hick
田舎者
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
hick は「田舎者」を見下して呼ぶくだけた蔑称で、中立的な rural resident「地方在住者」とは違う。都会人が田舎の人を無知・洗練されていないと決めつける場面を連想し、使用は人物描写や引用などに限ると覚える。yokel や hillbilly も同様に侮蔑的。
Remember hick as a derogatory label, not as a neutral word for someone who lives in the countryside. It suggests that a rural person is supposedly unsophisticated, ignorant, or awkward, so it often reveals the speaker’s prejudice. Contrast it with neutral expressions such as rural resident, country resident, or person from a small town. Hick is close to yokel and sometimes hillbilly, though hillbilly more specifically evokes remote or mountainous rural communities in the United States. Because the word can offend, recognize it in dialogue and descriptions but avoid using it casually about real people.
hick の類義語・関連語
hick の語源・成り立ち Etymology
Richard（リチャード）の愛称 Hick に由来し、16世紀頃から「田舎の素朴な人」を指す蔑称に転じた。当時 Richard は庶民に多い名前で、都会人が田舎者を揶揄する際に使った。関連語: hillbilly（山の田舎者）、yokel（田舎者）。人名が普通名詞化した例。
Hick was originally a familiar form of the personal name Richard. By the sixteenth century, it was being used as a generic name for an ordinary rural man and then developed into a contemptuous noun for a supposedly unsophisticated country person. This shift from a common personal name to a social stereotype resembles the historical use of certain other familiar names as labels for types of people.
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