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Yokel is one of several derogatory terms referring to thestereotype of unsophisticated country people. The term is of uncertain etymology and is only attested from the early 19th century on.[1][2]
Yokels are depicted as straightforward, simple, naïve, and easily deceived, failing to see through false pretenses. They are also depicted as talking aboutbucolic topics like cows, sheep, goats, wheat, alfalfa, fields, crops, and tractors to the exclusion of all else. Broadly, they are portrayed as unaware of or uninterested in the world outside their own surroundings.
In the UK, yokels are traditionally depicted as wearing the oldWest Country/farmhand's dress ofstraw hat and whitesmock, chewing or sucking a piece ofstraw and carrying a pitchfork or rake, listening to "Scrumpy and Western" music. Yokels are portrayed as living in rural areas of Britain such as theWest Country,East Anglia and theYorkshire Dales. They speak with countrydialects from various parts of Britain.[3]
In the United States, the term is used to describe someone living in rural areas.
Synonyms for yokel includebubba,country bumpkin,hayseed,chawbacon,rube,redneck,hillbilly andhick.
InScotland, those from theHighlands and Islands,Moray, Aberdeenshire, and other rural areas are often referred to by urban orlowland Scots asteuchters.
People from the rural south of Scotland are sometimes known as "Doonhamers" ("Doon hame" meaning "down home").
In Ireland, this term is generally used by urban dwellers as a slur for rural dwellers. In Dublin and Belfast, it's often used for people from outside said cities, even people from other large urban areas. Synonyms forculchie include country bumpkin, bogger, muck-savage and redneck.
According to theOxford 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, hick derives from the nickname "Old Hickory" forAndrew 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 oldhickory 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."
Another explanation of the term hick describes a time whenhickory nut flour was used and sold. Tough times, such as the depression, led to the use of hickory nuts as an alternative to traditional grains. People who harvested, processed, or sold hickory products, such as hickory flour, were referred to as "hicks". The term was generalized over time to include people who lived in rural areas and were not considered as sophisticated as their urban counterparts.
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 inAppalachia, the South, and parts of theMidwest.
In Australia and New Zealand, the term "bogan" is used to refer to someone who is considered unrefined or unsophisticated.
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