honyock
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: [ˈhɑnjɑk]
Forms: form: honyocks
form: honyak
form: honyocker
form: honyok
form: huniak
form: hunyack
form: hunyak
form: hunyok
Etymology: * Historically, honyock referred to immigrant homesteaders "stubbornly" farming "hardscrabble" or "hardpan" land considered better suited to livestock ranching.
* The first recorded usage in print appeared before 1860. Usage of the word peaked around 1927, and subsequently fell into relative disuse by 1980.
* Multiple possible origins of this word have been suggested:
** Portmanteau word from Hun/Hungarian and the ethnic slur Polack.
** Derivation of the German compound word "Honigjäger", meaning honey chaser; A reference to pursuing "sweet" opportunities and inevitably getting "stung" by unanticipated but predictable consequences.
** Derivation of the Hungarian adjective "hanyag", and its multiple definitions and negative connotations such as careless, sloppy, slothful and slow.
Senses: examples: text: Today "honyock," or farming homesteader, and old-timer live peaceably side by side and each has learned much from the other. The old-timer taught his neighbor the art of stock raising on the range, and the honyock convinced the old-timer that some forage crops could be raised and that it was not good economics to ship out a carload of cows and at the same time ship in a carload of condensed milk.
ref: 1938, Unknown FWP Author, A South Dakota Guide, Works Project Administration, Chapter 1, South Dakota Today
glosses: A person (especially a farmer) of relatively recent Central or Eastern European peasant extraction.
examples: text: (Father) told me I was a honyock, kissed my mother(...), and gave me a Dutch rub.
ref: 2009, Charles Taylor, Winter from Spring, Xlibris Corporation, page 29:
text: "You city boys are so complicated."
"Better to be complicated than simple."
"Who're you calling simple?"
"The same honyock who damn near got us killed driving here like he was doing the Indy 500 on a dirt road in the woods."
"I'll have you know that was all skill."
ref: 2011, Robert W. Callis, Hanging Rock, iUniverse, page 141:
text: "Olivia, put some clothes on and I'll be back to deal with you directly. And as for you!" He poked Rhys on the center of his chest. "Come with me, you hairy-legged honyock!"
ref: 2013, Connie Mason, Mia Marlowe, Waking Up with a Rake, Sourcebooks Incorporated:
text: Oh, and did you notice that last line? "I am the Lord." This is not just some guy off the street; not some honyock who doesn't know anything!
ref: 2016, Tex Tonroy, Out o' th' Bushes: A Texas Preacher's Guide to Givin' Plumb Up!, WestBow Press:
glosses: A person who is foolish, stupid, oafish, wild, impetuous, or stubborn.
Synonyms: sense: rural farmer
word: homesteader
sense: rural farmer
word: hayseed
sense: rural farmer
word: clodhopper
sense: rural farmer
word: dirt farmer
sense: rural farmer
word: yokel
sense: rural farmer
word: or hick
sense: wild or uncouth
word: yahoo
sense: wild or uncouth
word: oaf
sense: wild or uncouth
word: or lout
sense: foolish or stupid
word: rube
sense: foolish or stupid
word: simpleton
sense: foolish or stupid
word: ignoramus
sense: foolish or stupid
word: or know-nothing
Related terms: honky
hunky