WotD: hick

[muckefuck]

1. der Hinterwäldler, der Tölpel, der Bauerntrampel
2. de boerenkinkel
3. el paleto, el palurdo
4. el taujà, el pagerol
5. le cul-terreux, le péquenaud, le bitaco
6. y josgyn, y ioncyn
7. an tuaitín, an chábóg
8. wsiok
9. 촌사람, 시골뜨기
10. 土包子 tǔbāozi

Notes: 0. I never really thought of the etymology of "hick" until last week, and then I told monshu "I bet it comes from 'Hick', an obsolete diminutive of 'Richard'." And I was right. So between hicks and dicks, the world has been very fair to their kind. 1. Hinterwäldler is quite literally "backwoodsman". Tölpel is historically an alteration of Dörfer "villager", but I think nowadays the rural connotations are pretty much obsolete and it simply means a fool of whatever origin. 3. The latter from French balourd "oaf". 4. Taujà, like Tölpel, primarily means "fool", whereas pagerol derives from pagès "peasant". 5. Bitaco (or habitaco) is the LA French term. 6. Josgyn (a North Welsh word) derives from the English cant term joskin "bumpkin", likely derived from that word by the substitution of joss "bump".

Comments

[tyrannio.livejournal.com]

What's the term in Afrikaans?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Plaasjapie or takhaar.

[pne.livejournal.com]

I think nowadays the rural connotations are pretty much obsolete and it simply means a fool of whatever origin.

I would say so, too. At least to me, it's more of a clumsy person or someone who makes naïve mistakes - "country bumpkin" doesn't figure into it at all for me. (And I wasn't aware of that etymology, either.)

(BTW, in your notes, 2-5 should all be one number higher.)