[Brando]

What does the term "Honky" mean?

User Detail :  

Name : Brando, City : Athens, State : NA Country : Greece, 

[AJ28970]

White people have extremely thin smashed noses (looks like they honk their nose.)

User Detail :  

Name : AJ28970, Gender : M, Age : 14, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, 

[Seymour]

Seemingly, it derived from the name-calling and expression of resentment by European Americans towards central and Eastern European immigrants, who were negatively referred to as 'hunkies' (from Hungarians). Blacks, in competition with these immigrants in the first half of the twentieth century, generalized the term to all whites.

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Name : Seymour, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 21, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Jennifer31029]

I've heard three explanations:
1) refers to the old pejorative term for Slavic people, or 'bohunks.'
2) refers to white men trolling for black prostitutes who would honk their car horns to get the attention of any given black woman.
3) refers to the nasal sound that some blacks perceive in white people's voices.

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Name : Jennifer31029, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : St. Paul, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Non-profit, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[J-A-Johnson]

It means that white people talk with a honking or nasal type of sound. The Caucasoid type of skull (i.e. European ancestry) has a narrow, skinny nasal opening. Other groups of people tend toward broader noses and nasal openings which give the voice many different overtones and a richer more rounded and varied sound. The skinnier you nose, the more you tend to 'honk;' the broader your nose if your nasal opening (in the skull) is broader, the richer and more colorful your voice. It's a 70's term.

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Name : J-A-Johnson, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Af-Am/Irish/Jewish/Native American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 37, City : Bloomington, State : IN Country : United States, Occupation : Musician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lauren26093]

OK, I think that Honkey is supposed to be some kind of put down to white people. I tend not to think of it as a problem. Of course, I'm also Southern and 'redneck' doesn't bother me either, although I could certainly be classified one.

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Name : Lauren26093, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 23, City : Birmingham, State : AL Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Eric25210]

What I heard and a couple of books noted the same thing: Many names used to be slurs at white people originate from the English as slurs directed to various groups of Celtic peoples. Terms like honkey, cracker, redneck, peckerwood, and hoosier were used. Many southern whites are of Scotch-Irish origins, and these terms were picked up by the slaves and later used at white people in general.

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Name : Eric25210, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : Epilepsy, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Kansas City, State : KS Country : United States, Occupation : Systems Administrator, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

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