honyock

== English == === Alternative forms === honyak, honyocker, honyok, huniak, hunyack, hunyak, 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. === Pronunciation === (General American) IPA(key): [ˈhɑnjɑk] === Noun === honyock (plural honyocks) (US, slang) A person (especially a farmer) of relatively recent Central or Eastern European peasant extraction. 1938, Unknown FWP Author, A South Dakota Guide, Works Project Administration, Chapter 1, South Dakota Today: 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. (US, slang, sometimes derogatory) A person who is foolish, stupid, oafish, wild, impetuous, or stubborn. ==== Usage notes ==== Like other ethnic slurs that've been appropriated by their intended targets, today it is often used in a jocular or affectionate manner when addressing one's own family or friends. It is sometimes used in less rural contexts as an epithet imputing the incompetence of some despised white-collar professional or politician to some presumed "honyock" origin. ==== Synonyms ==== (rural farmer): homesteader, hayseed, clodhopper, dirt farmer, yokel, or hick (wild or uncouth): yahoo, oaf, or lout (foolish or stupid): rube, simpleton, ignoramus, or know-nothing ==== Related terms ==== honky hunky === References ===