Talk:Hillbilly

message: Could this term have orginated out of the feuds between highlander lowlander Scots?
:There's a definite Ulster connection through "Billy Boy", which is still a common term back home. -- Pat Mustard 15:02, Jul 4, 2005 (UTC)
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)
thread_title:  Could this term have orginated out of the feuds between highlander lowlander Scots? 

message: It is a bit odd that "yokel" redirects here, but its etymology is not explained. -- Beland 21:52, 18 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Yokel 

message: 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)
replies: text: I'm under the impression that educated hillbillies prefer the term HillWilliam.  Mr Christopher 22:56, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

text: I too know many people who are happy to describe themselves as Hillbillies, include some of my relatives from eastern Kentucky and a neighbor I've had in east Tennessee.  Note that there is a regional distiction between those who prefer to be called hillbillies (mostly in the mountains) and those who prefer to be called rednecks (mostly in te large valleys, such as the Tennessee Valley, coastal plains, and deep south) -- with some corresponding difference in culture and dialect.  Unfortunately, out life experience would be "original research" (at best) by Mediawiki standards, so none of this is likely to have much influence on the page. --50.149.180.189 (talk) 21:55, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Local Pride 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Hillfolk 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Naive 

message: 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)
replies: text: They were never exactly formal like Scottish highlang clans, but clanish could describe culture attitudes toward family (and those out side it).  People are much less violent than in the past.  Still the idea was something like, if a hillbilly goes to big city, get robbed or killed by local thugs, then then the rest of the family would rise up support, deffend, or avenge them -- and when it happened between hillbillies then a feud might start.  But that's been grossly exaggerated.  The Hatfield's and McCoy's were two families, in one very long feud, and over the many decades it lasted there were only a few sporatic acts of killing or violence.  Most of the poeple in the area weren't involved, and the fame of this one feud lead shows that it was somewhate unique, not a daily occurance. --50.149.180.189 (talk) 22:02, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Killing each other 

message: 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
:The entire state of Kentucky was on the Union side, yet after the war was still looked down on.  East Tennessee wanted to succeed from Tennessee and stay with the Union, but the state government in Nashville wouldn't let them.  People just forget that not all the South joined or supported the Confederacy.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.149.180.189 (talk) 22:06, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  pro-Union names of many rural Appalachian 

message: 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)
thread_title: English dialects

message: 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.
::There is nothing "Anglo-Saxon" about the name William. The origin of William is French, and the name was brought to the British Isles by the Normans. Anglo-Saxon names sound like Arthur, Alfred, Ethelred, etc.Jonathan f1 (talk) 06:47, 23 December 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wrong term 

message: 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)
replies: text: well,hank3 should be listed in the bands section,HELLBILLY!(i agree wif that other dude,yall should interject suma that modern hillswank inta this here our-tickle.yes sir.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.46.49.98 (talk) 15:52, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

text: I think most of these urban and suburban hillbillies are people who've migrated out the the hillbilly regions and kept the culture or identity.  My dad is a hillbilly, and happy to claim it, but I'm a military brat and not really a hillbilly.  I know a lot of hillbillies who'd take offence at people who never really lived the lifestyle of the hills, in the hills (and its a hard life), calling themselve's hillbillies just because they have hillbilly ancestors or feel hillbillyish -- or at least point out that they weren't really hillbillies. --50.149.180.189 (talk) 22:24, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: It's been almost two weeks now since changes have been made and no one has responded in the forums.  If no one has anything to comment on by the two week mark, I think it will show that the issue has been resolved ant the tags should get pulled.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 (talk) 18:25, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Modern Hillbilly Teminology (Suburban Hillbillies) 

message: 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)
replies: text: It's been almost two weeks now since changes have been made and no one has responded in the forums.  If no one has anything to comment on by the two week mark, I think it will show that the issue has been resolved ant the tags should get pulled.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 (talk) 18:25, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Modern Terminology (citation fix)

message: 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)
replies: text: It's been almost two weeks now since changes have been made and no one has responded in the forums.  If no one has anything to comment on by the two week mark, I think it will show that the issue has been resolved ant the tags should get pulled.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 (talk) 18:25, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Content Doubly-Referenced

message: 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)
thread_title: Removed Northern Arkansas

message: 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)
thread_title: Urban Hillbilly

message: 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)
replies: text: Doubtless you were misinformed.  Just when did all these Hungarian immigrants supposedly move into Appalachia?  See the comments on this talk page about the equally strange theory about the German musical instrument.  Eastcote (talk) 18:14, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

text: Let's not bat words like ignorant around.  It's really quite a stretch to conjecture that the term came with Hungarian immigrants.  Do you have anything proving the term originated with Hungarians?  The English words "hill" and "billy" seem pretty obvious.  Eastcote (talk) 01:11, 17 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origin of Term 

message: 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)
replies: text: You have given a links to a disambig pages that targets two articles correctly using the word "Scots." In the context that the phrases are used in the this article, saying the epithet "scotch" would be akin to using "colored" to describe African-Americans.  youngamerican (wtf?) 13:01, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: This article is about the term "hillbilly"; the term "Scotch-Irish" has already been argued at length in the article pertaining to that term.  I really don't want to get into an edit scuffle over this, but please review the section under "Scotch-Irish American" pertaining to use of the term "Scotch" when describing these folks.  Also review the discussion page for "Scotch-Irish American" where the term is discussed at length.  Perhaps "Scotch" is an epithet when referring to the Scots, but it is historically correct when referring to the Scotch-Irish.  Eastcote (talk) 15:08, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: As a SCOTS-Irish American, I still find the term to be offensive. Perhpas there is a place for discussing the use of the terms by wealthy English-American settlers to the east of the mountains, but, as it stands, the term is highly offensive when used to lable the current generation of Americans of Uslter-Scot heritage.  youngamerican (wtf?) 15:16, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not going to fall on my sword for it, but I'm sorry it is highly offensive to you.  Most of us Scotch-Irish folks don't have such a high-strung problem with it.  As I said, "Scotch"-Irish is the accepted, non-pejorative, form in American usage, as well as the accepted form in the Ullans language per the Ulster-Scots Agency, aka Tha Boord o Ulster-Scotch, http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/.  Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scotch-irish) dates "Scotch-Irish" to 1744.  "Scots-Irish" only goes back to 1972.  Eastcote (talk) 15:39, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

text: I wouldn't exactly call it "propaganda", which assumes some political motive.  However, any Ulster connection of the terms as used in the United States is purely conjecture.  Eastcote (talk) 12:37, 23 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Scotch"- vs. "Scots"-Irish 

message: 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:
thumb|Hillebille from the Harz. Even into the 20th Jahrhundert Century Hillebills were used as a tool for alerts and informationat by woodcutters and charcoal burners in remote areas of the Harz and of the Thuringian Forest in Germany.
--Arcy (talk) 18:58, 3 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  There exists a similar word in Germany - Hillebille 

message: 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)
replies: text: That's interesting.  Are you sure the early quote is from 1834?  I tried looking for it, but can't find it.  I did find it on Page 58 in the Methodist Yearbook for 1921, which says at the top of the book "First Issue 1834".  Perhaps it is this 1921 Yearbook you are referring to.  The 1892 reference looks like the earliest so far.  To put it in the article, would that be considered "original research"?  I think a secondary source is required rather than a primary source.  I still wouldn't make the leap to a Scottish origin theory at this point, though.  It's a simpler theory that it arose locally.  Eastcote (talk) 13:40, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origin and first use of the term 

message: (Note: Issue is use of the term "Hillbilly" in source, thus its relevance here.)
*Please feel free to read & comment here.  Thank you. 
Marketdiamond (talk) 14:39, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Request for Comment: Steeler Nation Criticism

message: 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)
thread_title:  Planned Edits 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Intragroup versus intergroup usage 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/hillbilly.htm
89.134.199.32 (talk) 20:35, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  just one more source to consider 

message: We are hillbillies. Rooted . Apache and cherokee bred Mistyfinchet (talk) 16:57, 31 August 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fincher family 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Speech marks 

message: 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)
replies: text: "The backlash from the appalachian community seems important to note" It would be, if we had reliable sources mentioning its existence. Otherwise, the policy o n due and undue weight applies here: "Neutrality requires that mainspace articles and pages fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in the published, reliable sources" Dimadick (talk) 07:56, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Suggested Addition for Hillbilly Elegy 

message: 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)
replies: text: Thanks for your input, but there is no documentation that connects this Ulster use of "billy" with the term "hillbilly".  It might indeed have come from that Ulster usage, but two centuries intervened between William of Orange and the first recorded use of "hillbilly" in America. Eastcote (talk) 19:54, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Partially correct! 

message: "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)
replies: text: You're correct, also that sentence didn't really reflect the body. I rewrote it. Schazjmd (talk) 14:37, 3 April 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ozarks are west of the Mississippi river