Talk:Hillbilly

Modern Usage
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 never said non-existent. Just off the top of my head I could give precise directions to the remains of a still in Scott's Gulf, White County, Tennessee, walk you right there. (From Crossville, take a left on Stringtown road, drive to the gravel road on the right leading to Virgin Falls, continue on this road past Virgin Falls to the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, call me on your cell phone from there... I will walk you in...:) The issue was occurrence and motivation.

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.


 * Relax. This will be as hard to write as white trash, but there is no particular hurry. Couple of things need to be done: Most of our discussion needs to move to a talk page, where anyone interested can hammer out the details. Quite a bit of what you wrote could be resurrected as popular folklore associated with hillbillies. The main subject matter needs to wikied to Appalachian folk life and customs, etc. And there surely must be links to Li'l Abner and Snuffy Smith.

Oh, and another thing. Who said the article was done? write about the damn coal mines and dolly parton.


 * Slow down! Stop ranting! Presenting what you wrote as "Folklore associated with hillbillies" or some such thing sounds like a great idea. It would much more accurate, and would help flesh out a better article. Dolly Parton and King Coal deserve (long) first class articles, but both subjects will difficult and time consuming to write.

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.


 * No problem. I pledge to _not_ use the word "ridiculous" to characterize an argument anymore.  :)  I did do some work on Dolly's page...

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.


 * "Hillbilly" is a pejorative applied to Appalachian Americans, generally. Its origins are with the migration of Scots and Irish and Germans to the Appalachian lands in the early 19th century.  Essentially, settlement in the southeastern United States followed the forced expulsion of the American Indians, so the first settlers were along the coast ("Piedmont"), then in the uplands, and then the mountains.  Thus, the coastal folks regarded the uplanders as newcomers, as poor, and as uncouth.  They, in turn, regarded the mountain people as poor, uncouth, and ignorant.  To some degree, this is anti-immigrant hostility.  However, each wave of English language settlers also brought with it a later version of British English that was preserved as an isolate and/or a different regional selection of British English.  People in eastern North Carolina, eastern South Carolina, and southern Georgia speak a different dialect from those in W. NC, W. SC, N. GA, and all of Alabama.  Both of these speak yet a different dialect from those living in the Appalachain Mountains.  When both of the first two waves of immigrants had grown prosperous (cotton, first, transportation and tobacco for the second group), the hill folks were still poor.  They remained poor (terrible land for farming) and isolated into the 2nd half of the 20th century.  When these people came down into the metropolitain areas of, for example, Atlanta, Columbia, or Raleigh, they spoke "funny," had "funny" vocabulary, and were exploited as cheap labor.  They were derided as "hillbillies."  Some adopted the term themselves (as, of course, some Irish would call themselves "micks," some Italians "wops," some African Americans "nigger") and attempted to redefine it as a point of pride (e.g. some types of country music will boast of being "hillbilly").  The dialect has recently been spreading (as the mid-Georgia/W. SC/W. NC dialect had, earlier) as prosperity is reaching the edges of this region.  The price is, of course, that there is less and less "hillbilly" culture, because part of the spread is prosperity and travel, and those things are the negation of some of what was "hillbilly" characteristic.  (Now, also, there is less "hillbilly" and more regional identification, as, for example, in West Virginia and western Virginia, where the group identifier is much less "hillbilly" than "coal folks" and "hill folks.")  Geogre 01:30, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Oh, and let me add to that something I had forgotten. People from the Appalachains themselves migrated, and the same group that settled there settled other places.  Hence, in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas you also have "hillbillies," as these "Arkies" would later, during the Dust Bowl, migrate (along with the Okies) to California and Oregon and get called hillbillies by other economic migrants.  Those Ozarks settlers were the same Scots and Germans as had moved to the Appalachains.  Generally, the term is a term of abuse, and it's applied when folks leave the mountains and come in contact with other, lowland folks.  The name of the dialect is, by the way, Hillspar.  There are two versions of it, at least.  (The West Virginia coal country mountain dialect is different from the E. Tennessee and N. Georgia dialect, and both of these are different from the Arkansas Ozarks dialect (although it is much closer to the TN and GA version).)  Geogre 12:36, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I've never heard of this dialect "Hillspar". I Googled it and came up with few hits that referenced it, and none that defined it authoritatively.  Does anyone know anything more about it?  I've read of the language of Appalachia called Southern Midland, Highland, or Appalachian, but never Hillspar.  Eastcote (talk) 22:02, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Clean up
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?
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)

Yokel
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.

On removing Image:Cletus.gif and accusations of vandalism
I note the uncivil edit summary with which Fred Chessplayer's removal of Image:Cletus.gif was reverted by User:Abelson. 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)


 * Regardless of the tone in which Abelson's objection was expressed, I believe he/she was right. Looking at the four factors used to judge fair use, I find it unimaginable that a noncommercial, nonprofit, educational use of a single image from a 30-minute cartoon, in no way undercutting the market value of that cartoon (and if anything promoting it), would not qualify as fair use--unless no use of a Simpsons image would ever qualify.  (The fact that this image would illustrate a page about hillbillies and not about the Simpsons would not seem to be legally relevant.)


 * As far as the relevance of the image to the article, I find it hard to think of a major element of the hillbilly stereotype that Cletus does not illustrate. He's as much a hillbilly as Lil' Abner or Snuffy Smith, and far more widely known to the contemporary culture, I would think.


 * I would strongly support restoring the image. Nareek 13:44, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The point I was making isn't to do with market value or with the use being non-commercial and educational, but is purely about what the image can fairly be used to illustrate. What makes you think that that's not legally relevant? You say "unless no use of a Simpsons image would ever qualify" as if you think that proposition self-evidently absurd, but it isn't. No use of a Simpsons image would ever qualify for illustrating anything other than the Simpsons. If my partial quote above of the tag on the Image:Cletus.gif page doesn't convince, could you please click on the link and read the whole of it? Are you aware of Jimbo Wales' new, much stricter, policy with regard to Fair Use images? If you reinsert that image here, I would say the image itself is likely to get deleted. Bishonen | talk 17:51, 14 January 2006 (UTC).
 * No, I'm not aware of Wales' new Fair Use policy; a link would be helpful. I am pretty familiar with the concept of Fair Use, and I don't see how--legally speaking--using Cletus' image to illustrate an article on the Simpsons would be different than using it to illustrate an article on Hillbillys. Which of the four factors would that affect? If Wales wants to use a Fair Use standard on his website that's stricter than the legal standard, that's up to him, but I hate to see people thinking that their actual rights are less than they really are. Nareek 19:09, 14 January 2006 (UTC)


 * OK, I've now read Fair Use, and I have a better understanding of the issues now.  One point is that Wikipedia has to be careful with Fair Use because while Wikipedia itself is nonprofit and noncommercial, others who use Wikipedia's content may not be--so there is a slightly higher standard to be met. But from the description of what is and isn't Fair Use for Wikipedia, it's still clear that a picture of Cletus used to illustrate the Hillbilly stereotype would be safely in the Fair Use category: It's the use of an image for purposes of critical commentary on that image, the same standard type of Fair Use that allows book reviewers to quote passages from books without first getting permission from the publishers.


 * I'm not going to put the image back, but I think you ought to. Nareek 19:09, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Thank you for being so reasonable — I don't hate images either. I did try to find a good link for you, sorry. I realize it would help. But I'm afraid you've lost me with the "for purposes of critical commentary on that image, the same standard type of Fair Use that allows book reviewers to quote passages from books without first getting permission from the publishers" — I just don't see any similarity. Where's the critical commentary on the image? (And if there was some, what would it be doing in this article?) Do you mean the "are stereotypical hillbillies" phrase... ? That's not commentary on the image. Well, never mind, I think we've reached a plateau in any case. I've asked a user who does a lot of work in this area, Gmaxwell, to take a look at the issue. I'd like to wait for him, if that's all right. Bishonen | talk 19:33, 14 January 2006 (UTC)


 * It's using Cletus to illustrate the hillbilly stereotype, thereby implicitly commenting on The Simpsons as a program that uses stereotypes (which the show would certainly not deny--Springfield used to have a bowling league called The Stereotypes). It's similar to using, say, a still from Birth of a Nation to illustrate early 20th Century racism--part of the reason you have Fair Use is so copyright owners don't have the ability to block people from criticizing their work in this way. Nareek 20:17, 14 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I would say that the argument that Cletus should only apply to articles involving the Simpsons doesn't seem completely correct. Although Cletus is a simpsons character, he is a dramatized character portrayal of a cultural stereotype.  Noting that the context of the image use was to give a pop-culture refrence, I feel the use of the image falls within fair use.  Especially seeing that images from TV and Movies are present across all of wikipedia.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.229.213 (talk) 19:21, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

I like the song dammit
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

Local Pride
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)
 * I agree. It's not written correctly. I wrote "sometimes considered a pejorative" but that was removed. My grandfather was from West Virginia and he always call himself a hillbilly with pride. I was really stunned when I watched the million dollar baby and the boxer called her mother, who really was an awful person, a "hillbilly" in a very hateful way. I'd never heard it used like that. It sounded to me like the screenwriter didn't know what he was talking about. Or is that something new? Do kids use the word hillbilly in a hateful way now? --cda 12:32, 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)


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


 * 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)

Hillfolk
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)

Naive
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)

Killing each other
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).


 * 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)

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)

pro-Union names of many rural Appalachian
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)

English dialects
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)

Wrong term
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)

Modern Hillbilly Teminology (Suburban Hillbillies)
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)
 * Wikipedia requires reliable, verifiable sources to back up claims. If you have a couple of such sources, put them in the article, and everything will be copacetic. Speciate 22:13, 17 October 2007 (UTC)


 * 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)


 * 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)

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)

Modern Terminology (citation fix)
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 Doubly-Referenced
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)


 * 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)

Removed Northern Arkansas
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)

Urban Hillbilly
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)

Origin of Term
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)


 * 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)

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.


 * 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)

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)

"Scotch"- vs. "Scots"-Irish
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)
 * 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.  young  american  (wtf?) 13:01, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
 * 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)
 * 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.  young  american  (wtf?) 15:16, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Followup: I've started a discussion over at Talk:Scotch-Irish American.  young  american (wtf?) 15:32, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
 * 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)

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.  young  american (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)


 * 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)

There exists a similar word in Germany - Hillebille
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)

Origin and first use of the term
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)


 * 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)

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

Planned Edits
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)

Intragroup versus intergroup usage
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)

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

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

Speech marks
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&#39;s Soiled White Pants (talk) 04:46, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Suggested Addition for Hillbilly Elegy
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)
 * "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)

Partially correct!
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)


 * 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)

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