the area opened for settlement.

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Regardless of origin, if someone calls me a Redneck I smile and say “Thank you”.

 

Some of the best people I know are “rednecks” and I am damn proud to know ‘em. 
 

By the way Perro, does it really matter what other people think? ;)
 

I would add one feature to your box. Get a big furry rubber tarantula and put it on top of what ever is in the box. It’ll scare the crap out of nibby people. :D

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43 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

If your first thought is “whom”, you ain’t.

That's actually just part of the perpetuation of the stereotype that 'rednecks' are ignorant and uneducated. 

 

Southerners used to learn what is essentially 2 different forms of English until about 50 years ago.  We were taught proper English including things like who/whom that is expected to be used in less casual surroundings and we soaked up the vernacular in everyday life where proper usage of who/whom isn't expected and the use of words like 'ain't':P is acceptable.

 

My grandfather- who had a 3rd grade education and who was a sharecropper before a drought ran him off of the farm and into town where he got a job in a cotton mill- was better spoken under formal circumstances than most college educated people I have encountered in the present day.  He didn't learn it in school, he learned it at home where it had been passed down through the generations.

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7 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Regardless of origin, if someone calls me a Redneck I smile and say “Thank you”.

 

Some of the best people I know are “rednecks” and I am damn proud to know ‘em. 

When I hear folks making derogatory remarks about 'rednecks', I like to suggest that if they are ever stuck in a ditch or the mud or a tornado blocks their driveway that they should decline the help of the 'redneck' with the 4x4 and winch or the pick up and chain saw that shows up (uninvited) to help- since they are so particular about with whom they associate.:rolleyes:

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6 minutes ago, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said:

And that's the 3rd completely different origin story of the term I've heard.

 

It makes as much sense as the other two.  LOTS of Scots, Irish and Scots-Irish (my ancestors include McDowells from around Lorne) ended up in the South and the Appalachians.  Many (like my ancestors) came early, headed headed for the hills shortly after they got off of the boat and stayed.  The McDowell branch of the family tree can trace their movement through the birth and death locations from Baltimore- where he landed in 1680- to the Appalachians and southward through the  mountain chain until they ended up in the southern foothills around Pine Mountain, GA about the same time as the Creeks got ran off and the area opened for settlement.

 

There seems to be some historical evidence for the Scottish origins of the term. When it comes to the mine wars of West Virginia, my thought has always been that the miners, regardless of education, might have had enough oral tradition of the term for it to have symbolic meaning to them as "dissenters." Even the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum acknowledges that "[a]lthough the term "redneck" predates the Mine Wars era, this period is often understood as the birth of the term as slang in America."

 

https://wvminewars.org/store/red-bandana-p9r6e

 

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2 minutes ago, DocWard said:

 

There seems to be some historical evidence for the Scottish origins of the term. When it comes to the mine wars of West Virginia, my thought has always been that the miners, regardless of education, might have had enough oral tradition of the term for it to have symbolic meaning to them as "dissenters." Even the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum acknowledges that "[a]lthough the term "redneck" predates the Mine Wars era, this period is often understood as the birth of the term as slang in America."

 

https://wvminewars.org/store/red-bandana-p9r6e

 

And down here, it's said that the term originates from the sunburned necks of the small farmers or sharecroppers (yes, Virginia, there were white share croppers).

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2 minutes ago, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said:

When I hear folks making derogatory remarks about 'rednecks', I like to suggest that if they are ever stuck in a ditch or the mud or a tornado blocks their driveway that they should decline the help of the 'redneck' with the 4x4 and winch or the pick up and chain saw that shows up (uninvited) to help- since they are so particular about with whom they associate.:rolleyes:

 

Funny you should say that. A close friend that I first met in Junior High School, who grew up poor (far poorer than my childhood as the son of a factory journeyman machine repairman), is now a college professor. We were talking a few weeks back and he said a student made a comment about rednecks, white trash or some such thing. He responded to the class that based upon his experience, if one of the kids broke down, they would be far better off, and probably safer, if some redneck in a four wheel drive pulled up instead of a professor in his Prius.

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2 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Regardless of origin, if someone calls me a Redneck I smile and say “Thank you”.

 

Some of the best people I know are “rednecks” and I am damn proud to know ‘em. 

I'm the same way. Jeff Foxworthy defines "Redneck" as a glorious lack of sophistication. Part of being a Redneck, in my opinion, is the willingness and ability to accomplish a task without the proper tools or equipment, and have it work. Kind of along the lines of the saying, "If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid".  An ammo can tool box in the bed of a truck certainly qualifies. I took the back seat out of my Jeep and replaced it with ammo cans and milk crates to store tools in, and to tote my groceries home from Walmart.

The Rednecks I know and identify with are hard working, just plain folks. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Leave me alone to my own life. If I make mistakes, it's on me and I'll live with the results or fix it myself. Probably while not having the right tools or equipment.

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Just now, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said:

And down here, it's said that the term originates from the sunburned necks of the small farmers or sharecroppers (yes, Virginia, there were white share croppers).

 

I had heard that too, and there may be some validity to it. Or, it could be an apt application of an already known term. And yes, there were white sharecroppers. 

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1 hour ago, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said:

When I hear folks making derogatory remarks about 'rednecks', I like to suggest that if they are ever stuck in a ditch or the mud or a tornado blocks their driveway that they should decline the help of the 'redneck' with the 4x4 and winch or the pick up and chain saw that shows up (uninvited) to help- since they are so particular about with whom they associate.:rolleyes:

 

 

Sort of like,
 

 

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2 hours ago, DocWard said:

 

Nope. It goes back much further than that. I've mentioned this in other posts, but here goes. Remember, huge numbers of Scots-Irish (Or Ulster-Irish, Ulster-Scots, whatever one prefers to call them, settled in Appalachia. I trace my own roots back to Ulster.

 

 

https://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/rednecks/rednecks.html
 

This gives some other interesting information as well. A great book on the subject of the Scots-Irish is Jim Webb's Born Fighting: How The Scots-Irish Shaped America.

 

In the modern usage, I consider myself a redneck to some extent, merely because I've been labeled such by others, without asking on my part. Something to do with guns, cars, four-wheeling, camping and such.

100ll thought the Appalachian people were called "hillbillies" not rednecks.

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58 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

 

Sort of like,
 

 

"People from the South are different."

 

Got dat right. We're better.

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5 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Regardless of origin, if someone calls me a Redneck I smile and say “Thank you”.

 

Some of the best people I know are “rednecks” and I am damn proud to know ‘em. 
 

By the way Perro, does it really matter what other people think? ;)
 

I would add one feature to your box. Get a big furry rubber tarantula and put it on top of what ever is in the box. It’ll scare the crap out of nibby people. :D

I was thinking plastic snake on string inside

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42 minutes ago, Alpo said:

I like Foxworthy, but most of his redneck jokes weren't really redneck. They were white trash.

Yep. Agreed. That bit about appliances and old living room furniture on the front porch was pure white trash, just to name a couple. 
 

 

2 minutes ago, Perro Del Diablo said:

I was thinking plastic snake on string inside

Oh, even better. Lid comes up, snake slithers. :lol:

Fun for the whole family! :D

 

 

What’s with this “merge” shi…..stuff?:angry:

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7 hours ago, punxsutawneypete said:

 

I didn't even think an ammo can in a truck bed was unusual!  What does that make me?:D

 

The original post was very confusing to me.

 

"I'm wearing a shirt. Does this make me a redneck?"

 

"I'm wearing tennis shoes. Does this make me a redneck?"

 

Same kind of question. "I have an ammo can in my truck. Does this make me a redneck?" Huh?

 

Unless that can is bolted to the fender well, you're going to go out there one day and find that someone has walked off with it (unless you either live in Hooterville or in 1952.)

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On 7/31/2021 at 12:17 PM, sassnetguy50 said:

100ll thought the Appalachian people were called "hillbillies" not rednecks.

 

Since my parents are both Southeastern Kentucky born and raised, I get both.

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11 hours ago, punxsutawneypete said:

 

I didn't even think an ammo can in a truck bed was unusual!  What does that make me?:D

 

Yea but bolted down as toolbox

4 hours ago, Alpo said:

The original post was very confusing to me.

 

"I'm wearing a shirt. Does this make me a redneck?"

 

"I'm wearing tennis shoes. Does this make me a redneck?"

 

Same kind of question. "I have an ammo can in my truck. Does this make me a redneck?" Huh?

 

Unless that can is bolted to the fender well, you're going to go out there one day and find that someone has walked off with it (unless you either live in Hooterville or in 1952.)

Yup bolted down

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