yokel

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 28, 2008 is: yokel • \YOH-kul\ • noun : a naive or gullible inhabitant of a rural area or small town Examples: "I was trying to get off the subway," complained Amy, "but some befuddled yokels were blocking the door, trying to figure out if this was their stop." Did you know? The origins of "yokel" are uncertain, but it might have come from the dialectal English word "yokel," meaning "green woodpecker." Other words for supposedly naive country folk are "chawbacon" (from "chaw," meaning "chew," and "bacon"), "hayseed" (which has obvious connections to country life), and "clodhopper" (indicating a clumsy, heavy-footed rustic). But city slickers don't always have the last word: rural folk have had their share of labels for city-dwellers too. One simple example from current use is the often disparaging use of the adjective "citified." A more colorful (albeit historical) example is "cockney," which literally means "cock's egg," or more broadly "misshapen egg." In the past, this word often designated a spoiled or foppish townsman -- as opposed to the sturdy countryman, that is. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.