Origins of 'Peckerwood'?
khann
>
> The word "cracker," common in Black slang, has its origins in whip
> cracker, the man who cracks the whip when whipping slaves.
Does it? Can you cite a reference to this effect? The only thing that I
could find to support your assertion is a questioned note in the SOED3.
I think you'll find that "cracker" was in use among Whites before it
became popular in Black slang. The term refers to poor Whites (in
Georgia and Florida, particulary the former which is sometimes referred
to as the "Cracker State") people who were usually sharecroppers and
unlikely to be able to afford slaves.
> "Peckerwood" is another Black slang word describing certain kinds of
> whites.
Again, this is a word used in long-past as well as current White slang.
> It isn't in my dictionary. Does anyone know the origins of this word?
According to the sources I have consulted it is thought to be an
inversion of "woodpecker" and is used to refer to poor white inhabitants
of the rural Southern US. Perhaps it refers to such people living in
"holes out in the woods".
N.Mitchum
-----
> The word "cracker," common in Black slang, has its origins in whip
> cracker, the man who cracks the whip when whipping slaves.
Source, please? C.E. Funk says it refers only to the "cracking"
of tall tales, and not of whips. Does black slang skew etymology
to its own ends?
------
> "Peckerwood" is another Black slang word describing certain kinds of
> whites. It isn't in my dictionary. Does anyone know the origins of
> this word?
>....
"Black" slang again! These words may exist in black slang, but I
don't think they were born there.
Your dictionary is oddly deficient if it doesn't give the origins
of either "cracker" or "peckerwood." I checked three of mine, and
they all say the second is simply an inversion of "woodpecker."
----NM
Joseph C Fineman
>Your dictionary is oddly deficient if it doesn't give the origins of
>either "cracker" or "peckerwood." I checked three of mine, and they
>all say the second is simply an inversion of "woodpecker."
_Pace_ Webster's 10th, it does not _only_ mean "a rural white
southerner", but can be used literally:
Listened to the tapping of the peckerwood,
Thought to have a woman would be powerful good.
-- "Tennessee"
--- Joe Fineman j...@world.std.com
||: The roots of wit and charm tap secret springs of sorrow. :||
Chris Malcolm
>"Peckerwood" is another Black slang word describing certain kinds of
>whites. It isn't in my dictionary. Does anyone know the origins of
>this word?
This has been discussed here before. It's and old country term.
Peckerwood is woodpecker wood, which is the kind of bug-infested wood
which woodpeckers like, and which is far too rotten to do anything
useful with. Another similar kind of wood is punk, which is wood that
has been so weakened by rot that it crumbles in your hand. It looks
superficially like ordinary wood, but it is useless for any practical
purpose except tinder (which, once thoroughly dried out, it is
excellent for).
Just as we have adopted "punk" for a worthless individual who is no
good for anything, so "peckerwood" is a similar metaphor.
--
Chris Malcolm c...@dai.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 650 3085
School of Artificial Intelligence, Division of Informatics
Edinburgh University, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK
<http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/daidb/people/homes/cam/> DoD #205
Nate
wrote:
>Just as we have adopted "punk" for a worthless individual who is no
>good for anything, so "peckerwood" is a similar metaphor.
>--
"Punk" is also prison slang for a true homosexual (i.e., not just
someone looking for "any port in a storm"). Does anyone know how the
origins of this usage relate to the more general one?
Nate
Rich Brown
> cracker, the man who cracks the whip when whipping slaves.
No it doesn't. It comes from "corn cracker", a menial job. Used to be,
you'd hear it in epithets such as, "He ain't nothin' but a Georgia corn
cracker."
Please don't guess about etymology.
> "Peckerwood" is another Black slang word describing certain kinds of
> whites. It isn't in my dictionary. Does anyone know the origins of
> this word?
Yes.
--
Orne Batmagoo