Ask all you want! It's nice when people take an interest.
We don't have an equivalent of rednecks so there's not really a term for it. But we have things we put on a similar footing. There are a couple of counties which are known for racism, incest, and supposed mental deficiency. People from there would be bumpkins, implying "farmers". Although I think bumpkin is kind of affectionate for anyone from a bucolic background. I'm trying to think of a good analogy. Actually, okay, we have a thing called Heath Robinson machines which are these very contrived machines for doing simple tasks. From what I can gather, Americans call them Rube Goldberg machines. And I think both our cultures use the term affectionately. Bumpkin is affectionate in kind of the same way. It's only mildly pejorative.
The closest we have to an underclass (apart from myself, because I come from a city with a reputation) would be the "travelling" community, i.e. gypsies. Or gyppoes or pikeys, in slang. It's not comparable to rednecks, though. Different ideals. Gypsies are seen more as opportunistic Eastern European thieves. Not a great stereotype and it self-propagates.
Chavs kind of fill the void, too, but chavs also aren't rednecks. Chavs are people who dress like a poor imitation of rappers. They like bling but only bad bling. Occasionally known as hoodies, they tend to be teenagers thought responsible for all the ills of the world.
The closest to a British redneck was the cousin of my best friend at school. They didn't have furniture, they had seats from cars. The cars were wrecked in the yard. They had dead, stuffed animals everywhere. None of them finished school or had jobs and they just sat around all day. My friend hated them because of some money that once went missing and caused a family feud. A tiny sum, like twenty pounds or something. I never told him I'd been friends with one of his cousins when I was at infant school and that the family had been nice to me.
I'm trying to think if there's a name for people like them. I don't think there is. Dolies, maybe. Wasters. Pikeys, even though they're not gypsy. No direct equivalent, though.
I was actually going to link chavs and wiggers because I made the link in my head, but I'd only ever heard of wiggers via this site and, even then, my first exposure was when I saw someone call Justin Bieber a "lesbian wigger". I kind of worked it out from what other people said later but I wasn't 100%. It's not something you ever see on imported TV.
Is it Normal that I am kind of Redneck
↑ View this comment's parent
← View full post
What is the British equivalent of a redneck?
Sorry, I tend to use you as an encyclopedia of British information. I just find it interesting.
--
dappled
11 years ago
|
pl
Comment Hidden (
show
)
Report
1
1
Ask all you want! It's nice when people take an interest.
We don't have an equivalent of rednecks so there's not really a term for it. But we have things we put on a similar footing. There are a couple of counties which are known for racism, incest, and supposed mental deficiency. People from there would be bumpkins, implying "farmers". Although I think bumpkin is kind of affectionate for anyone from a bucolic background. I'm trying to think of a good analogy. Actually, okay, we have a thing called Heath Robinson machines which are these very contrived machines for doing simple tasks. From what I can gather, Americans call them Rube Goldberg machines. And I think both our cultures use the term affectionately. Bumpkin is affectionate in kind of the same way. It's only mildly pejorative.
The closest we have to an underclass (apart from myself, because I come from a city with a reputation) would be the "travelling" community, i.e. gypsies. Or gyppoes or pikeys, in slang. It's not comparable to rednecks, though. Different ideals. Gypsies are seen more as opportunistic Eastern European thieves. Not a great stereotype and it self-propagates.
Chavs kind of fill the void, too, but chavs also aren't rednecks. Chavs are people who dress like a poor imitation of rappers. They like bling but only bad bling. Occasionally known as hoodies, they tend to be teenagers thought responsible for all the ills of the world.
The closest to a British redneck was the cousin of my best friend at school. They didn't have furniture, they had seats from cars. The cars were wrecked in the yard. They had dead, stuffed animals everywhere. None of them finished school or had jobs and they just sat around all day. My friend hated them because of some money that once went missing and caused a family feud. A tiny sum, like twenty pounds or something. I never told him I'd been friends with one of his cousins when I was at infant school and that the family had been nice to me.
I'm trying to think if there's a name for people like them. I don't think there is. Dolies, maybe. Wasters. Pikeys, even though they're not gypsy. No direct equivalent, though.
--
[Old Memory]
11 years ago
|
pl
Comment Hidden (
show
)
Report
0
0
We have Chavs here but we call them Wiggers. Which is a hybrid of white and well you know. The last group sounds like the closest to rednecks to me.
--
dappled
11 years ago
|
pl
Comment Hidden (
show
)
Report
0
0
I was actually going to link chavs and wiggers because I made the link in my head, but I'd only ever heard of wiggers via this site and, even then, my first exposure was when I saw someone call Justin Bieber a "lesbian wigger". I kind of worked it out from what other people said later but I wasn't 100%. It's not something you ever see on imported TV.
--
[Old Memory]
11 years ago
|
pl
Comment Hidden (
show
)
Report
0
0
Oh poor Bieb. :)